High School Student Resume Examples & Writing Guide

You read Catch-22 in English class last year—now you’re living it. Why?

You’re writing a high school student resume to land your first job or internship—but don’t have any experience to show. Luckily, you’re about to learn how to make a resume for high school students so good, they’ll think you’re the valedictorian.

In this guide, you'll see:

• High school resume examples that will help you land your first job.
• A high school resume template that suits your needs.
• A full breakdown of how to write a resume for high school students that gets interviews.
• Best skills to add to your high school student resume. 

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Have you already graduated from high school? Go here:

• High School Graduate Resume

First, let's take a look at three resume examples for high schoolers with varying degrees of work experience.

High School Resume Examples

As a high schooler, you might already have plenty of entry-level work experience. Conversely, you might be looking for your first job ever. Each of these types of resumes requires a slightly different approach. Below are three resume samples to help you visualize your end goal: a complete job application for a high school student with no experience, part-time experience, or plenty of work history.

#1 High School Resume Example With No Proper Work Experience

#2 High School Resume Sample With Part-Time Experience

#3 Experienced High Schooler Resume Example

Now, let’s get started on your high school student resume!

1. Choose the Best High School Student Resume Format

Think of writing your resume for a high school student like a take-home test. The standards for getting an A+ are high.

You need to do your research, use powerful language, and customize your resume for the job you want to land. It won’t be easy—The recruiters will give your resume only a 7-second glance to decide whether you pass or not.

To pass the eye test, make sure your resume isn’t cluttered. Here’s how to make your high school resume format crystal clear:

• Pick a simple resume template. A high school resume template shouldn’t be overdesigned.
• Go with the reverse-chronological resume format, as it is preferred by most recruiters.
• Choose readable resume fonts like Cambria or Times New Roman in 10-12 pt. You want to appear professional and show you’ve done this before.
• Embrace white space by using 1-inch margins and consistent spacing throughout the document.
• Limit your resume length to one page.
• Separate your resume sections. Go with: the resume header, resume profile, education, experience (if you have any), skills, and “additional.”
• Unless instructed otherwise, save your resume as a PDF, rather than DOC. Converting it to PDF ensures your layout works on all software and devices.

Expert Hint: Keep your contact information in the resume header concise. Give your name, professional email address, phone number, optimized LinkedIn URL, and a link to any other of your relevant websites, blogs, or social media profiles. You can also add a catchy resume headline for some extra flair.

2. Write a Catching Resume Objective for a High School Student Resume

Pop quiz! What’s the best way to make your high school student resume stand out?

A pitch-perfect high school resume objective. It’s a short paragraph at the top of your resume that explains what skills will make you a good fit and what you’re hoping to achieve for the company.

Use:

1. A catchy resume adjective (determined, efficient, enthusiastic).
2. Current title (high school senior, high school student).
3. One or two accomplishments.
4. One sentence explaining what you’re seeking to achieve for the company.

Look at these two high school resume objective examples for reference:

High School Student Resume Objective—Example

Enthusiastic high school senior with a passion for politics. Seeking to leverage top scores in Social Science (102%) and volunteering experience at a nonprofit voter awareness organization to deliver on all major KPIs as an intern at the Cuyahoga County Government Office.

High school student graduating next year. Want to gain experience working in an office setting for my college application.

See the difference?

The good high schooler resume example gets to the point—it details the hard work you put in as a student and shows you are knowledgeable in the industry you are applying. Plus, it makes an offer to help achieve the company’s goals.

But if you use the bad example, you’ll be expelled from the applicant pool. It reads generic and provides no value to the recruiter. It doesn’t even use the name of the target organization—you get the feeling the resume is being spammed around to all companies within a 30-mile radius.

Expert Hint: Although the resume objective goes on top of your application, it’s not a good idea to start writing your resume with it. Finish all the other sections first. It’ll make creating a compelling objective much easier.

3. Use Your High School Education to Great Effect

You’ve been in the halls of a school your entire life.

And although it may seem that you have no practical skills and experience… It’s not true. School is where you’ve achieved some of your greatest accomplishments.

Start your resume education section with the basics: list your school name and expected graduation date.

Then, highlight your biggest achievements as a high school student. List any AP or Honors courses you attended under relevant coursework—extra brownie points if they connect with the position you’re applying to. Put your GPA (especially if it’s above 3.5) on your resume since this is the first job you’re applying for or if you’ve recently graduated. And don’t forget about your academic-centered memberships.

Take a look at how this candidate made the education section on the resume for high school students shine with great achievements, and compare it to what you shouldn’t do.

High School Resume Example—Education Section

Education

Cuyahoga Heights High School,

Garfield Heights, OH

Expected Graduation: 2024

GPA: 3.75

Relevant Coursework: AP US History, Intro to Government, AP European History

• Vice president of the student council
• Member of the debate & political science clubs

Education

Cuyahoga Heights High School

Graduation 2024

You get the difference. The bad example just lists a high school and graduation date. It’s less productive than sleeping during class.

