As a student trying to land your first job, you've probably heard how important it is to have a good resume. But writing a strong high school resume isn't always easy when you have little to no work experience.
It’s not always easy—but it is possible.
The secret is to leverage any professional-like experience (such as community or volunteer services) you've gained, plus your skills and academic accomplishments. Since you're likely applying for entry-level jobs, most recruiters won't expect a huge professional background but will look for a good set of skills and strengths.
In this article, we'll cover how to write a high school student resume, and provide practical tips and examples of what to write in each section. Plus, you'll get two templates that you can easily adapt to make your own.
Why is a high school resume important?
A well-crafted high school resume can set the stage for your future career experiences. Even if you have no formal work experience, recruiters still want to see your skills, education, and potential certifications laid out on paper.
Writing a resume also helps you organize your achievements, identify your strengths, and lessons you learned from past experiences, such as extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and AP courses.
Though your resume might be short—which is normal for a high schooler—a thoughtful and tailored presentation can make your application stand out. Especially considering that you're likely to be competing with other high school students, so your chances might be higher than you'd think.
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How to write a high school student resume in 6 steps
Resumes are all about presenting your qualifications strategically and authentically to grab the recruiter's attention and land an interview. Here's how to write one as a high school student:
1. Start with your contact information
Needles to say, your resume should have your contact information so the recruiter can identify it and contact you to schedule an interview. It's the first section of the resume and should be placed at the top of the page.
Follow this structure:
Name: [Full Name]
Address: [City, State]
Phone: [Phone Number]
Email: [Email Address]
Media (optional): [Linkedin and/or Portfolio link]
2. Write a resume summary or objective
A resume summary is a short statement that highlights your top skills, qualifications, and aspirations for a specific job in two to three sentences. This section is placed right below your contact information.
Though it's optional, a resume summary helps showcase who you are—especially if you don't have much work experience and would benefit from highlighting skills and positive traits. It should be brief and to the point.
Similarly, the objective statement also has two to three sentences in which you highlight your qualifications and directly state your interest in that position and why. Though it's considered outdated, an objective statement is still welcomed by some recruiters if it is well-crafted.
High school student resume summary examples:
“Driven high school student with a passion for software development and a proven track record in coding and robotics competitions. Skilled in HTML, Java, and C with certifications in data analysis and project management.”
“Ambitious high school student with strong communication skills and proven leadership skills in extracurricular activities. Skilled in advanced Excel, Figma, and fluent Spanish.”
High school student resume objective example:
“Detail-oriented high school student with a passion for design and proven experience creating visual content for social media platforms. Seeking opportunities to leverage design skills in a dynamic internship setting.”
3. List your education
This section should be the first thing the hiring manager sees after the summary because “it shows them what you’re looking for—an internship, a part-time job, or a full-time job—after graduation,” says career coach and speaker Anne Ryan.
Here, you should add your current or completed academic background. Ryan also says that if you are dual-enrolled in a college program (especially ones where you may receive an associate degree as well as your high school diploma), you might want to add that in this section as well.
Adding your high school GPA can also be a good move. It'll help you stand out if your score is high—3.5 or above for high school students—and show hiring managers you did well in classes, showing commitment and effort.
Here's an example:
Education
High School Diploma
New York Preparatory High School
New York, NY
Graduation date: November 2024
GPA: 3.9
Below high school, you could add some other extra classes you’ve taken that are relevant to the application, “but you may want to put AP classes and awards further down the page to direct more attention to your experience section,” Ryan says.
4. List your relevant experiences
Next section is the experience section. As a high school student, it's likely that you had few professional experiences in life, but there are multiple activities that can count as experience in this context. For example:
- Extracurricular activities
- Community service
- Personal projects
- Volunteer work
- Programs or applications you manage
- Academic clubs you’ve been part of
- Part-time jobs
- Internships
You don't need to include all of that in your resume. Instead, pick the experiences that are relevant for the job. For instance, if you're applying for a sales position, an experience in volunteer work where you've dealt with the public is more relevant than being the organizer of a book club.
The idea is to show hiring managers how you could fit a position based on what you did and achieved in all these experiences. These experiences should be listed in two to four bullet points, always highlighting key actions and potential accomplishments.
For example:
Experience
Food Bank Volunteer
New York, NY
May 2022 – July 2024
- Stocked shelves and maintained inventory in order to reduce waste
- Organized my team's shift and tasks to improve our productivity
Note: You may find examples of resumes with volunteer experience and other experiences in separate sections. That's also correct and OK to do if you think it'll improve readability.
