Resume guide · Updated October 2026
High School Student Resume Example and Writing Guide
Short answer
A high school resume should fit on one page and list your contact details, a short objective or summary, your school with expected graduation date (and GPA if it is 3.0 or higher), then jobs, volunteer work, sports and clubs with specific results. Finish with skills, certifications such as CPR or a food handler card, and awards.
High School resume example
Below is a full high school resume for Maya Okafor, a fictional high School Junior, Part-Time Cashier and Volunteer Tutor in Sacramento, CA. Keep the section order, then replace each line with your own work and results.
Maya Okafor
High School Junior, Part-Time Cashier and Volunteer Tutor
Sacramento, CA · maya.okafor@example.com · (555) 017-3382 · Available weekdays after 3:30 p.m. and weekends
Summary
High school junior with 14 months as a part-time grocery cashier and two years as a volunteer math tutor. Handles cash and card payments accurately during weekend rushes, explains algebra to middle schoolers in plain language and keeps a 3.7 GPA. Available afternoons and weekends during the school year and full time in summer.
Experience
Cashier (part-time), Hillcrest Family Grocery
Aug 2025 to present
Sacramento, CA
- Check out 150 to 200 customers per weekend shift on a Square point-of-sale system and balance the drawer at every closeout.
- Process returns, coupons and EBT payments following store procedures, and call a manager for price overrides.
- Restock and face 3 aisles during slow periods; trained 2 newer cashiers on opening and closing the register.
- Picked up extra shifts over winter break, working 32 hours a week during the store's busiest month.
Volunteer Math Tutor, Eastside Public Library Homework Center
Sep 2024 to present
Sacramento, CA
- Tutor 4 to 6 middle school students every Tuesday in pre-algebra and Algebra I.
- Created a one-page fractions guide that the center now hands to every new student.
- Logged 110 volunteer hours and was named the center's Volunteer of the Month in March 2026.
Babysitter (self-employed), Private families
Jun 2023 to present
Sacramento, CA
- Care for children ages 3 to 9 for 4 regular families, including school pickup, meals and homework time.
- Keep a shared calendar with parents and send text updates during each booking.
- Earned all new clients through referrals from current families.
Activities and awards
- Varsity cross country, 3 seasons; team captain 2026
- Spanish Club treasurer: tracked a $1,200 fundraising budget in Google Sheets
- Honor roll, 4 semesters
Education
High school diploma, Valley Oak High School · GPA 3.7/4.0; Honors English, AP Computer Science Principles, Spanish III
Expected Jun 2028
Certifications
Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED (American Red Cross)
Skills
Cash handling · Square POS · Customer service · Google Docs and Sheets · Microsoft Excel (basic) · Tutoring · Spanish (conversational) · Childcare
High School resume summary examples
3 high school summaries, one each for first job, no experience, junior with a part-time job and senior with a career direction. Pick the closest and rewrite it with your own title, years and one real result.
Reliable high school sophomore with a 3.5 GPA, perfect attendance this year and 40 hours of volunteer work at a food bank. Comfortable talking with customers, quick with numbers and available weekends and after 4 p.m. on school days.
High school junior with a year of part-time retail experience handling cash, restocking shelves and helping customers find products. Varsity soccer player who balances 15 hours of work a week with practice and a 3.4 GPA.
High school senior planning to study mechanical engineering. Led the build team for a 30-member robotics club, completed AP Physics and AP Calculus, and works 12 hours a week at a hardware store helping customers choose tools and parts.
High School resume objective examples
Use an objective instead of a summary for no work experience, summer job and job shadow or volunteer role situations: one or two sentences on what you bring and the high school job you want.
Motivated high school freshman seeking a part-time job at a local grocery store, bringing strong math skills, 30 hours of community service and weekend availability.
High school junior with American Red Cross lifeguard certification seeking a full-time summer lifeguard position at a city pool, available June through August.
High school senior interested in healthcare seeking a summer volunteer or job shadow placement at a clinic, with CPR certification and coursework in anatomy and physiology.
High School resume bullet points
Bullets grouped by part-time jobs (retail and food service), volunteer and community service, school activities, sports and leadership and babysitting, tutoring and odd jobs. The numbers are illustrations; put in your own.
