A high school resume is a valuable tool for students applying to college, a job, an internship, asking for a recommendation, or winning a scholarship. A resume is not just a summary of your qualifications, skills, and achievements–it is an advertisement of your character and individuality.
Crafting a well-written resume can reveal new opportunities to you. It’s also a life skill that will serve you well in the future.
Here’s what you successful high school students nearly always include on their resumes:
HIGH SCHOOL RESUME COMPONENTS
- Basic Information: Name & Contact Information
- Objective or Summary Statement
- Education
- Work Experience
- Extracurricular Activities
- Community Service or Volunteering
- Awards, Honors, Accomplishments, and Leadership Roles
- Skills/Competencies
(And sometimes… References or Letters of Recommendation)
BASIC INFORMATION
At the very top of your resume should be your personal and contact information: name, address, email, and phone number. Older professionals sometimes include social media accounts like Linkdin. This is rarely a good idea for younger people just getting started in the workforce.
OBJECTIVE OR SUMMARY STATEMENT
This is your “elevator pitch,” your personal introduction: a few sentences describing the unique skills, abilities, past accomplishments that make you special and what you hope to achieve next.
Make Each Resume Special: OBJECTIVES
Each resume you send out should be TAILORED to the job or goal. Here are some examples of tailoring your summary statement for different opportunities.
Sample Resume Objective: Employment Prospects
Reliable, mature high school senior looking for a part-time server position where I can use my excellent people skills to gratify customers.
High school student seeking a retail sales associate position that uses my exceptional mathematics and customer service skills to prepare for a future career in customer relations.
Sample Resume Objective: College Admissions Application
Self-motivated, industrious student-athlete seeking admission to a distinguished university to pursue studies in (degree program).
Sample Resume Objective: Scholarship Application
Ambitious high school student and honor society member with a 3.8 GPA seeking to obtain a four-year degree at (specify university) in (degree program).
EDUCATION
Your resume should also include:
- Name of your high school
- Your expected graduation date
- Your GPA (if above 3.0)
- Class rank, if applicable
- Specific courses that are applicable to the job you are applying for
- Dual enrollment or AP courses
WORK EXPERIENCE
Highlight any PAID work experience you have, such as a summer, part-time, or school-year job.
Highlight UNPAID or INTERNSHIP work you have done, especially as it relates to the job you are applying for. If you are part of my Culinary Arts program, for example, you should have significant experience catering lunches for students and staff, being a part of planning and organizing events, or producing uniques sale products. If it looks like work, and feels like work, you should DESCRIBE it as work (even if you weren’t paid). Every little bit of work experience shows motivation and responsibility.
Just make sure you describe unpaid work or work done as part of your education honestly: never, ever give the impression that work you did for a class or as part of an unpaid internship was a regular paid job. Your new boss will find out eventually and you will not keep the position.
Just remember to connect your working experience to the job you are applying. Study the job description for the position you want and make a note of any key qualifications or requirements. Then be sure to include in your resume any experiences and skills that show you HAVE the experience they are looking for and are an ideal fit for the SPECIFIC job.
Make Each Resume Special: WORK HISTORY
Each resume you send out should be TAILORED to the job or goal. When it comes to work experience, this means studying the job description , then HIGHLIGHTING how your previous work experiences MATCH what’s in the job description.
Here’s an examples of tailoring your work experience for different opportunities.
Sample: Using Work History from ONE Student Catering for different job openings:
For position stressing supervision:
- Organized and helped execute dinner service for 450 adults at an off-campus venue, training and supervising seven new student-workers, helping them develop quality standards, strong guest service, and food safety and sanitation standards throughout.
For position stressing food quality and production:
- Organized and helped execute dinner service for 450 adults at an off-campus venue, making sure each part of the entree was cooked correctly and to a safe temperature, double -checking each element was seasoned correctly prior to service, and was part of the clean-up crew returning the kitchen to inspection-ready status.
For position stressing customer service:
- Organized and helped serve dinner service for 450 adults at an off-campus venue, interacting with guests to ensure all of their needs were met, interacting with event organizer to ensure each element of the luncheon was served at the correct time, and interacting with event sponsors and locally-elected leadership to ensure event met all expectations.
Almost every event we do could be considered building different “work experiences.” Which one do you focus on? It depends on what job you are trying to get. The job you want DETERMINES which of the key work competencies and job requirements you highlight.
In all cases, be sure to personalize and customize your resume so it reflects your skills and abilities, and connects them to the jobs you are applying for.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Regardless of the purpose of your resume–employment, college admissions, or scholarships– adding your extracurricular activities provides a boost. Extracurriculars demonstrate your interests and prove you can make meaningful contributions, maintain a commitment, and manage your time and priorities. This is especially true if you are a leader in that activity or if it is directly related to the job/ scholarship/ university you are applying for.
If at all applicable, bullet point the skills you picked up in your extracurriculars which apply to the job you are pursuing.
Make Each Resume Special: EXTRACURRICULARS
Each resume you send out should be TAILORED to the job or goal. Many students forget that while they were in Theater, ROTC, member of a sports team, or part of a culinary competition that they picked up skills and qualities employers are looking for:
Here’s an examples of tailoring your work experience for different opportunities.
Sample: Using Extracurricular experience for different job openings (with examples):
Student Government
Members of student government are leaders, organizers, and communicators, and act as the connecting voice between a school’s administration and its students.
Being involved in student government helps you develop a strong set of transferable skills while planning activities for the student body, addressing student needs, and representing your peers.
If you were part of student government in high school or college, fit that experience into your resume to highlight some job skills valued by employers.
- Leadership skills
- Collaboration
- Organizational skills
- Problem Solving
- Event planning
- Fundraising experience
- Critical thinking skills
- Decision making
Sports team
Individual sports require self-motivation, patience, and resilience. Our greatest challenger in life is often ourselves, and success as an individual athlete reflects very well on your character to employers.
Team sports help you develop a whole different skill set. Instead of driving yourself, you’re driven by the desire to help your team achieve greatness. And if you’re a great team player on the field, you’re likely a great team player in the workplace.
- Teamwork
- Dedication
- Time management
- Work ethic
- Self improvement
- Communication
- Leadership (if you were team captain or first chair)
ROTC
ROTC gives students the opportunity to learn more than just work skills, it teaches work values – things that employers put a premium on. If you have been involved with ROTC (especially in a leadership position) for much of high school, you have a lot of skills and experiences you can highlight that will improve your chance of getting hired.
- Reliability
- Collaboration
- Interpersonal skills
- Leadership
- Organization
- Resilience and Motivation
- Attention to detail
Culinary Competition Team
Even if you NEVER have a job which requires you to cook, the skills and abilities you learn while preparing to compete in a culinary challenged are impressive – especially if you win! Be sure to mention the trophy… but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, the SKILLS you learned along the way. Employers will see your achievement for what it is: a significant milestone for a high school student and indicative of someone with passion and ambition.
- Independence
- Multitasking
- Thinking outside the box
- Attention to Detail
- Work ethic
- Quick Thinking skills
- Specific Hard Skills (Saute station, pastry construction, etc)
COMMUNITY SERVICE OR VOLUNTEER ROLES
Don’t forget to include community service and volunteer positions! In many places, high school students must complete community service hours as part of their graduation requirements. You can use this volunteer experience to build up your resume.
When you add volunteer positions to your resume, do it as you would with any other job. List the organization, your role (volunteer), and your responsibilities. You’ll also want to include how long you volunteered there (your start date and end date) and a reference, if possible.
AWARDS, HONORS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND LEADERSHIP ROLES
Your resume is the place to brag! Don’t be shy about adding awards, honors, and accomplishments you have received. Is there a leadership role that you haven’t included on your resume? Here is where you should make let the person reading your resume know what you’ve done!
Honor roll, attendance awards, and sports achievements are all examples of things you can put on your high school resume.
SPECIAL SKILLS
Think about the things that set you apart from others. For example, strong math or communication skills, being mentored by a specific business professional, specific digital platform or software skills, etc… all of these are transferable to future opportunities. You should list them.
REFERENCES OR LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Since this is likely one of your first resumes, you may not have extensive work experience. Add letters of recommendation or list references from teachers, coaches, mentors, or other adults. As long as a close family member does not write it, a reference shows that others value what you bring to the table.