High School Resume Example & Template for Your First Job

ChatGPT just wrote you a killer resume that sounds like you’ve been a CEO since kindergarten. 

Cool… except now you’re stunned it sounds fake (because employers can tell). 

In this blog, we’ll help you build a real, genuine resume – one that will get you noticed and hired. 

How a Resume Can Help High School Students Get Hired

If you’re in high school, this thought can come to your mind:  

“How am I supposed to write a resume when I’ve never had a job?”

You’re not alone.

Nearly 1 in 4 high school students secure part-time jobs and internships before completing their education.

Here’s some good news for you:

72% of employers care more about your skills than your education or past jobs. 

And you might have already got those skills – you just don’t know it yet.

And despite what you might think, you don’t need to invent fake experiences or let ChatGPT turn your babysitting gig into “Chief Child Development Officer” (please don’t do that).

Overcoming the “No Experience” Challenge

To secure a real job, most high school students think they need traditional work experience.

However, employers hiring for entry-level positions expect them to be new to the workforce. 

All extracurricular activities, all school projects, and all volunteer roles have taught you something.

It is possible that you learned time management from juggling sports with academics.

Even without formal work experience, these kinds of transferable skills make employers take notice.

What Employers Look for in a High School Resume

Your resume passes through three checkpoints: 

1. ATS System

Before your resume even reaches a human, it passes through an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). 

(75% of recruiters use these systems.)

ATS looks for specific keywords and skills that match the job description. 

For example, if you’re applying for a retail job and they want “customer service” experience, but you’ve written “helped people at school events” – the ATS might miss the connection completely.

Most of those fancy, and creative resume templates you found online are actually ATS kryptonite. 

Source = ResumeWorld

They might look cool, but they’re often the first reason resumes get rejected. 

2. HR 

If it makes it past the ATS, the resume reaches HR. 

They spend about 6-7 seconds per resume as they’re looking at hundreds of resumes every day (200+). 

They quickly skim through to h confirm if this person is worth considering. 

3. Hiring Manager

Lastly, your resume lands on the hiring manager’s desk. 

The hiring manager deeply looks at your skills and experiences.

Just remember that everything you put on your resume needs to be real because if you get called for an interview, you’ll need to talk about everything on your resume. 

How to Format a High School Resume for Your First Job

68% of hiring managers will reject your resume if it’s poorly formatted. That’s right. 

We’ll show you the resume formats that pass through all three checkpoints. 

The Best Resume Layout for High School Students

Let’s talk about the different resume formats you can choose from. 

They’re ranked from most effective to least recommended based on hiring data. 

1. Reverse Chronological Format 

Data shows that the success rate increases by 30% when candidates use this format.

It’s effective for showcasing your educational achievements and any experience you’ve gathered.

As the resume format nature is very straightforward, the hiring managers easily spot what they’re looking for. 

Source = Allbusinesstemplates

2. Functional/Skills-Based Format

This format is recommended for those starting from scratch.

It is because this approach shifts focus from what you’ve done to what you can do. 

For example, you can mention transferable skills you might have developed through school activities. 

Candidates without prior work experience have an increased success rate of 15%.

Souce = Infallible

3. Hybrid Format

Hybrid formats provide a middle ground.

With this format, you can combine your skills with your experience.

This results in about 25% higher callback rates when showcasing projects or certifications.

It’s particularly well-suited for technical positions or if you’ve completed relevant coursework or online training.

Source = Resumegenius

4. Creative/Infographic Format

This format is visually appealing, but it comes with significant risks. 

Only 10% of hiring managers favor these designs. They also fail to pass through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). 

Unless you’re specifically applying for design-related positions, it’s best to save your creative energy for your portfolio rather than your resume.

Source = Venngage

Choosing the Right Font, Spacing, and Sections

Employers make judgments about your resume based on its appearance.

When it comes to modern and clean typefaces, three fonts stand out to recruiters.

1. Rubik
2. Montserrat
3. Calibri

The majority of hiring managers choose these fonts because they are professional and detail-oriented.

Remember that New Times Roman is the same as showing up to an interview dressed like your grandparents.

Size is equally as important as font choice.

For your primary text, choose 11-12 point size.

For the headers: 14-16 points

These sizes are sufficient to establish a clear hierarchy and direct the reader’s eye, but not so large that they overpower the page.

One-Page Resume: Keeping It Simple and Effective

One-page resumes are preferred by 87% of hiring managers for entry-level applicants.

And this is more than sufficient for high schoolers like you.

Do the following

• 3-5 bullet points for each encounter or activity
• Prioritize accomplishments above descriptions.

