Hired By:*
Writing your first high school resume can feel challenging, especially if you haven't had a formal job yet, but you probably have more experience to share than you realize.
This guide offers resume templates, examples, and writing tips to help you highlight your strengths for a first job, college application, or other opportunity—with or without formal work experience.
Use this high school resume example and template to learn how to organize your qualifications for a first job, even if you have limited work experience.
To create your own resume using the template below, replace the bracketed placeholders, reorder sections to highlight your strengths, and remove anything that doesn’t apply.
[Your Full Name]
[City, State] | [Phone Number] | [Professional Email]
[Portfolio or LinkedIn URL, if relevant]
Resume Objective
[High school student with relevant skills, interests, and accomplishments seeking a specific opportunity. Explain what you can contribute.]
Education
[High School Name], [City, State]
Expected Graduation: [Month Year]
GPA: [GPA, if 3.5 or higher]
Relevant Coursework: [Courses related to the opportunity]
Honors: [Relevant academic recognition]
Skills
Experience
[Role or Position] | [Organization or Individual] | [City, State] | [Dates]
Activities & Volunteer Experience
[Role or Activity] | [Organization] | [Dates]
Certifications & Awards (Optional)
A high school resume should include contact information, education, relevant experience, skills, and activities that demonstrate your qualifications. Add volunteer work, certifications, awards, or school projects when they support your application.
Your high school resume should include accurate contact information so employers and admissions representatives can easily reach you. At the top of your resume, add your:
You don't need to include your full street address, age, photo, marital status, or Social Security number. If you're under 18, limit unnecessary personal information.
The education section is often one of the most important parts of a high school student's resume. Include your school's name, location, and expected graduation date.
You can also include relevant coursework, academic honors, and your GPA if they strengthen your application. For example, highlight advanced math for tutoring roles or technical coursework for an apprenticeship.
Your work experience section can include paid jobs, internships, and informal work. For example, babysitting can demonstrate responsibility, tutoring can show communication skills, and helping with a family business can provide customer service experience.
For each experience, include your role, organization or employer, dates, and two or three accomplishment-focused bullet points. If you've held formal jobs, list them in reverse-chronological order.
Include school clubs, sports, student government, community service, and leadership roles that demonstrate relevant skills. These experiences can show teamwork, initiative, responsibility, and commitment, especially when you haven't held a formal job.
Instead of simply listing your membership, explain what you contributed. For example, “Organized a school supply drive that collected 200 items for local students” tells employers more than “Member of Student Council.”
Your resume skills should match the opportunity you're pursuing. Include relevant technical abilities, job-specific knowledge, and soft skills, such as adaptability and teamwork.
Examples include:
Avoid listing vague traits without supporting evidence. If you describe yourself as organized or dependable, your experience and activities should help demonstrate those qualities.
Additional resume sections can highlight accomplishments that don't fit elsewhere. Depending on your goals, you might include honors and awards, academic projects, publications, memberships, or relevant hobbies and interests.
You generally don't need to include references on your resume unless they're requested. Instead, prepare a separate list of teachers, coaches, advisors, volunteer supervisors, or employers who can speak to your abilities. Always ask permission before sharing someone's contact information.
To write a high school resume without work experience, start with your education, identify relevant skills, and turn school activities, volunteering, and informal responsibilities into accomplishments. Then, customize your resume for the opportunity and proofread it carefully.
Step 1
A resume objective briefly highlights your skills, relevant experience, and goals. Keep it to two or three sentences tailored to the position.
Here’s an example of a high school resume objective that identifies a target role, highlights relevant experience, and connects the student's skills to the employer's needs:
Dependable high school junior seeking a part-time retail associate position. Experienced in organizing school fundraisers, assisting community members, and handling cash transactions. Eager to contribute strong communication and teamwork skills in a customer-focused environment.
If you've already gained relevant experience, a brief resume summary may work better. Focus on what you've accomplished rather than what you hope to gain.
Step 2
Focus on contributions and results rather than simply listing responsibilities. A useful formula for accomplishment-focused resume bullets is: Action verb + what you did + result or scope.
