Resume template · Updated October 2026
Resume template for your first job
Short answer
Leslie suits a first job resume because it puts work experience right under the summary, so informal paid work such as yard care or babysitting reads like the real experience it is. The sample is a fictional high school graduate applying for full-time store and stockroom jobs, with self-employed yard work, a pantry volunteer role and two school activities.
Download the first job sample
Marcus is a fictional store and stockroom associate. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Leslie suits a first job resume
Leslie prints work experience straight after the summary and before skills, so the paid yard work and the pantry role are the first things a store manager reads. Its only colour is the blue header and short blue heading underlines, which gives a short resume a finished look without decoration to explain.
Second choice: Henrietta. Henrietta is just as plain and prints education right after experience, a better order if your diploma or a trade course matters more than your informal work.
What goes in each section, in Leslie's order
Leslie prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Name the kind of job you want and when you can work. Shift flexibility matters to store, warehouse and restaurant managers, so state it plainly in the last line.
- Work Experience. Informal paid work belongs here: babysitting, yard work, pet sitting, helping in a relative's business. Label it honestly ("Self-employed") and give it the detail of an employer job: how often, for whom, what you handled.
- Skills. Short, concrete skills a supervisor can check in your first week: cash handling, stock rotation, safe lifting. Leslie prints them as labelled rows after experience, so each row can stay brief.
- Education. Diploma, school and graduation month. Add one or two courses only if they connect to the job, such as business math for a cashier opening.
- School activities. Sports, clubs and school jobs print last. Choose the ones that show commitment over time (three seasons of a sport) or trust (running the school store till).
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Marcus Bell
Store and Stockroom Associate
Milwaukee, WI | marcus.bell@example.com | (414) 555-0163
Recent high school graduate looking for a first full-time job in a grocery store or warehouse. Three years of paid neighborhood work dealing with customers, cash and physical jobs without supervision. Available for any shift, including early mornings and weekends.
Experience
Lawn Care and Snow Removal, Self-employed, Milwaukee, WI (05/2023 to 06/2026)
- Mowed and edged lawns for eight regular households each week from May to October, booking visits by text.
- Cleared driveways and walks before 7 a.m. after snowfalls so clients could get to work on time.
- Collected payment in cash and by app and kept a notebook of every job and payment.
- Added two new households each summer through referrals from existing customers.
Volunteer Stock Helper, Northside Community Pantry, Milwaukee, WI (09/2024 to 05/2026)
- Unloaded weekly deliveries and rotated stock so older items went out first.
- Restocked shelves during Saturday distribution, lifting cases of up to 40 lb.
- Showed two new volunteers the stockroom layout and the date-check routine.
School activities
- Varsity cross-country, three seasons: trained six days a week through each fall.
- School store cashier, two lunch periods a week in senior year, balancing the till at close.
Education
High School Diploma, Riverside Heights High School (06/2026). Coursework: Business Math, Intro to Marketing
Skills
Cash handling, Stock rotation, Basic inventory counts, Square payment app, Push mower and snow blower maintenance, Punctual, Follows instructions, Friendly with customers
How to make the sample yours
Replace the yard work with whatever you were paid for
Babysitting, tutoring a younger student, mowing lawns, selling at a market stall: if someone paid you, it is work. Give a start and end month and the number of regular customers if you had them.
Write your availability into the summary
If you can work early mornings, weekends or holidays, say so. Hourly employers are filling shifts, and a clear availability line answers their first question.
Match the skills row to the job ad
For a cashier opening, lead with cash handling and customer service; for a warehouse job, with lifting, stock counts and following safety rules. Delete skills the posting never mentions.
Keep the volunteer role only if it fits
Stocking pantry shelves suits store and warehouse work. If your volunteering was unrelated, move it into the activities list at the end instead of giving it a full job entry.
Line up references before you apply
First-job applicants are often asked for references. Ask a coach, a teacher or a regular customer, and bring their details to the interview rather than printing them on the resume.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- cash handling
- customer service
- stock rotation
- inventory counts
- punctual
- reliable
- safe lifting
- flexible schedule
- point of sale
- following instructions
- cleaning and organizing
- weekend availability
Mistakes to avoid
- Leaving paid informal work off because it had no employer name. A self-employed line with dates is real work history.
- An email address you made at age twelve. Set up a plain firstname.lastname address before you apply anywhere.
- Listing every school club. Two activities with something specific to say beat a list of seven names.
- An objective about "gaining experience to grow my career". Say which job you want and when you can work.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
Frequently asked questions
What should I put on my first resume?
Any paid or unpaid work, including babysitting or yard work, plus volunteering, school activities, your diploma and a few practical skills. One page is plenty.
Can I count babysitting or mowing lawns as work experience?
Yes, if you were paid and did it regularly. List it under Work Experience as self-employed, with months and years, and describe what you were trusted with.
Do I need a cover letter for a first job?
Only if the application asks for one or you are applying by email. Then three or four sentences about the job, your availability and why you want it are enough.
Should I list my high school GPA on a first job resume?
Add it if it is strong and you finished school in the last year or two. For most hourly jobs, reliability and availability count for more, so the GPA is optional.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Leslie PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 7 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.