The good example shows that you excelled during your time in high school. It signals to the recruiter that you didn’t just get by in high school but achieved and grew—two values much appreciated in the workplace.

4. Add Any Relevant Work Experience to Your High School Resume

You don’t need to have any relevant work experience. Hell, you don’t need to have a resume work experience section at all. But if you have any seasonal or temporary work experience, they will make your resume skyrocket to the top of the pile.

Here’s the best formula to showcase your professional work achievements on your high schooler resume:

1. Don’t skim the job ad—read it thoroughly.
2. Highlight the skills they are looking for.
3. Think about which of them you gained during your previous working experiences.
4. Write resume bullets that show those skills and back them up with numbers if you can.

Check these high school resume job descriptions out:

Student Delegate

Model United Nations

June 2021–November 2023

• Represented two countries for numerous UN committees with pre-set topics for debate.
• Researched the background of the countries and prepared notes on possible solutions to the problems faced.
• Provided strong leadership and guidance to the team, resulting in a top-3 delegation finish.
• Achieved a 95% committee resolution rate.

Student Delegate

Model Nations

• A student who took part in Model UN Debates at their high school.
• Helped win several as part of the Model UN team.

And again, you’re not expected to have 20+ years of experience at 16 or 18 years old, despite what the internet says. If you’re applying for your first job out of high school, just skip this section and highlight your skills more in the next sections of your high school resume.

Expert Hint: Writing the perfect resume can seem like a hassle, so cheating can be tempting. But should you relax and let the AI write your resume? There is nothing wrong with using chatbots for help, but you should develop strong resume-writing skills yourself. They’ll greatly help you in the future.

The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now.

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5. Add Important Skills to Your High School Student Resume

Remember the job ad? It’s full of skills your future employer expects you to have. They act as resume keywords for their ATS scans.

An ATS is a software system that recruiters use to weed out applicants whose resumes don’t match the position they are applying to. If you don’t have the right keywords for the position, you’ll likely land in the reject pile automatically. This means you need an ATS-friendly resume.

So, match your skill list with the keywords you find in the job ad. Here are some common examples of skills for a high school student resume:

Skills for a High School Student Resume

• Writing Skills
• Technical Skills
• Marketing Skills
• Management Skills
• Communication Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Project Management Skills
• Analytical Skills
• Workplace Safety
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Time Management Skills
• Active Listening Skills
• OHS Rules & Regulations
• Computer Skills
• Decision-Making Skills
• Creative Thinking Skills
• Administrative Skills
• Leadership Skills

Fair warning, though:

Don’t overload your application with a long list of skills for a resume. No recruiter wants a resume that’s as long as the list of irregular verbs. Pick 5–10 skills, and you’re golden. Also, if possible, try to prioritize hard skills over soft skills. For example, if you’re applying for a receptionist position, use resume keywords like MS Office or your typing speed.

And one more thing. A rather large concern for companies and teen employees is work safety. So, this skill is a rather ubiquitous one and can easily increase the value of your resume.

6. Load Your High School Student Resume With Extra Sections

Every high school student has the same resume sections we explained above. Want to stand out? Add one or two bonus sections to get recruiters to notice you. Choose from:

• Certifications
• Volunteer Experience
• Known Languages
• Hobbies & Interests
• Completed Courses
• Publications
• Memberships

Adding 1–3 of them is how you can upgrade your resume as a high school student.

Look at this great example of extra sections:

Volunteer Experience

Volunteer

VoterVoice,

Garfield Heights, OH

March 2022 - Current

• Delivered speeches to increase voter awareness
• Collected donations for voter education campaigns
• Distributed informational flyers at local events to promote civic engagement

Languages

• Spanish - bilingual

Certifications

• Microsoft Office Specialist Expert, Microsoft, January 2019

Hobbies

• Cooking Spanish cuisine
• Watching nature documentaries

You see how the first high school resume template shows key skills and provides additional experience and achievements. This is how you should do it.

Meanwhile, the second candidate doesn’t present anything valuable unless they apply at a Spanish restaurant.

Expert Hint: Don’t forget to learn how to write a cover letter. Most jobs require it—and it’s where you can give more details about your passions and interests.

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Key Points

For a high school student resume that passes with flying colors, remember to:

• Use the provided high school student resume template. It’s got everything you need.
• Showcase your achievements with a captivating objective. Highlight them further in the later resume sections.
• Detail your educational background. Don’t forget to add relevant awards and classes you took, along with the school name, city, state, and the expected graduation date.
• Highlight your skills. Refer to the job ad and add relevant hard and soft abilities.
• Write a high school cover letter. A cover letter with no experience is extremely effective at boosting your chances of landing your first job.

And if you’re looking for related guides, check out any of these:

• College Application Resume
• College Graduate Resume
• College Student Resume
• Graduate School Resume
• Internship Resume
• No Experience Resume
• Scholarship Resume
• Student Resume
• Teen Resume

Do you have questions on how to write a great high school student resume with no experience? Not sure how to present your high school education on a resume? Leave a comment. We’ll be happy to reply.