High School Student Resume (With Examples And Tips) - Zippia

High School Student Resume Examples Tips

High school is a time rife with stress, drama, and living in the moment. Between geometry and getting a driver’s license, writing a resume can seem both exhausting and intimidating – especially when you’re creating a resume in the hopes of getting your first job without much work experience. Writing your first resume isn’t nearly as draining as you think it is. It doesn’t have to be longer than a page, and much of that page is bullet-points of your strengths and achievements. You may even realize that you’re more qualified than you initially thought. Don’t let your lack of an extensive work history deter you from learning how to make your resume effective. Having a good resume is just as important to a teenager’s success as a seasoned professional.

Why Do You Need a Good Resume?

Regardless of work history, writing a resume now can significantly improve the chance of success when applying for your first job, scholarship, or internship down the line. It’s the professional standard to be prepared with a resume, and that applies to everyone. A hiring manager looks at an applicant with a resume as an assurance that this is someone who can respect a work environment and be a responsible employee. Applying to a position without a resume can often come off as careless or lazy. Those are not traits bosses want. Having a job be your first is all the more reason to include a resume with your application. A business owner is taking a chance on hiring you, and she’s not taking it lightly when money is involved. Having a student resume demonstrates that you’re taking this position, and their business, seriously. An effective resume, without experience, can be the deciding factor in securing a job in high school.

Essential Sections in Student Resume Format

1. Section 1: Contact Information

   Including your contact information is arguably the most essential part of your resume. A company will never search for you, even if they're blown away by your skills and qualifications. Before anything else, put your contact details. Information you should definitely include:

   • Full name

   • Phone number

   • Email

   • City and the state of residency

   Information optional to include:

   • Portfolio

   • Social Media Profiles

   • Blog

2. Section 2: Resume Objective

   A resume objective is a good way of catching the reader’s attention. Let’s face it; reading resumes can start to get boring after reviewing dozens. A career objective gives you a few sentences at the start to display your personality and career goals in a more conversational way. This can be very helpful if you don’t have any formal work experience. Examples of what you can incorporate in an entry-level resume objective:

   • Grand point average (GPA)

   • Educational interests

   • Volunteer work

   • Passions

   • Career goals

   • What you bring to the job you’re applying for

   This sounds like a lot of information to include in only a few sentences. However, a functional resume objective doesn’t have to go into every minor detail of your life. Pick the most relevant points to your experience and explain them in a concise, creative way.

3. Section 3: Education

   When making a high school resume, list the details about your school. The name and location should suffice. You can include any specialized classes or GPA at your discretion. When updating your resume in later years for college, the education section becomes a little more relevant. The education section of a college student’s resume can include:

   • Dates of enrollment

   • Degree titles

   • Majors minors

   • Relevant projects

   Adding a subsection for academic achievements can also advance your resume. It can refer to anything, from graduating first in your class to getting a research paper published.

4. Section 4: Work Experience (If Any)

   The “work experience” section of a student resume can be the most unnerving part for high schoolers seeking their first job. If you don’t have any experience you feel is relevant, leave this section out. However, before taking the section out completely, consider all the jobs you may have done that might not be a traditional paid job. These may include working in:

   • Babysitting

   • Lawn and garden work

   • Student observer

   • Dog-walking

   • Camp counselor

   • Student body representative position

   For every past work experience, your list should include the dates you were involved. List these positions in reverse chronological order. Follow it with a detailed bullet-point list of your responsibilities and achievements in each position. The information you give about your daily duties can be relevant to the job you’re applying for.

5. Section 5: Skills

   The skills listed in a resume are critical for any job-seeker. However, it can make it or break it when it comes to getting a job offer for entry-level applicants. When thinking about skills to put on your resume, consider both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills refer to abilities that are taught and tangible. Some examples of hard skills include:

   • Web design

   • Computer programming

   • Fluency in a second language

   • Welding

   • A degree

   • Typing speed

   Hard skills may be harder to come by if you’re just entering the workforce. Luckily, soft skills are just as necessary for hiring companies. Soft skills are more subjective and personality-based. They can be beneficial in many different kinds of jobs and don’t require a certificate. Some examples of soft skills include:

   • Listening skills

   • Effective communication

   • Creativity

   • Adept at problem-solving

   • Highly organized

   • Teamwork skills

   A well-worded key skillset strengthens your resume by giving the hiring team something to count on. They know that you’ll bring these positive qualities and knowledge to their organization.

Additional Sections to Stand Out

If you don’t have much professional work experience, it could strengthen your resume to add an extra section to replace your work experience. This additional section could highlight:

• Fluency in a foreign language. Speaking a second language is an extremely in-demand skill at any point in your career. If you grew up speaking two languages or learned one in your own time, this could be an excellent section to add more information about.

