CV for a 14 year old???

[houselikeashed]

Ds has been told by school about summer work experience at a local science lab for y10 and y11 local dc. The application asks for a cover letter (fine) and a CV. What should he put on his CV??? School projects? School awards? D of E?? Music? Hobbies?? HELP!!

[EssentialHummus]

Oh gosh. Yes, all those things are fine to include (along with any work experience he has, which he probably doesn't), but for god's sake don't go over one side of A4 and make sure it's correctly spelt and neatly formatted.

I'm a CV writer (among other things) and this sounds a bit bonkers. On the plus side, he'll get the hang of CVs early

[OutDamnedWind]

I'd go for education - list GCSEs, and potentially predicted grades for science, maths and English. He could put which A Levels he's planning to take if he has an idea.

Any relevant projects - almost set them out like mini jobs - what was the projects, what did he do.

A section on school awards.

And then extracurricular. I should think one side plenty for his age.

[Leeds2]

Has he done any voluntary work that he could include? No matter how trivial!

Anything to demonstrate an interest in science? Thinking building model robots, raspberry pi (? I think that is the right term!), member of school physics/chemistry/biology/geology/astronomy etc club, any lectures by scientists (maybe these have visited the school?) etc.

[houselikeashed]

Thanks. Some good ideas here.
He has a couple of school projects he could include. I like the idea of setting them out like jobs.

EssentialHummus - You're a CV writer! Can I ask please, (it's a v long time since I wrote a CV!!) do you include name, address, school, GCSE subjects (school only offers double science) School awards, music grades, hobbies?
Anything else? tia.

[EssentialHummus]

do you include name, address, school, GCSE subjects (school only offers double science) School awards, music grades, hobbies?

I'd omit music grades for irrelevance, but yes to the rest. Also a short profile upfront saying something like "Highly motivated GCSE (?) student seeking science-focused work placement to gain experience of the working world", or somesuch. Profiles are a very good, easy way to frame oneself to the reader, and they are underused imo.

You can also include the name, number and email addy of one referee if you like - the head of year or similar? Or "Reference available on request" at the bottom of the page.

If he has done any science projects, mention these in their own section ("Relevant experience").

No need to include DOB, passport numbers, a photo, availability on particular dates... People put all sorts of odd things in there.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

Would you put a short personal statement too? DS16 has a paragraph at the top of his CV where he details his strengths, skills gained from cadets and D of E, and personal attributes such as punctuality, reliability etc, and things like his first aid and fire certificates from his little job.

[EssentialHummus]

none Typically I include one short (3-4 line) para saying who the person is and what they're looking for. Stuff like certificates wouldn't go in there unless he was a trained first aider looking for a medical role or similar- it's just not the place for it.

And never include unattributed skills- nothing puts the reader off like a profile starting "Hard-working, self-motivated team player...". It's meaningless.