Have you ever wanted to apply for a job, but you just 
weren’t sure about it? Or perhaps you didn’t feel 
prepared for an interview and you bailed out. Don’t 
worry; many teens and adults have gone through this. 
Thankfully, there are many teens out there who have 
had the experience of being interviewed or have 
applied for different jobs. 
Our expert Mary Zilge, counselor at the Santa Cruz 
County Regional Occupational Program, has some great 
tips on preparing yourself before you complete a job 
application. Here are some of her tips.
• Find out as much as you can about the job or company.
• Make a resume.
• When you are completing an application make a copy 
first and then do a rough draft. 
• Make a copy of the completed application and keep it 
on file so when you have to fill out another 
application most of your data is already gathered.
All right, you filled out the application so now what? 
Do you just sit next to the phone and hope that the 
next call will be a congratulations and a date to 
start your cool new job? Chances are you won’t receive 
that call. Instead you should check with the company 
every week or so to see if the position you applied 
for is still open. That will show that you really want 
the job or at least an interview. Once you know that 
your potential employer wants to interview you there 
will be some do’s and don’ts you may want to follow. 
Here are Zilge’s and other teens in Watsonville’s do’s 
and don’ts:
Do’s 
• Practice being interviewed. You may be asked things 
like: What are your skills? What are your strengths 
and weaknesses? Are you comfortable working with 
others? And so on. 
• Maintain eye contact. 
• Be polite. Use phrases like, “Hello nice to meet 
you.” 
• Dress to impress and remember to take a shower (no 
sandals, no t-shirts with logos). 
• SMILE! But don’t make the smile seem forced. 
• Insist on the job by calling and even going by a 
couple times a week. 
Don’ts 
• NO GUM!!!! 
• Don’t be a stuck up (nobody likes that). 
• Don’t be late. 
• Don’t lie. 
If you want more useful tips there are some websites 
like:
quintcareers.com/teen_job_stragedies 
If you want to know how to make a resume you may want 
to check out www.collegeboard.com or www.groovejob.com. They have 
really cool resume tips and samples that may be 
useful. And don’t forget to check out your local 
library; they carry books that may have some useful 
tips for y’all. Now that you have these tips put them 
to good use and good luck on your job hunting.