• Projects. Even if you haven’t gotten paid for it, your hard work on former projects can look great as a section for your resume.

  You can include any relevant projects, such as an extensive science project for school or a portfolio of creative design ideas. Anything that shows effort demonstrates your ability to see a task through.

• Awards qualifications. Awards are meant to recognize your achievement, which can be an important thing to include in your resume. Relevant qualifications or awards could be:

  • Winning a tennis tournament

  • Placing third in the state-wide spelling bee

  • Being placed in the honor society

  • Getting a captain position on a sports team

• Volunteer work. The volunteer work you’ve done is a fantastic replacement for work experience when applying for your first job. Even though you didn’t get paid, volunteering takes hard work and develops excellent work habits. Make sure you go into details about the organization, your specific responsibilities, and when you were volunteering there.

• Hobbies and interests. While your hobbies may not seem like they directly correlate to useful work skills, you’d be surprised how much value they can add to your resume profile. Participating in sports builds teamwork. Acting as the lead in a theatre production shows leadership skills and responsibility. Go into detail about your passions and how you work to get better at them.

How to Write a Resume Step by Step

1. Step 1: Picking the Correct Resume Format Layout

   Before you start making a resume, you should consider what format to write it in and plan a layout for the sections. Resume formatting follows three basic styles. These formats are:

   • Chronological. A complete list of your work history, starting with your current position or most recent job and working backward

   • Functional. A resume that accommodates a lack of work experience by focusing on skills and relevant experience

   • Combination. A resume that includes skills and work experience

   When writing a resume as a high school student, it’s probably best to go with a functional format. Once you have more experience under your belt, consider the combination or chronological resume format. While bits of your functional resume layout can change based on personal preference, try to stick to the following outline, in order:

   1. Header with contact Information

   2. Resume Objective

   3. Experience

   4. Skills

   5. Education

   6. Additional Sections (Optional)

2. Step 2: Personal Details and Contact Info

   The contact details on your resume should be impossible to miss. You achieve this by putting your header at the top of your resume. Make sure it’s the most noticeable writing on the page and easy to understand. A personal details header should look like this: Marie Williams New York, NY | (808)-923-3376 [email protected]| WilliamsDesigns.com

3. Step 3: Resume Summary

   Your contact information should be right below your resume objective. Think of the objective as a written introduction to the person hiring you. You can edit your resume summary to tailor it to every opportunity you apply for. You should include:

   • Your most relevant key skills

   • Career goals

   • The type of position you’re seeking

   An objective shouldn’t take up too much space on a one-page resume. It should be about three sentences. Try to make it as straightforward as possible.

4. Step 4: List Work Experience Or Achievements

   After making all the initial resume introductions, list all the work experience you’ve had in the past by reverse-chronological order. Don’t forget to include the dates of when you were employed. Even if it was just a summer job or freelance gig, create a bullet-point list of your responsibilities and daily tasks for each position listed. If you ever received a raise or promotion, make a note of this achievement.

5. Step 5: Skills

   When you’re applying for your first job, your resume’s skills section can be what gets you hired. Add both hard skills and soft skills to give a well-rounded profile about who you are as an applicant and why you’d make a great employee. These types of skills can make it easier for a hiring manager to see what kind of employee you’ll be. They can be just as valuable as years of job experience. Examples of hard skills:

   • Proficiency in WordPress

   • Data analyzation

   • Clinical experience

   • Sales experience

   • Editing

   • Recruitment training

   • Graphic design

   Examples of soft skills:

   • Customer Service Skills

   • Attentional to Detail

   • Punctuality

   • Enthusiasm

   • Experience with collaboration

   If you find yourself lacking as many hard skills, incorporate more soft skills. Soft skills are crucial in a work environment, and knowing you have them sets you apart from the competition.

6. Step 6: Education

   Listing your educational achievements becomes much more critical during post-college job-searching. However, it’s standard practice to list your educational institution, even if you’re still in high school. A small section that lists your school’s name, location, and expected graduation year should be enough information.

7. Step 7: Additional Resume Sections (Optional)

   In some cases, it may be worthwhile to add an extra section at the end of your resume to make up for an absence of work experience. Adding more about a particular skill or endeavor makes a student resume feel more complete. The section you choose to add should be relevant and give a clearer picture of what’s important to you. Some examples of additional resume sections could be:

   • Languages

   • Hobbies

   • Publications

   • Certifications or licenses

   • Extracurriculars

High School Student Resume Examples: