We all know how tough it can be to craft a winning resume that can get your job application noticed and help you land an interview. Resume writing is always full of pitfalls by default. But, it really gets worse when you don’t have much work experience to compete against other job seekers. Namely, it is a real challenge to write a worthy sample resume for high school student.
When you are a high school student looking to start making some money for a living, your job search can be disastrously tough. You have to find ways to make your high school student resume sample shine despite the fact that you don’t have much professional experience, skills, completed education, and other competitive advantages.
However, though it can be tough, we didn't mean to say that it is not possible to land a job if you are a high school student. With our expert guide, you are only a few steps away from a killer resume high school student sample!
Still hesitant about your Resume?
How To Write a High School Student Resume
Applying for your first job as a high school student is exciting, but also frightening. As a newbie, you may have no idea of how to write a resume that gets jobs. But, we’ve got you covered!
In this article, our experts with years of experience in the resume writing business will share their expertise with you. Here, you will find lots of helpful tips and a great resume sample for high school student.
But, first, let’s start with the basics. Here are the main steps you will be taking:
- Carefully read the job description to understand the needs and requirements of potential employers.
- Find a clear and engaging resume sample high school student format that suits you.
- Write a killer resume objective.
- Next, include your education and work experience (if any).
- List your strongest skills, both soft and hard ones.
- Complete your resume with the right additional sections to emphasize how unique you are as a potential employee. Some of the extras you may add are certifications, hobbies, and interests, volunteer experience, etc.
- Tailor your resume to the job opening.
- Add relevant resume keywords and action verbs to stand out.
These are the basic steps. Now, let’s move on and look at the main tips for success.
Choose the Right Template for a High School Student Resume
To engage recruiters and potential employers with your high school student sample resume you should first identify a template, formatting, and design that will work best for you.
According to stats, it only takes about 7 seconds for a hiring manager to scan your resume and decide whether they want to recruit you. Therefore, the layout of your sample high school student resume has to put your key skills and biggest accomplishments forward to grab the recruiter’s attention right away.
Here are a few tips to help you find an effective sample high school student resume template:
- Stick to the chronological format.
- Put a header at the top of your resume and add the correct contact information to it.
- Add your resume sections in the following order - objective, education, experience, skills, and add-ons.
- Choose readable and good-looking fonts.
- Divide your sections visually with headings.
- Keep your design simple and with lots of white space.
- Choose the PDF file type.
Write a High School Student Resume Summary or Summary Objective
Every resume needs some kind of an opening statement. It is that part of a resume that helps an applicant to make the right impression on recruiting firms and ensure that his or her resume stands out among other applications.
Generally, there are two ways to start a resume the right way - a resume summary or resume objective. However, there is only one right solution for a sample resume for a high school student. And it is a resume objective.
A summary only works for candidates with a flawless level of qualification and tons of experience. Whereas a sample resume objective high school student is a perfect choice if you have little to no experience.
Here is a sample of objective in resume for high school student:
Outgoing and self-motivated high school senior with a 4.0 GPA in English looking to leverage knowledge and proven skills to become a teaching assistant in a children’s English class at [school/company].
How to Write a Resume for High School Student with No Experience
If you are applying for high school student jobs, chances are that you have zero (or nearly zero) work experience. But don’t get despaired because of this, because the recruiter and potential employer won’t expect you to have loads of experience. That is, you have all the odds to land a job with a sample resume for high school student with no experience. But, only if it looks great!
If you are wondering how to create a job-winning sample resume no experience high school student, here are some simple and yet effective tips and tricks:
- Focus on writing a resume objective that turns heads. It has to make the best impression.
- List relevant coursework in the education section to showcase your knowledge of the field in which you are planning to work.
- Emphasize your extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, and skills on your resume sample for high school student no experience.
Put Your Education on Resume for a High School Student
It’s quite obvious that if you are still in high school, you don’t even have a complete school degree, not to mention higher education. Thus, when it comes to filling out the education section of your resume for high school student sample, it can feel very overwhelming and even frightening. But, the good news is that you’ve got everything you need to get more interviews and land a job. You just need to learn how to present yourself the right way.
Here are a few tips to create a solid education section for a sample resume high school student that will get you employed:
- Include the right details
- School name
- Location
- Expected graduation date
- Put more value by mentioning your GPA (of course, only if it’s high).
- Mention relevant coursework.
