As an employer, I interview a lot of people…and a lot of teenagers. I hate to say it, but teenagers generally have no idea how to interview and get a job! They blow it up!

This article will address the three mistakes most teens make so you or your teen can learn how to land your favorite job.

1. Summary

I would say that about 8 out of 10 kids leave a resume with misspellings. This is the FASTEST way to throw your resume in the trash!

Also, most resumes look like someone just spit a bunch of information into a template and hit print. Information is rarely organized and often unformatted. The result is a messy-looking resume with misspellings that gets thrown in the trash before there’s even a chance for an interview.

Here are some keys to a good resume:

1. Check your spelling three times!
2. Don’t add a goal. Instead, write a couple of sentences explaining why it’s different and HOW it would help the company.
3. List the jobs you’ve held…and how it impacted the company rather than just the job. I don’t care that you were a pizza delivery guy. What did you do differently that helped the company?
4. Please list your education at the bottom because it is not that important.
5. Contain your resume on ONE sheet of paper: the front side ONLY. Most people don’t want to do a lot of reading, and multiple pages just make things difficult.

2. Tracking

Okay, let’s just say you sent in a great resume… that’s the least of your worries right now. Many companies will not call you back.

I don’t call anyone back. Why? Because I want to see if they take the initiative and call me. I want to know if they are ambitious and willing to be persistent.

Most people never call back!

The callback is very simple. All you have to do is ask if they received your resume. When you say yes, just say “Great! Well, I’d love to make an interview appointment.”

Perhaps they are actively looking for employees to set up an interview with. Maybe they want to resume because they want to have some people ready to call IF they need someone. In that case, they might tell you they’re not hiring.

Ask for an interview anyway. Tell them that you understand, but that you want to get to know them so they know who you are in case they need someone.

If someone called me and told me that… I could even hire him and replace one of my employees who wasn’t doing a good job. That kind of call shows initiative and shows that you would be a hard worker.

3.Dress and Presentation

So now you have the interview… big deal. Most kids blow their chances because they dress horrible: they wear a tank top, shorts, and flip flops to the interview.

Although that might be standard clothing for most teens, it creates a bad first impression. As an employer, we thought, “Oh no, this guy is not a professional. He’s probably not a good fit.”

You just made a great impression with the phone, so you need to reinforce that with a good visual impression. Be sure to wear a collared shirt, either pants or khakis, and nice shoes. Women should wear the same or a nice dress that is not too short.

This will set you apart from the other kids applying for jobs and will make a great impression on the employer…HELLO, JOB!

In addition to dressing well… remember to always sit up straight and speak well. Make eye contact and answer questions confidently.

When you slouch, chew gum, or look around, it makes you look silly and incompetent.

There you go! If you can make these simple changes, you will be much more valuable to the employer and more likely to get the job they want.