Instead of saying “helped at school events,” attempt “Coordinated three school fundraisers that raised $2,000 for local charities.” Can you see the difference? It’s not only about chores; it’s about accomplishments.

That second page is unnecessary.

You need to now understand the basics of resume writing.

Use AI to create the resume after you have the necessary abilities or foundational knowledge. Here’s how to use AI Resume Builder to accomplish this.

1. Select a pre-designed template that is compatible with ATS.

2. Let AI do the heavy lifting (AI can be super helpful – when used right.)

• Suggest industry-specific keywords that get past ATS
• Help phrase your experiences professionally
• Automatically format everything to fit one page

3. Save your resume in multiple formats (PDF, and Word).

Pro Tip: Do you want to expedite the process? To make your job search more individualized, use an AI-powered job application tool.

Your resume won’t appear like everyone else’s if you use these tools. Your experiences and abilities are still there; they’re just shown in a way that hiring managers find appealing. 

What to Include in a High School Resume

If you’ve been thinking about what to include in a high-school resume, this section will solve a lot of the confusion. 

1. Contact Information

43% of high school applicants trip here.

You can’t use the email address you created in 6th grade – one which reads like “unicornlover” or “fortnitepro” in it. 

A hiring manager once shared that she had two identical candidates for a retail position. 

One used “[email protected]”, the other “[email protected]”. Guess who got the interview? 

(It wasn’t gamerboy).

Here’s your professional contact info checklist:

• Full name (that matches your school ID)
• Professional email ([email protected])
• Phone number (that you are actively using)
• Location (city and state is enough)
• LinkedIn profile (if you don’t have – create one right away)

2. Resume Summary or Objective (With Examples)

This is the section where most high school students struggle. 

Adding a targeted resume summary increases your interview chances by 40%. Yet 91% of high school students skip this part completely. 

They think they don’t have anything worth summarizing. Wrong!

Let’s look at two examples:

Bad Summary: High school students seeking any job opportunity to gain experience. ( This screams “I just need any job, please!”)

Good Summary: Honor roll student with strong leadership experience as Debate Club Vice President, seeking a retail position to apply proven communication and organizational skills. Successfully coordinated school food drive serving 200+ families.

(See what we did there? Same person, totally different impact!)

3. Education Section

91% of employers still consider education important for entry-level positions. 

But it’s not just about slapping your school name and GPA on there.

Include:

• Your school name and expected graduation date
• GPA (only if you’re proud of it)
• Relevant coursework 

4. Skills Section (Hard & Soft Skills)

72% of employers care more about skills than experience. This is your chance to highlight them and overcome the “no experience” objection.

The ONLY rule for this is to turn everyday high school experience into job-ready skills.

See this example, 

Instead of: Good at group projects

Write: Collaborative team player with experience coordinating 5-person group presentations

Identify all the soft and hard skills you’ve acquired and make a list. 

Hard Skills to Highlight: 

• Google Workspace/Microsoft Office (89% of jobs require these)
• Basic photo editing (if you’ve ever made graphics for school clubs)
• Social media management (running your club’s Instagram counts!)
• Data entry (from that volunteer work at the library? Absolutely!)

Soft Skills to Highlight:

Back your soft skills with the tangible work you’ve done. 

Instead of just listing Time management

Write Balanced 15 hours weekly tennis practice with honors coursework while maintaining a 3.8 GPA.

5. Extracurricular Activities & Volunteer Work

This section is pure gold for high school resumes. 

It is because 65% of employers say they’re more likely to hire students with volunteer experience than those without.

The key is quantifying your impact. For example, 

Before: Member of Environmental Club

After: Led a 3-person team in implementing a school-wide recycling program, increasing recycling participation by 50%

6. Work Experience (If Applicable)

This section isn’t for you if you never had a “real” job. At your level, employers care more about your skills and summary section.

But if you do have experience, here’s where you present it.

For actual work experience:

• Start with your most recent position
• Use action verbs (“Managed,” “Created,” “Led”)
• Include numbers whenever possible (“Served average of 100 customers daily”)

If you don’t have work experience, you can add the small high-school projects.

The key is to answer three questions in this section:

• What did you do?
• How did you do it?
• What was the result?

That’s it! Don’t overthink at this point.

7. Certifications & Awards

This section goes to the bottom of your resume. Think about any certifications or awards you’ve earned so far. It could be:

A First Aid certification

A Coursera course

Winning a writing competition

Whatever it is, brainstorm and add it to your resume.