- List memberships in clubs and societies if it is relevant.
- Specify honors and awards.
How many mistakes are acceptable on a resume? Are you at risk?
Get Free resume feedback >>
Put Skills on a High School Student Resume
When you apply for your first job as a high school student, you are only at the beginning of your career path and may not yet have plenty of job-related hard skills. But, we bet that you do have lots of soft and transferable skills that can make employers want to employ you. You just need to know how to list them in a sample of resume for high school student.
To list skills right, put them in a separate section in your sample resume of high school student. Make a mix of your strongest soft and hard skills, and tailor this section to the job opening. Also, prove your skills in other sections.
What skills will help you impress the recruiter? Here is a list of the key skills that you should already have and that most employers are looking for:
- Writing
- Technical skills
- Strong communication skills
- Time management
- Computer skills
- Active listening
- Problem-solving
- Marketing skills
- Creativity
- Decision-making
- Management skills
- Analytical skills
- Critical thinking
- Project management
Add Contact Info to Your Resume
To occupy the chosen position, you want a potential employer to be able to reach out to you in the first place. Therefore, a contact info section is an absolute must-have for your sample resume of high school student.
Here is what to include in the contact info section of a high school student resume sample:
- Full name
- Subtitle - This point is optional and it can be some branding statement like “Motivated High School Junior”
- Mailing address - Today, we rarely put mailing addresses on resumes, but, as a student, you may want to add it
- Professionally-looking email address
- Phone number
- Extras (e.g. a personal website or blog, LinkedIn account, or other social media)
Add Other Sections to Your Effective Resume
If you look at the examples we provide, you will see that every sample high school student resume with no work experience features at least a few extra sections. Why’s that, you may wonder? Because it is a sure bet when you want to impress hiring managers even without work experience.
Extra sections help your sample resume for high school student with no job experience reach several big goals:
- Tell more about your personality.
- Show your passion.
- Confirm your skills.
Including the right additional sections in a sample resume for high school student with no work history can really give you a competitive advantage. So, here are a few ideas to consider:
- Certifications
- Volunteering experiences
- Languages you speak
- Hobbies and interests
- Extracurricular activities
All these sections can give recruiters important insights about you and boost your chances of getting hired. The main thing to remember is that all extra sections should be relevant to the job you are applying for.
Use Key Action Verbs
Every resume should feature resume keywords and action verbs, especially if we are talking about a sample high school student resume. These words ensure that your resume doesn’t get weeded out by the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). The ATS system is created to help recruiters quickly find resumes that don’t meet the job requirements and filter them out. So, you really want your resume to be visible for this resume-scanning software.
Here is a list of great action verbs for a resume high school student sample:
- Communicated
- Arranged
- Authored
- Applied
- Categorized
- Conveyed
- Scheduled
- Managed
- Spearheaded
- Designed
- Initiated
- Promoted
- Persuaded
- Visualized
- Launched
- Systematized
- Developed
- Directed
- Debated
- Presented
Resume For High School Student First Job
So, you’ve decided to look for your first job. How to ensure success? Writing a worthy sample resume for high school student first job can be rather challenging, but we've got you covered!
To land your first job, you need a strong, skill-focused sample high school student resume with no work experience that emphasizes your major strengths. Here are a few tips that will help you ensure success:
- Research relevant resume keywords and use them to get noticed during the applicant tracking process.
- Tailor your resume to a specific job opening to show that you are not just sending out generic applications.
- Focus on the soft skills, but also specify hard ones if you have any.
- Invest your time in writing a perfect cover letter tailored to each job you are applying for.
- Use our sample resume for high school student with no work experience as a template to ensure proper formatting.
High School Student Resume For Summer Job
While not all high school students are willing to burden themselves with a job during the academic year, quite many are willing to get a seasonal job to make some cash. That is, the competition for a summer job can be pretty intense. And it means that you need a sample high school student resume for summer job that really stands out.
Among our resume examples, you can find a great sample of high school student resume for a seasonal job that you can use as a template. But, now, let us share a few quick tips for creating your own perfect sample job resume for high school student:
- Attract attention with a strong objective that highlights your biggest strengths.
- Provide added value in your education section by mentioning classes, coursework, and accomplishments.
- Quantify your accomplishments where possible.
- Make a large skills section.
- If you have any volunteer experience, add it too!
%20(1).webp)