High school resume template: rewrite yours line by line

A teenage girl in an orange hoodie kneels on a school gym floor with both hands on a small wheeled robot chassis, like a robotics club build lead.

A high school resume template needs six parts on one page: contact line, short summary, education, experience, activities, and skills. Put education near the top, count babysitting and volunteer work as experience, and give each entry a specific action and result. Copy the template below, then rewrite each line using the before and after examples.

By I start Monday team · Published October 31, 2026 · 8 min read

By the end of this session you will have a finished one-page resume saved as a file you can upload, with every line rewritten from vague to specific. Open your current resume or a blank document. You can finish every step without a paid job on your record, because childcare, clubs, class projects, and volunteering all count as material. The high school resume examples below follow one made-up student, Jordan, so swap in your own facts as you go.

Step 1: Paste the template into a blank document

This high school student resume template has six sections, in an order that works when school is your main credential. Copy the list into your document, then replace each description with your own details as you work through the steps.

Contact line: full name, city and state, phone number, and a professional email address.
Summary: one sentence with your grade, your strongest qualification, and when you can work.
Education: school name, city, expected graduation month and year, GPA if it helps you, and relevant courses.
Experience: paid jobs, volunteer roles, and regular family or neighborhood work, with dates and 2 or 3 bullets each.
Activities: clubs, teams, and programs, each with your role and one result.
Skills: 3 to 6 skills you can demonstrate, including software, languages, and certifications.

Use one column, standard section names, and a common font for this resume template for students in high school, and see our guide to ATS-friendly resume formatting for more on layout. Now rewrite your contact line. If your email address is a joke from middle school, create a new one with your name in it.

Before: "Jordan, coolgamerkid@example.com"
After: "Jordan Reyes | Tucson, AZ | phone number | jordan.reyes@example.com"

Step 2: Write a summary that says when you can work

Put your availability in your summary so your schedule is easy to find. Replace general ambition with your grade, one qualification, and your hours. Write your own version now, and keep it to one sentence.

Before: "Hardworking student looking for a job where I can gain experience and grow."
After: "High school junior with two years of childcare experience and register training, available weekends and after 3 p.m. on weekdays."

List only hours you can legally work. If you are unsure which hours apply to you, check the U.S. Department of Labor's child labor pages and your state labor office.

Step 3: Move education up and add checkable details

School is your main credential right now, so education sits above experience. Write the word expected in front of your graduation date so nobody reads it as finished. Include your GPA when it helps you. If it does not, leave it off and list an honor, a strong subject, or a course tied to the job. If you are homeschooled, name your program and give your expected completion date.

Before: "Attended Lincoln High School. Good grades."
After: "Lincoln High School, Tucson, AZ. Expected graduation: June. GPA 3.6. Relevant courses: Accounting, Spanish III."

Choose courses with the job in mind. Accounting suits a bank or retail job, Spanish helps anywhere that serves Spanish-speaking customers, and a shop class fits a trades apprenticeship. Pick one or two for your own line and add the year to your graduation date.

Step 4: Turn what you have done into experience bullets

Write each bullet as an action, then add scope: who, how many, how often, or what happened next. Babysitting, yard work, regular care for a younger sibling, and helping in a family business all belong here if you did them on a steady schedule. List each one with a role title and dates, the same way you would list a paid job.

Before: "Babysitting. Watched kids for neighbors."
After: "Babysitter, self-employed: Care for 3 children, ages 4 to 9, two evenings a week, and handle dinner, homework, and bedtime."
Before: "Responsible for helping customers at the ice cream shop."
After: "Served customers and ran the register on weekend shifts at a local ice cream shop, and trained 2 new hires on closing duties."

Stuck for verbs? Look up the job on O*NET OnLine and borrow only wording that truthfully matches what you did. Our guide to resume bullet points that get read has more patterns to try on your own lines.

YOUR PROOF RATIO

Count every bullet in your Experience and Activities sections. Then count the bullets that contain proof: a number, a named tool, or a stated outcome. Divide proof bullets by total bullets. If 4 of your 6 bullets have proof, your ratio is 2 in 3. Aim for at least 1 in 2. If you land at 2 of 6, which is 1 in 3, rewrite one more bullet and count again. The target is an editing rule from this page, and it says nothing about how any employer scores resumes.

Step 5: Give each activity a role and a result

Activities can show the reliability and leadership that a short work history cannot show yet. Name what you did in the group and what came of it. If you joined a club and only attended meetings, give it one short line or cut it to make room for something stronger.

Before: "Member of robotics club and also did student council."
After: "Robotics club, build lead: Led a team of 5 through 2 regional competitions and tracked the parts budget in Google Sheets."

Use details a stranger could check: team size, events, money handled, or hours per week. If you do not know an exact figure, ask the club advisor or use a careful estimate you can defend in an interview. Rewrite your strongest activity now, then repeat for the others.

Step 6: Replace traits with provable skills, then tailor and save

Cut personality traits from the skills section and show them through your bullets instead. Keep software, languages, certifications, and job tasks you could demonstrate on your first day.

Before: "Skills: Hard worker, people person, fast learner, social media."
After: "Skills: Google Sheets, conversational Spanish, cash handling, CPR certification."

Next, pull up a real posting and mark the skills it names. Where you truly have one, use the posting's exact words, and tailor the rest of your resume to the job description. If the page runs long, cut your weakest activity first. Save a copy with your name in the file name, such as Jordan-Reyes-Resume, in the file type the application requests. CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, lists Resumes in its site menu. The table below collects six of Jordan's changes so you can compare them with yours.

Jordan's high school resume, before and after

Before	After	What changed
First name and a joke email address	Full name, city, state, phone, and a professional email	An employer can identify and reach you
Looking for a job to gain experience	Junior with childcare experience, available weekends and after 3 p.m.	Says what you offer and when you can work
Attended Lincoln High School. Good grades.	Lincoln High School, expected June graduation, GPA 3.6, Accounting	Vague praise became checkable facts
Watched kids for neighbors	Care for 3 children two evenings a week	Added scope and frequency
Member of robotics club	Build lead for a team of 5 at 2 competitions	Added a role and countable results
Hard worker, people person	Google Sheets, conversational Spanish, cash handling, CPR certification	Traits became skills you can demonstrate

Check your work

Does everything fit on one page in a single column?
Does every bullet in Experience and Activities start with an action verb?
Is your proof ratio at least 1 in 2?
Could you give a real example for every skill you listed if an interviewer asked?
Has a teacher, counselor, or parent read it for typos and confirmed your dates are accurate?

Try it

Take your finished resume to your next application. Start on I start Monday

Frequently asked questions

Should I list references on my high school resume?

Leave references off the resume and keep them on a separate sheet with 2 or 3 names, such as a teacher, coach, or supervisor. Ask each person for permission first, then list their title, phone number, and email. Hand over the sheet when an employer asks for it.

Can I use a designed template from Canva or Word?

Yes, as long as the layout stays simple. This page's advice is to use a single-column version with standard headings when you upload a file. Save any more designed version for a printed copy you hand directly to a manager or bring to an interview.

Should I use the same resume for part-time jobs and college applications?

Keep one master file with everything, then copy it for each purpose. A job version leads with availability and practical skills. A college or scholarship version gives more space to coursework, leadership, and service. If a program gives application instructions, follow those first.

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