Part-time jobs (retail and food service)
- Served 60 to 80 customers per shift at the drive-through window while keeping order times within the store target.
- Counted and balanced a cash drawer at the end of each shift with no shortages in 6 months.
- Followed food safety rules for handwashing, temperature logs and allergen labels.
- Trained 3 new crew members on the register and the closing checklist.
Volunteer and community service
- Sorted and packed 2,000 pounds of food over one summer at the regional food bank.
- Organized a school canned food drive that collected 900 items in two weeks.
- Read with first graders twice a week through an after-school literacy program.
School activities, sports and leadership
- Elected class treasurer; tracked a $3,500 prom budget in Google Sheets and reported to the class advisor monthly.
- Captained the varsity soccer team, leading warmups and mentoring 6 freshman players.
- Wrote and edited 12 articles for the school newspaper, including a front-page story on the new bell schedule.
Babysitting, tutoring and odd jobs
- Ran a neighborhood yard work business for 7 clients, scheduling weekly visits around school and practice.
- Tutored 3 classmates in Algebra II; two raised their quarter grades by a full letter.
- Pet-sat for 5 families, including feeding, walks and giving medication to an older dog.
Skills for a high school resume
17 skills employers list in high school postings. Include the ones the posting asks for and that your bullets prove.
| Type | Skills |
|---|---|
| Hard skills | Cash handling, Point-of-sale (POS) systems, Customer service, Food safety basics, Stocking and inventory, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Microsoft Word and Excel, Keyboarding and typing, A second language, Basic graphic design, Childcare and first aid |
| Soft skills | Reliability, Time management, Teamwork, Communication, Willingness to learn, Following instructions |
| Tools and software | Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Square or Toast POS, Canva, Google Classroom |
Certifications for a high school resume
| Credential | Issued by | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
| CPR, AED and First Aid | American Red Cross or American Heart Association | Useful for babysitting, camp counselor, lifeguard and childcare jobs. Add the month it expires. |
| Food handler card | A state- or county-approved provider, such as ServSafe Food Handler from the National Restaurant Association | Required for food service workers in some states and counties. Check your local health department before you apply. |
| Lifeguarding certification | American Red Cross | Required for pool and waterfront jobs. Federal rules let 15-year-olds who meet certain requirements work as lifeguards at traditional pools. |
| Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) | Microsoft (exams delivered by Certiport) | Often earned in a high school business or computer class. Worth listing for office and front-desk jobs. |
Sections for a high school student resume
Use one page and five or six short sections. A manager hiring a teenager is mostly checking three things: that you are reliable, that your schedule fits their shifts, and that you can deal with customers or follow instructions. Every section should help answer one of those.
Put education near the top, because school is your main job right now. Write the full school name (no abbreviations), your expected graduation month and year, and your GPA if it is 3.0 or higher, a common cutoff in career-center guides. Add relevant classes only when they connect to the job, such as accounting for a bookkeeping role or anatomy for a clinic volunteer position.
- Contact details: name, phone, a professional email, city and state (not your street address)
- Objective or summary: two lines on the job you want and what you bring
- Education: school, expected graduation date, GPA if 3.0 or higher, honors
- Experience: paid jobs, volunteering, babysitting, tutoring, job shadows
- Activities and leadership: sports, clubs, student government, band, theater
- Skills and certifications: POS systems, Google Sheets, languages, CPR
How do you write a high school resume with no work experience?
Count everything where someone relied on you. Babysitting, yard work, pet sitting, tutoring, helping in a family business, volunteering and job shadows are all experience. Label each one honestly ("Babysitter, self-employed" or "Volunteer, Riverside Food Bank") and give it two or three bullets like a job.
Then let school activities do the work. A team captain has led peers, a club treasurer has handled money and a newspaper editor has met deadlines. Write those as results with numbers: members, money raised, hours volunteered, events organized.
If the page still looks thin, add a Relevant Coursework or Projects line, a certification you can earn in a weekend (CPR or a food handler card) and any languages you speak.
How do you show your availability on a teen resume?