5. Create a skills section
The skills section demonstrates what abilities you have that makes you qualified for the job. You can add both hard skills (technical knowledge and the certifications you have to perform that job) and soft skills (the way you behave and interact with others when working).
Think about tasks or projects you've done in the past that required some of the skills you'll also use in the job you're applying for. For instance, organizing a charity event requires planning, teamwork, and leadership, which are valuable skills in any professional context.
High school student resume skills examples:
- Content writing
- Written and verbal communication
- Leadership
- Software development
- Social media management
- Data entry
- Translation
- Transcribing
- Planning and organizing
- Image editing
- Video editing
6. List your relevant certifications
Finally, the certifications section, which is the last one in your high school resume. This section usually is written with bullet points showcasing each certification and the year you achieved it.
Remember that you don't need to list every single certification you have, but only the ones that are relevant to the job you want. For example, if you're applying for a social media management internship, a creative writing and digital marketing certification is more relevant than a coding certificate in this context.
Here's an how this section should look like:
Certifications
- Creative Writing Masterclass Certification - AlphaCom (2024)
- Digital Marketing Certificate - HubSpot Academy (2024)
- Content Management - HubSpot Academy (2023)
Note: If you don't have many certifications or skills, you can combine those sections into one. Some resume templates also have an “Awards & Honors” section after skills and certifications. If you have earned relevant academic awards and honors, you can and should use this section.
Extra high school resume writing advice
Here, we'll cover formatting and tricks that can make your resume stand out from the bunch. Check it out:
Use keywords to match the job description
If you're applying for a job online, you'll come across descriptions that list tasks, skills, and essential information about the company, and keywords that appear repeatedly are likely important to recruiters.
Incorporating relevant keywords into your resume not only demonstrates alignment with the job but also helps applicant tracking systems (ATSs)—which recruiters use to filter candidates—select your resume.
However, don’t stuff your resume with keywords that don't make sense. Instead, pick out the ones that match your own experiences, certifications, and skills, and naturally add them in sections where it makes sense. For internships and entry-level jobs, you're not expected to meet every requirement, so be honest and strategic when selecting relevant keywords.
(Need help with that? Here's how to pick resume keywords that'll get your job application past the ATS.)
Use action verbs and quantifiers
As the name implies, action verbs are verbs that express an action that can be mental or physical. Basically, they describe and express something that you did or are currently doing. In resume writing, action verbs are a powerful way to express your involvement in an activity or project.
Examples of action verbs
- Executed
- Collaborated
- Worked
- Managed
- Created
- Implemented
- Lead
On the other hand, quantifiers are anything you can measure within your tasks and results that demonstrate the impact of your work, the scope it had, and the frequency of the activities. Together, action verbs and quantifiers are a great way to demonstrate your qualities and skills as a professional.
For instance, you could write:
- Worked for four months as a barista, serving more than 100 clients per evening
- Participated in my school's green committee team and organized 10 activities during the school year
- Developed and organized a book donation campaign for my local library and received 150+ donations
Choose a simple format for your resume
When it comes to formatting, keep your resume as simple as possible. A simple format makes your resume much easier to read and easily scannable for ATS. By simple formatting, we mean standard fonts, such as Arial or Times New Roman, and regular size, like 11 or 12.
Be consistent and stick to the chosen format throughout the entire resume. Avoid overly complex designs with colors, images, or fancy fonts that can hinder readability and ATS compatibility.
As former Google VP of People Operations Lazlo Bock said on LinkedIn, “unless you're applying for a job such as a designer or an artist, your focus should be on making your resume clean and legible.”
Finally, save your resume in Word and PDF and send in the format asked by the recruiter in the job listing. Although the standard is PDF, because it can't be edited and keeps the integrity of the file, some companies prefer Word.
Proofread, proofread, proofread
Always double check your resume to ensure there are no grammatical errors or typos. Instead of immediately sending it to a recruiter, review it a couple of minutes after writing and/or ask for a friend or family member to proofread it for you.
Tools like Grammarly, Google Docs, and even Chat-GPT can also help you refine your text, trim words that aren’t needed, and point out grammatical errors and typos you missed.
High school resume examples
Here are two high school resume examples that you can use as a reference when crafting yours.
Example #1: Resume for high school student with volunteer experience
JEN ADAMS
(917) 274-7398
New York, NY
SUMMARY
Proactive high school student with volunteer and leadership experiences in content writing, news reporting, event planification, and team collaboration. Eager to start a communications career in a local setting while finishing studies.
