Those jobs that ask for one or two years of experience want someone with one or two years of experience. Why don't you want to start out working fast food? Thousands of students do; it's like a rite of passage and you shouldn't think you're above it.

Working at Ikea or Home Depot would be an entry-level position, so you shouldn't need much beyond a resume that represents your education in interior design and your volunteer work.

If possible, draw a connection between your volunteer work and what you'd like to do at Ikea or Home Depot. That connection is pretty broad: it could be organization, time management, serving customers, filling orders, etc.

Absolutely. You're not just being interviewed when you're being interviewed. You're being interviewed from the second you walk into the company's doors.

For me, working in a restaurant, I would always watch to see if the person bought food or a snack before or after the interview. When they did, I would ask the staff: were they polite? Were they fast? Do they know our products? Essentially, I want to see they're qualified and able to treat other customer services employees as if they're on the same level. I've dismissed some people without even interviewing them because they were rude to my staff, as if they were above them or better than them.

Moreover, even if you're just handing me your resume or application, I'm still looking at you. Especially being in a restaurant, I'm looking at your hands, your grooming, your hair, your clothes, your shoes, etc. to determine whether or not you're a good person to hire. Don't think I'm going to even think of hiring you if you come dressed like a whore and don't think it's a big deal since you're only dropping off your resume.

I also heard a story from the city's Hiring Manager: her receptionist was the first person to greet the person for an interview. The receptionist would see how the person acted when they arrived in the doors BEFORE they thought they were being watched. She could see how the person was dressed; what they were doing (on the phone? Reading? Looking around the building?); how they treated the receptionist (again goes back to my point above); and generally whether or not this was a good person to be interviewing. When the receptionist handed the person's file to the Manager, she would either give a subtle thumbs up or thumbs down, and that would set the tone for how difficult the interview questions would be and how likely the person was to be hired.

Yes, absolutely ask to see the manager. They're the person hiring you, so they can get an advanced look at you and perhaps ask you a few preliminary questions.

What's a skills and abilities section? I've never seen that on a resume.

What? Resumes don't vary from province to province. Your resume should be:

Name
Address
Phone Number
Email address

Objective

Highlights (if more than two pages)

Work Experience

Education

Interests

Qualifications

Volunteer Work

References

^ yes, it's still work.

Definitely do not add a picture if you're applying online.
A resume should include your previous job experiences, your interests and qualities, as well as what your looking for.
Remember not to boast about yourself and make yourself seem like you're the best in the world. Sometimes having a "normal" CV will be just as good.

No. You should always have "references available upon request." If the company wants references, they'll ask. If they don't, they have no business seeing your references' names and personal information.

Fonts should always have serifs (like Times New Roman), not sans-serif (like this font).

Your name should be the first thing at the top of the page, centred, and in a size enormously larger than the rest of the text.

And yes, there is a standard format, see earlier in this thread.

Okay! So I have two questions, which I would greatly appreciate your input for.

First, do you think I should put an awards section to compensate for lack of work experience section? [I have many awards, which I hope would make me stand out].

Next, is the Skills section highly regarded? I only listed 6 things (Quick Learner, Organized, etc)

Just as a note, I am a high school student.

i dont even know where to start cuz i am now finshing high school and i havent even made a resume so plz help