In this activity, students will work together in groups of three to explore a scenario. They will practice preparing a resume for a fictional student using three resources: a job description, a personal profile of a potential applicant, and a resume template.
The activity is designed as a jigsaw, which is interactive and holds students accountable for contributing to the work equally. At the end of the activity, the class will work together to develop a rough draft of a resume for the sample applicant.
Share with students that the most important things they need to do to prepare a successful resume is to understand what the employer is looking for and then to recognize how they can meet the employer’s needs.
Split students into groups of three.
Give each student a scenario (samples provided). The scenarios will include:
Explain the jigsaw instructions. Each student is responsible for reading and thinking about one of the documents (job description, personal profile, and resume template).
Note: If you are teaching online, put each group in a different breakout room so they can work together. Students can use an online collaboration tool like Miro or a Google Doc to collaborate.
Students work independently for five minutes to familiarize themselves with the information on their documents.
When five minutes are up, each person summarizes what they read and what it made them think about with the rest of the group.
The group works together to determine what information should be included on the applicant’s resume, what information should be excluded, and how it might be organized according to the template. The group can select appropriate statements and move them around into the various sections of the template.
Bring the class back together to share their ideas. Why did they make the choices they did? Document their conclusions by building a draft resume for the applicant in real time.
Optional extension (15 minutes):
Ask the class: what if this same applicant applied to a different position? Display a second job description, different from the first in important ways, but still a fit to the applicant’s goals and experience.
Work together to edit the initial draft. What stays, what goes, how might the information be re-organized? Compare and contrast the two versions to emphasize the importance of understanding your audience and tailoring your resume to fit the opportunity.
Self-assessment: Give students the opportunity to reflect on this activity and set goals.
If you want to dig deeper into teaching interviewing skills and give your students more practice, check out
Open P-TECH’s self-paced student courses.
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