Resume for a High School Student: Guide & Example
A resume for a high school student should show useful evidence from school, part-time work, volunteering, clubs, sports, projects, and community life. You do not need years of formal employment; you need a clear, truthful case for what you can contribute next.
Use a simple one-page format with contact information, education, relevant experience, skills, and selected activities or awards. Put the most job-relevant section first, write accomplishment-focused bullets, and tailor the document to each opportunity.
Start by collecting evidence before choosing a template. A class project can show research and teamwork. A club role can show organization. Regular caregiving can show reliability and scheduling. The goal is to translate real responsibilities into language an employer can understand.
A practical high school resume format
Use clear headings and order sections by their value to the application.
- Contact informationName, city and state, professional email, phone, and an optional portfolio or complete LinkedIn profile.
- EducationSchool, location, expected graduation, and selected coursework, honors, or GPA when relevant.
- Relevant experiencePaid work, volunteering, projects, clubs, athletics, leadership, or substantial responsibilities.
- SkillsTools, languages, certifications, and job-specific capabilities you can demonstrate.
- Optional sectionsAwards, activities, certifications, or community involvement that strengthen your fit.
CareerOneStop advises recent graduates to include high school when it is their highest education and they have limited work experience. Education can appear before experience when recent training is the stronger qualification.
“No work experience” does not mean “no evidence.” School and community life still contain deadlines, customers, teammates, tools, and results.
What to include with no work experience
Create an experience section around responsibilities that resemble work. CareerOneStop notes that qualifications can come from coursework, volunteer work, paid or unpaid projects, and personal interests when they are relevant.
School projects
Research, presentations, lab work, coding, design, budgeting, or team deliverables.
Clubs and sports
Event planning, fundraising, training, equipment, communication, and leadership.
Volunteering
Community service, tutoring, food distribution, animal care, or event support.
Responsibilities
Caregiving, family business support, household scheduling, or recurring neighborhood work.
Write bullets that show action and results
Begin with a specific verb, name what you handled, add useful scale, and explain the outcome. Do not invent numbers. Counts, frequency, time, audience size, or money can help when you genuinely know them.
Too vague
Helped with the school food drive.
More useful
Sorted and logged 420 donated items with a six-student team, preparing 35 family pickup boxes before the distribution deadline.
Designed weekly club announcements in Canva and scheduled posts that increased average meeting attendance from 12 to 20 students.
High school student resume example
Use this fictional example as a structural reference. Replace every detail with your own evidence.
Jordan Lee
Columbus, OH · [email protected] · (555) 010-0142
Education
Northview High School, Columbus, OH
Expected graduation: May 2027 · GPA: 3.7/4.0
Relevant coursework: Introduction to Business, Statistics, Digital Media
Experience
Volunteer Event Assistant · Northview Community Center · Sep 2025–Present
- Check in 60–90 visitors at monthly community events and answer schedule questions.
- Prepare signs, supply stations, and attendance sheets with a four-person volunteer team.
Projects & Activities
Treasurer · Environmental Club · Aug 2025–Present
- Track a $750 annual activity budget in Google Sheets and reconcile receipts after events.
- Coordinated a reusable-bottle fundraiser that sold 86 items and funded two campus cleanup days.
Skills
Google Sheets · Canva · Event setup · Customer communication · English and conversational Spanish
High school resume mistakes to avoid
- Using a school email address you may lose after graduation.
- Including a full street address instead of city and state.
- Listing every club without explaining relevant contributions.
- Writing duties without actions, scale, or outcomes.
- Adding an objective that only says you want experience.
- Using tiny type, graphics, or multiple columns to force in more content.
- Sending the same untailored resume to every opportunity.
High school resume checklist
- The document is focused on one job, internship, or program.
- Contact information is current and professional.
- Expected graduation is easy to find.
- Important experience includes specific accomplishment bullets.
- Skills are accurate and supported by examples.
- Dates, punctuation, and verb tense are consistent.
- The exported PDF has been opened and checked before sending.
Before building your final resume for a high school student, decide whether a short resume summary adds useful context and confirm whether the application asks for a CV or a resume.