Compare these examples:
| Experience | Basic Description | Stronger Accomplishment |
|---|---|---|
| Babysitting | Watched children after school. | Supervised two children three afternoons per week, helping with homework and daily routines. |
| Student council | Helped plan events. | Coordinated a school fundraiser with 12 volunteers and raised $800. |
| Tutoring | Helped students with math. | Tutored three middle school students weekly in algebra and homework organization. |
| Sports | Played on the soccer team. | Coordinated weekly team warm-ups and helped organize practice equipment for a 15-player soccer team. |
| Volunteering | Helped at a food bank. | Sorted and packed approximately 150 food boxes during monthly volunteer shifts. |
Numbers can make your accomplishments more specific, but don't invent metrics. If you don't know an exact figure, describe the frequency, scale, or outcome of your work.
Step 3
Use strong action verbs to describe your contributions instead of repeatedly starting bullets with “helped” or “responsible for.”
Here are useful action verbs for a high school student resume:
| Category | Action Verbs |
|---|---|
| Leadership and organization | Led, coordinated, organized, planned, managed, supervised |
| Customer service and communication | Assisted, explained, welcomed, presented, supported, resolved |
| Technical and digital | Created, coded, edited, designed, analyzed, updated |
| Creative and problem-solving | Developed, improved, researched, brainstormed, adapted, solved |
| Administrative and financial | Recorded, tracked, processed, calculated, scheduled, maintained |
For example, “Organized weekly club meetings for 15 students” is more informative than “Responsible for club meetings.”
Choose verbs that accurately reflect your involvement. Don't claim you managed an event if you only assisted with setup.
Step 4
Tailoring your resume means selecting the skills, experiences, and accomplishments that are most relevant to the specific job or program. A generic resume may overlook qualifications that an employer is looking for.
Start by reviewing the job description and identifying important resume keywords, then connect those requirements to your actual experience.
For example, a student applying for a restaurant job could emphasize food safety training, teamwork, and reliability. Someone applying to a summer camp might highlight babysitting, coaching younger children, or organizing group activities.
Use the employer's terminology when it's accurate, and don't claim skills you can't demonstrate. For a first job, mention relevant availability or required certifications when appropriate.
Step 5
Proofreading helps ensure your resume looks professional and gives employers accurate information. Even a small mistake in your phone number or email address could prevent someone from contacting you.
Before submitting, check spelling, grammar, dates, capitalization, formatting, and contact details. Read your resume aloud, use a spelling checker, and ask a teacher or trusted adult to review it.
Make sure your bullet points use consistent verb tenses. Use present tense for ongoing responsibilities and past tense for completed experiences.
A high school resume for college emphasizes academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, leadership, and long-term commitments. A job resume focuses on relevant skills, reliability, work experience, and an employer's needs.
| Resume Element | College Application | Job Application |
|---|---|---|
| Education | GPA, challenging coursework, academic honors, and achievements | School name, graduation date, and relevant coursework |
| Experience | Internships, research, service, and meaningful projects | Paid jobs, informal work, internships, and volunteering |
| Activities | Leadership, extracurricular involvement, and sustained commitments | Activities that demonstrate teamwork, responsibility, and initiative |
| Skills | Academic, research, creative, or specialized skills | Customer service, communication, technical, and job-specific skills |
| Accomplishments | Academic recognition, awards, projects, and community impact | Measurable contributions and responsibilities |
| Additional details | Test scores when relevant or requested | Relevant certifications when appropriate |
For a college application, long-term commitments and significant projects can help admissions teams understand your interests and contributions. For example, instead of listing “Robotics Club Member,” you might write, “Collaborated with a four-student team to design and program a robot for a regional competition.”
Not every college requires or accepts a separate resume, so follow the institution's application instructions and choose experiences that add meaningful context to your application.
For a job application, focus on the qualifications an employer needs. For example, a retail applicant could highlight cash handling at a school fundraiser, while a tutoring applicant could emphasize academic achievements and experience helping classmates.
Soon-to-be and recent high school graduates should tailor their resumes to their next step, whether that's college, trade school, an apprenticeship, workforce training, or employment. For technical programs, emphasize relevant coursework, hands-on projects, and safety certifications.
If you're entering the workforce directly, prioritize practical experience and job-specific skills. Students heading to college can gradually shift their resumes to highlight postsecondary education, internships, and recent achievements.
