Secondary: Help with Resumes & Interview Practice

Surveys of teachers who already arrange mock interviews and resume workshops with pupils really value them. They help young people develop self-management skills, improve their chances of getting a job or into a course they want, and often bring home the reality of what they need to do in school to enter the world of work. Many teachers even say they see an improvement in attainment as pupils get a wake up call about the value of education and qualifications to their developing career ambitions.

Why bring in volunteers to help?

People with first-hand experience of modern recruitment practices are well placed to give young people insight into how resumes are  interpreted and what works well – or doesn’t – in job interviews.

Through Inspiring the Future Australia there will be hundreds of volunteers around the country ready and willing to be approached to spare a few hours to come in and help give that authentic employer voice. Many will be HR professionals and/or members of the professional bodies who are actively involved in recruitment, sitting on interview panels and looking at resumes as a regular part of their jobs.

Surveys of young people show in very high proportions that they would love to have more chance to practice these key skills before they leave education and go out into the working world.

Involving employee volunteers in resume workshops and mock interviews

Some schools run dedicated days where whole year groups work up resumes and take part in practice interviews with outside professionals. Others run sessions within class time or other careers-focused events or as part of careers fairs.

Volunteers can be key resources for teaching staff, feeding back to young people on their draft resumes or doing mock interviews and many will be very happy to speak to whole classes about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting a job.  Through  Inspiring the Future Australia, teaching staff can be in email contact with volunteers quickly and with the minimum of fuss.

Please note that under no circumstances should students’ contact details be given out to volunteers and we would strongly advise to remind students not to do so.

Useful resources

We are providing a number of resources which may be useful, including interview tips and examples of good and terrible resumes.

If you have resources you use and think others may find them useful too, please send them to us and we can make them more widely available, please contact us here

Handouts

Hints on writing a good resume

Examples-good and bad resumes

Hints on interview questions and responses

Hints on personal impact and presentation at interviews

Hints on how to conduct a successful job search

Hints on how to interpret job adverts, write a cover letter and complete application forms

Hints on applying for an Australian Apprenticeship

Example of a job application cover letter

Hints on how to research a company