Remember: Every single thing on your resume should answer one question: 

“Why should we hire you?” Keep that in mind, and you’re already ahead of 90% of your competition.

High School Resume Sample For First Job (Template)

To see example resumes and templates you can use right away, check out:

• Basic ATS-Friendly Template
• Student Template
• Achievement-Focused Template

Example of a Well-Formatted Resume for High School Students

Source  Enhancv

Common Mistakes to Avoid in a First Job Resume

Now that you understand what to do, let’s go over what “NOT TO DO” while writing the resume.

1. Creating a Cluttered Resume

No one likes to read the wall of text. Adding 5-6 lines of paragraphs makes your resume feel like a full-page essay. 

This is visually unappealing, and employers won’t consider it. (No matter how good the content is) 

Instead, 

• Use bullet points (3-5 per section max)
• Keep each bullet to 1-2 lines
• Start with action verbs
• Get to the point

For Example, 

Bad: Worked on a lot of projects.

Good: Collaborated on 10+ group projects, successfully presenting to a class of 50 students.

2. Leaving Typos in Your Resume

80% of resumes get rejected because of typos? 

Not because the candidate wasn’t qualified – just because they didn’t double-check their spelling. 

Tips to avoid this:

1. Proofread your resume at least twice.
2. Use grammar and spell check tools.
3. Ask someone else to review it before sending it.

3. Self-Rating Your Skills

You’ve probably seen the resume with ratings like: 

• Excel skills: ★★★★☆
• Leadership: ★★★★★

It’s essentially asking the employer to trust your opinion about… yourself. That’s like giving an A+ on your own test. 

Instead:

Bad: Communication skills: Expert level

Good: Led weekly club meetings of 20+ students, and presented 3 successful funding proposals to the school board.

4. Using A One-Size-Fit All Resume

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

Conversely, when you tailor your resume to the job, it increases your interview chances by 47%.

Think about it, if you’re applying for both a retail job and a tutoring position, should your resume be identical? Of course not!

Here’s how to tailor your resume:

1. Read the job description carefully
2. Highlight the keywords they use (especially in the “Requirements” section)
3. Mirror those exact words in your resume (if you honestly have those skills)
4. Reorder your bullet points so the most relevant experiences are at the top

Every job is looking for something specific. Your resume’s job is to show them you’ve got exactly what they’re looking for – not everything you’ve ever done.

5) Skipping Basic Skills

Sometimes the skills that seem most basic to you are exactly what employers want to see. 

Being able to use Google Docs might seem basic, but 62% of employers specifically look for it on entry-level resumes.

Here’s what to do instead:

• List ALL your relevant skills
• Back them up with specific examples
• Let the employer decide what’s important

Remember: Yes, your resume needs to be professional, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring. Your experiences are unique – don’t be afraid to let that show through in how you describe them.

How to Apply for Your First Job with Confidence

Most high school students give up after applying for 5-10 jobs. 

However, it takes 50-100 applications to land one interview. 

Now, we’ll show you how to work smarter and not harder.

1. The 10-10-10 Method

• Spend 10 minutes researching each company
• Take 10 minutes to tailor your resume
• Use 10 minutes to submit a quality application

That’s so much work,  but it is equally worth it. 

Students who use this method typically need only 30-40 applications to get an interview, versus 100+ for those who copy-paste.

2. The 48-Hour Follow Up

Following up within 48 hours of applying increases your response rate by 30%. 

Yet only 5% of high school applicants do this. 

Your Follow-Up Timeline:

1. Day 0: Submit the application
2. Day 2: Send a brief follow-up email
3. Day 7: One final check-in
4. Day 14: Move on if no response

Use a follow-up email template that’s professional and is proven to work.

3) Working Smart With Auto-Applying Tools

AI auto-job applier will be your biggest time-saver since you’ll have to apply for dozens of jobs. 

(Disclaimer: Automation should complement your strategy, not be your entire strategy.)

Here’s how to use them:

1. Upload your resume and LinkedIn profile to make custom job applications.
2. Set filters to find the best job for you.
3. AI will apply to jobs, even without your consistent input.

Remember that Persistence beats perfection. 

Conclusion

Applying for jobs is supposed to feel scary.

It means you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. But with the right preparation, you can turn your nervous energy into confidence. 

• Write down 3 specific achievements you’re proud of
• Practice explaining them in under 30 seconds each
• Use them as your go-to examples in applications and interviews

Don’t set unrealistic goals of “getting a job this week” because this rarely happens (and it’s pretty normal).

Just remember your first “yes” is out there – you just have to keep going until you find it.