The examples below cover common first jobs and college applications. Choose one that matches your goals, then adapt it to reflect your own skills, accomplishments, and experience.
A babysitter resume should highlight childcare experience, responsibility, and safety. This example shows how to present babysitting, volunteer childcare, and relevant certifications such as First Aid and CPR.
A camp counselor resume should emphasize leadership, teamwork, safety awareness, and experience working with children. Students with limited experience can highlight mentoring, coaching, outdoor activities, and relevant training.
A college application resume should showcase academic achievements, projects, extracurricular activities, and leadership. This example highlights a communications capstone project, tutoring, youth mentoring, and relevant coursework.
A food server resume should demonstrate customer service, teamwork, multitasking, and comfort in a fast-paced restaurant. This example highlights serving or hosting experience, cash handling, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and measurable accomplishments.
A retail sales associate resume should highlight customer service, communication, sales, and organization. This example shows how to present retail or seasonal work, volunteer experience, sales results, and inventory responsibilities.
A tutor resume should emphasize subject knowledge, communication, patience, and academic support. This example highlights tutoring experience, personalized study plans, and student progress, alongside relevant coursework and strong grades.
A high school resume should be easy to read, well organized, and tailored to the application. Choose a format that suits your experience and goals. For most high school students applying for jobs, one page is sufficient. Follow any different length requirements specified by a college, program, or employer.
There are three common resume formats: chronological, combination, and functional. Each organizes your qualifications differently, and LiveCareer's resume templates offer different layouts to help you get started.
A chronological resume or combination resume is often a practical choice for high school students. A functional resume may be appropriate in certain situations, but it shouldn't be the automatic default.
Use clear headings, a professional font, consistent spacing, and concise bullet points. Avoid unnecessary graphics, icons, skill bars, and complicated tables that could interfere with readability.
Always check the employer's or school's instructions before submitting your resume. Some applications request a PDF, while others prefer a Word document or require you to enter information directly into an online form.
Some employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to organize and screen applications. Simple formatting, standard section headings, and relevant keywords can help these systems process your resume more easily. If you're applying online, make sure your resume follows the instructions and remains readable when uploaded.
Creating your first resume doesn't have to mean starting from scratch. LiveCareer's Resume Builder helps students organize their education, skills, and experience with customizable templates and content suggestions. Add your own details, review the suggested wording, and tailor your resume to the opportunity.
To write a resume as a high school student, start with your contact information, education, relevant skills, and experience. Include school activities, volunteering, internships, or informal work that demonstrates your abilities. Use action verbs to describe your accomplishments, and tailor your resume to the opportunity. Most students should aim for a one-page resume with clear headings, consistent formatting, and accurate information.
A 16-year-old should include contact information, high school education, relevant skills, and any activities or experiences that demonstrate responsibility. Babysitting, tutoring, volunteering, school clubs, and sports can all provide useful examples. Include academic honors, certifications, or relevant coursework when appropriate. Focus on specific contributions and accomplishments rather than simply listing interests or claiming skills without evidence.
You don't always need a resume for your first job, but having one can help you present your qualifications professionally. Some entry-level employers use online applications instead of requiring resumes. If a resume is requested or accepted, highlight your education, skills, volunteer work, and informal responsibilities. Even without previous employment, a clear, tailored resume can help employers understand your strengths and why you're interested in the position.
Good skills for a high school student resume include communication, teamwork, organization, customer service, and relevant technical abilities. The most useful skills depend on the position. For example, a retail applicant might highlight cash handling and customer assistance, while a tutoring applicant could emphasize subject knowledge and communication. Choose skills you can demonstrate through school activities, projects, volunteering, or work experience.
To make a resume with no work experience, highlight your education, relevant skills, school activities, and volunteer responsibilities. Include accomplishments from projects, clubs, sports, or informal work, such as babysitting or helping with a family business. Use specific action verbs and measurable results when possible. Choose a clear resume format, prioritize your strongest qualifications, and tailor your information to the job or program you're applying for.
Over the past 15 years, we’ve helped more than 10 million job seekers build stronger cover letters, discover their career paths, interview confidently, and boost their chances of finding the right job faster. Review our Editorial Policy to learn more about our process.
Join 28M+ others who’ve built a resume that works.
Featured in:*
Add LiveCareer as a preferred source on Google