EDUCATION
High School Diploma
Holy Trinity Diocesan High School
Hicksville, NY
Sep 2022 – Present
Graduation date: Jun 2025
GPA: 3.92
EXPERIENCES
Book Club President
Holy Trinity Diocesan High School
Hicksville, NY
Jun 2023 – Present
- Managed reading materials for monthly reading sessions for +20 students, expanding the club from 8 to 22 students in a year.
- Promoted analytic reading among teenagers through games and educational contests, which led to 10 books read in a school year.
- Contacted 2 local bookstores to organize book club special events within their stores.
Co-Editor-in-Chief (Volunteer)
Holy Trinity Newspaper
Hicksville, NY
Feb 2023 – May 2024
- Joined as a freshman staff writer and was promoted to Co-Editor-in-Chief in sophomore year
- Delegated articles about school events, creative pieces, & editing tasks to a diverse staff of 25+ students
- Designed print layouts with Adobe Pagemaker & wrote monthly editorials about current world events
CERTIFICATIONS & SKILLS
MS Office
Google Workspace
Adobe Suite
Canva
Example #2: Resume for high school student with work experience
CHRISTIAN WOLF
christian@wolf.com
(555) 274-8248
Fresno, CA
EDUCATION
Santo Domingo High School
Fresno, CA
Sep 2022 – Present
Graduation date: Jun 2025
GPA: 3.81
EXPERIENCE
Weekend Receptionist
Fresno Art Museum
Fresno, CA
Ago 2023 – Present
- Answered & transferred over 25 calls per day quickly & accurately to on-duty staff.
- Greeted over 50 visitors per day and responded to questions about scheduling & events.
- Collaborated with the HR team distributing +15 internal mail campaigns using specialized project management and CRM softwares.
Bishop’s Altar Server (Volunteer)
St. John's Cathedral
Downtown Fresno
Sep 2021 – May 2023
- Worked in teams of seven highly trained servers during liturgical prayer (services, weddings, & funerals).
- Trained +5 new volunteers over the course of 4 months to assist high demand in a fast paced environment.
SKILLS
Languages: English (native) | Spanish (beginner)
Office skills: Google Workspace (advanced), Microsoft Excel (intermediate)
Social media: HootSuite (beginner), Mailchimp (beginner)
CERTIFICATIONS
Inbound Sales Certificate - HubSpot Academy (2023)
Email Marketing Certificate - MailChimp (2024)
AWARDS & HONORS
Month Employee: Fresno Art Museum (2024)
Gold medal: CIF State Swimming Championships (2022)
High school resume template
Ready to make yours? Here are two resume templates for high school students you can edit including your own experiences. Don't be afraid to make the necessary changes to better showcase your skills, accomplishments, and education.
Template #1: High school student resume with no work experience
Name: [Full Name]
Address: [City, State]
Phone: [Phone Number]
Email: [Email Address]
Resume Summary (optional): 1-2 sentences paragraph about your skills, interests, and motivations for the job.
EDUCATION
High School Diploma
High School Name
City, State
Graduation Date: [Month, Year]
GPA: [3.5 or above]
SKILLS
- Skill 1
- Skill 2
- Skill 3 (you can add more, but don’t over do it.)
CERTIFICATIONS
- Certification 1
- Certification 2
- Certification 3
AWARDS & HONORS (optional; if it’s career or academic-related, the better)
- Title of Achievement 1
- Title of Achievement 2
- Title of Achievement 3
Template #2: Resume template for high school students with volunteering experience
Name: [Full Name]
Address: [Address]
Phone: [Phone Number]
Email: [Email Address]
Resume Summary: 1-2 sentences paragraph about your skills, interests, and motivations for the job.
EDUCATION
High School Diploma
High School Name
City, State
Graduation Date: [Month, Year]
GPA: [3.5 or above]
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Volunteer Position, Organization Name
City, State
Dates of service: [Month, Year] – [Month, Year or present]
- Responsibility 1 (use action verbs and quantifiers)
- Responsibility 2
CERTIFICATIONS
- Certification 1
- Certification 2
- Certification 3
SKILLS
- Skill 1
- Skill 2
- Skill 3 (you can add more, but don’t over do it.)
AWARDS & HONORS (optional; if it’s career or academic-related, the better)
- Title of Achievement 1
- Title of Achievement 2
- Title of Achievement 3