Managers scheduling part-time staff want to know when you can work, so say it under your contact details or in the summary: "Available weekdays after 3:30 p.m. and weekends; full time June to August." It saves a phone call and shows you have thought about the schedule.
If you are 14 or 15, keep that availability inside federal child labor rules, because employers must follow them. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act you can work no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). Where your state law is stricter, the state rule applies.
Listing high school on your resume
Yes, while you are in high school, and later too if a high school diploma or GED is your highest education. In that case list the school, city and graduation year, or simply "High school diploma" or "GED" with the year.
Once you start college, high school moves down the page and then off it. MIT's career office says first-year students may keep high school on to show classes, test results or GPA, then remove it as newer college experience needs the space. Most students drop it by junior year of college unless an award or program from high school is directly relevant to the job.
Which high school resume template should you use?
Pick a plain single-column template with clear headings, a standard font at 10 to 12 points and normal margins. Skip photos, graphics, skill bars, tables and text boxes. Career centers warn that tables and text boxes are not read reliably by applicant tracking systems, which many employers use for online applications.
Save the final version as a PDF named with your name ("Maya-Okafor-Resume.pdf") unless the application asks for a Word file. Bring a printed copy when you drop off applications in person or go to an interview.
ATS keywords for a high school resume
Terms that show up in high school job postings. Mirror the exact wording of the posting you apply to, but only for work you have done.
- customer service
- cash handling
- point of sale (POS)
- teamwork
- time management
- communication
- reliable
- stocking
- food safety
- Microsoft Office
- Google Workspace
- volunteer
- leadership
- bilingual
- CPR certified
- flexible availability
Mistakes to avoid on a high school resume
- An objective about what you want. "Seeking a job to gain experience" tells the manager nothing. Name the job and what you bring, such as weekend availability or cash handling.
- Leaving off unpaid work. Babysitting, tutoring and volunteering count. Label them honestly and give them bullets.
- Listing middle school. Start with high school. Middle school awards are too old for most employers.
- An unprofessional email address. Create a simple firstname.lastname address and check it every day while you apply.
- Skills with no proof. "Hard worker" and "team player" mean little unless a bullet shows them, like captaining a team or covering extra shifts.
- Writing two pages. One page is plenty. Cut older or minor activities first.
Frequently asked questions
What should a high school student put on a resume?
Your contact details, a short objective or summary, your school with expected graduation date and GPA if it is 3.0 or higher, then work, volunteer and activity experience with results. Add skills such as cash handling or Google Sheets, certifications like CPR, and awards.
How do I make a resume with no work experience in high school?
List babysitting, tutoring, pet sitting, yard work, volunteering and school activities as experience, each with a title and two or three bullets. Add relevant coursework, certifications and languages to fill the page with useful detail.
Should I put my high school on my resume?
Yes, while you are in high school or if a diploma or GED is your highest education. College students usually keep it for their first year or two and then remove it as college jobs, projects and activities take the space.
Should I include my GPA on a high school resume?
Include it if it is 3.0 or higher, written with the scale, such as "GPA 3.6/4.0". If it is lower, leave it off and let honors classes, attendance or activities speak for you.
How long should a high school resume be?
One page. Even students with jobs, sports and volunteering can fit everything by keeping bullets short and cutting minor activities.
Do I need an objective on a high school resume?
It helps when you have little experience. Keep it to one or two lines naming the job, your strongest qualification and your availability.
Can a 14-year-old make a resume?
Yes. Federal law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work limited hours in many retail, food service and tutoring jobs, and a one-page resume with school, volunteering and activities makes applying easier.
Related guides
Sources, checked 27 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: YouthRules!: Non-agricultural jobs for 14- and 15-year-olds (hour limits and permitted jobs for 14- and 15-year-olds, lifeguard rule)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: YouthRules!: Young workers (the stricter of state and federal child labor law applies)
- North Central Texas College Career Services: Resume Guide for Students (one page, GPA if 3.0 or higher, what counts as student experience, no tables or text boxes)
- MIT Career Advising & Professional Development: Enhance your resume: A guide for first-year undergraduates (when to keep or remove high school information)