Power Skills are a Vital Part of Student Resumes

Do you work with young people who are trying to find a job, and need to learn how to use power skills to help them get one?

If you work with young people in a vocational, transition or pathways program, you probably know all too well the challenge that comes with writing a resume or applying for a job. It can be hard, frustrating work for teens who sometimes find that getting a job needs work experience or skills they just don’t have – yet. They can become stuck in a continuous loop of trying to build experience, which really comes best from having a job, but needing a job in the first place to gain the experience. Over time, lots of young people become frustrated and distressed at applying for jobs they don’t land. Sometimes young people don’t get to the interview stage because their resume and application doesn’t tick the boxes an employer is looking for.

Power skills help young people find and keep work

Why are power skills important?

Power skills are a wonderful set of skills and abilities which can sit alongside hands on, technical skills. Power skills don’t need a high level qualification. They don’t need lots of study and training. They simply need time to develop. And the best bit – power skills can grow through all the daily experiences that young people can choose to access at school or in their local community. Power skills are like the secret sauce that teens can add to the top of their resume and job application to help catch the eye of an employer. In many workplaces, employers know they can teach hands on, technical skills that are needed in a particular job role. What they can’t teach as easily are power skills. Employers know that power skills are essential to making their workplace operate smoothly and efficiently. Without power skills, tasks don’t get done, people get into conflicts, schedules run over time and complaints increase while profit goes down.

What are power skills?

Power skills include all those less technical skills that help people work together to get the job done. They are an important part of most vocational programs in high school, and they lead neatly into the world of work once students leave school.

Here’s a few that are vital in most workplaces:

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Problem solving

• Emotional intelligence

• Leadership

• Adaptability

• Flexibility

• Conflict management

• Time management

• Resilience

• Confidence

• Creativity

• Innovation

• Personal management

The power skills which are most important vary from one workplace to another. Some workplaces are very customer focused, so they need workers who have great communication, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and confidence. Other workplaces are more task and product oriented, so skills like innovation, creativity, teamwork and time management become important.

Have good time management skills is important in many workplaces

How can teens develop power skills?

Teens can develop power skills in many different ways. Being active in the community is a great way to build teamwork, confidence, leadership and creativity. Community activities like volunteering in a charity store, helping with a reading program or visiting an aged care facility can all be great ways of building power skills. Sport and recreation activities are also ideal for using power skills. Helping out on an after school sports program, coaching a team, mentoring younger athletes or visiting a sports club to talk about training and fitness can help active teens build positive power skills. At school, power skills like creativity and innovation are an important part of STEM clubs, art projects, craft activities, being part of a book club and joining in whole school programs like painting a mural or designing a year book cover can all help build new skills. In a vocational or transition class, power skills can be taught explicitly so that students learn about power skills concepts and apply their skills in practical ways.

Volunteering in the community is a great way to learn power skills

Should power skills go into a resume?

Power skills are essential in a resume, particularly for young people who are applying for an entry level position where they may not have a lot of hands on experience to help them land a first job. Power skills add depth and experience to a student resume. They help focus an employer on skills like communication, teamwork, problem solving and leadership which are important in most workplaces. Encourage students to read job advertisements carefully and look for examples of power skills which are mentioned in the advertisement. It makes sense to include the same power skills in a student resume that an employer has written in the advertisement. So, if an employer has said they are looking for a confident worker who is able to communicate with customers and work in a team, then a young person can think about how to demonstrate those same power skills in their resume.

If you are working with young people in a vocational, transition or pathways program who are beginning to think about getting a job, encourage them to think about how they can include the power skills that they develop at school and in the community within their resume. Remind them that power skills are the secret sauce that helps them find, keep and succeed at work.

Power skills examples for student resumes

Here are some power skills examples for student resumes:

• I developed good leadership, communication and teamwork skills during my volunteer work as a soccer coach at Maryfield Soccer Club for three years. I coached the Under 12's team and helped with training, match preparation and umpiring.

  
  

• I gained valuable time management and problem solving skills when I helped run the coding club at school during 2025. I demonstrated new coding skills and helped other students solve coding problems.

  
  

• I developed my teamwork, creativity and innovation skills through my involvement with the STEM after school youth group. This project led to my team competing with a new design in a regional STEM competition where we won third place for the most innovative design.

If your students are learning about Power Skills, you can begin with some classroom decor to introduce key concepts into your transition, vocational (VM) or pathways (VPC) program, then teach those skills clearly and explicitly so students know how to include them in their resume and job applications.

Power Skills at Work Set of 12 posters for vocational skills