22 High School Resume Examples & Templates for 2026

How to Write a High School Student Resume

Even with limited or no formal work experience, a well-organized high school student resume can still highlight your job-fitness, achievements, and potential. Focus on your contact information and a concise summary, then proceed to your education, skills, relevant experiences (even if unpaid), and extracurricular activities.

Present your information in a clear and concise format, with consistent headings and bullet points. Before sending your application, consider running your copy through a trusted resume checker to identify areas for improvement.

This section will walk you through each step and show you how to write a resume that stands out by covering:

• Sections every high school resume should include
• How to write compelling bullet points for experience
• What to list when you have no job history
• Designing your resume for clarity and readability
• Common mistakes to avoid on student resumes

What should a high school student resume Include?

Dedicate your high school student resume to showcase transferrable skills, projects, and achievements that prove you have the potential to contribute — even without prior job experience. Include the following core sections, each with clear headings, and limit the content to one page if you’re just starting out:

• Contact Information (name, email, phone, LinkedIn)
• Career objective (only if no work experience)
• Education (GPA if 3.5 and above, coursework, awards)
• Soft and technical skills from projects and activities
• Extracurriculars and volunteer work
• Certifications and programs completed
• Achievements (quantified when possible)

What is the best resume template for high school students?

The template you use for your high school resume should be:

• Clean and professional without fancy graphics or too much color: Go for a clutter-free layout and one without graphics and other additions. You only want the recruiters to focus on what you can do and not lose them in unnecessary decorations.
• ATS-friendly: you should know that your application will pass through an applicant tracking system (ATS). If you don’t know yet, we’re telling you. These screeners don’t play nice with graphics and fancy fonts. Avoid them at all costs. And for a bonus point, use bullet points and clearly define your headings for ease of readability. To be sure that your ready-to-send piece will make it through the dreaded screeners, run it through this AI checker.
• Editable in Word or PDF (unless otherwise stated): you’ll edit your resume several times before it’s ready. In that case, templates from Google Docs allow you to edit, save, and share your piece from anywhere. It’s also helpful to save and send your application in PDF due to its portability and acceptance hiring teams.
• Matching your purpose, whether college, first job, or scholarship: For instance, college admission and scholarship boards prefer a classic and simple resume format. On the other hand, media and marketing go with a creative and modern resume design.

Where to find good high school resume templates

You can start with our vetted and approved Google Docs resume templates and see if you find something that meets your taste.

However, for a guided and personalized experience when creating your high school student resume, this free online resume builder will take you through every step until you have a masterpiece that will beat ATS and receive a standing ovation from recruiting managers.

Should I include a career objective?

Only include a career objective if:

• You have no work experience: it’s a natural course of action for a high school student resume without experience to use a career objective. It helps you concentrate more on showcasing your skills and goals for the position you’re eyeing.
• You’re applying to college, scholarships, or internships: you want a statement that expresses your willingness to learn on the job. This short statement shows your passion for a particular field and makes it easy for recruiters to see your potential even without work experience.
• You want to express your goals clearly: An objective can be that attention-grabbing opportunity to demonstrate your academic and career aspirations.

What makes a strong career objective?

Here’s what it takes to make yours impressive:

• Staying brief – one to two sentences can hook hiring managers to your piece. Anything longer will spoil your chances of getting noticed.
• Tailor it to the role – you must be intentional and specific about your application. Say it and show why you’re the best fit for the open opportunity.
• Optimize your strengths – your skills, achievements, and unique qualities are what you need to make a great first impression.

Good examples of high school student resume’s career objectives

To give you a snippet of what a good career objective looks like, here are a few examples:

• For college scholarships – “Aspiring computer scientist passionate about problem-solution and software development, looking forward to leveraging coding skills to create impactful technology. Seeking the Durham Tech scholarship to pursue a degree in computer science and contribute to advancements in the field.”
• For first job with no experience – “Compassionate and dedicated nursing graduate, yearning to bring strong communication skills and a patient-centered approach to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Committed to learning from experienced professionals while providing excellent patient care and support.”
• For college admissions – “Aspiring law student with a strong passion for justice, critical thinking, and advocacy, eager to make a meaningful impact in the legal space. Seeking admission to Harvard Law School for rigorous academic challenges and contribute to a diverse community committed to excellence and ethical professionalism.”
• For internship – “Motivated high school student with strong analytical skills and a passion for finance, ready to use classroom knowledge in a hands-on accounting internship at Gensler. Dedicated to learning industry best practices while contributing to a dynamic team with attention to detail and a growth mindset.”

How to list education on a high school resume

Your education section is your strongest asset because you lack direct or have little to no direct work experience.

Include:

• School Name (with city and state)
• Graduation date (or expected)
• GPA (if above 3.5)
• Relevant coursework to the industry you want to join
• Honors and awards
• Extracurricular involvement

Example of a good education section:

What are transferable skills, and how can I showcase them?

Transferable skills are the practical lessons and abilities you gained from school, clubs, internships, or volunteering that apply to work or college.

Here’s how to do that correctly:

Skills from projects and coursework

Even without work experience, you’ve gained relevant skills through group projects, extracurriculars, and classwork. They can include:

• Time management – doing and submitting assignments before deadlines
• Writing and research proficiencies – gained from essay and report writing for lab experiments
• Communication and presentation – class presentations and club debates
• Problem-solving – math quizzes and practical science projects

How to showcase extracurricular activities

ap your extracurricular activities to demonstrate potential, ability to lead, and solve real-world probplems. Identify the most relevant ones, and use bullet points and highlight impact, leadership, and commitment. Examples you can add to your resume include:

• Technical skills – gained from the robotic club, coding, and web development group, managing social media page for wildlife club
• Creativity – drama festivals, art & music clubs
• Teamwork and leadership – being the captain of the soccer team, the campus student vice president
• Event planning – organizing club meetings, fund drives, and environmental conservation days

Skills from community and voluntary work

Don’t let your role in community service and volunteer work go to waste when you can use them to demonstrate valuable skills as follows:

• Strong work ethic and passion – supporting a noble cause without expecting any reward
• Planning and organization – creating and planning activities for participants
• Customer service – taking part in charity events and food banks and playing a role in mobilizing donations

Highlight soft skills

Just like technical skills, employers value soft skills that are transferable to an actual workplace, such as:

• Attention to detail
• Excellent communication
• Initiative
• Adaptability
• Positive attitude
• People skills

How do I quantify my achievements?

Numbers ensure your resume stands out in both AI summaries and human reviews.

Instead of:

“Helped plan school fundraiser”

Write:

“Organized a charity event raising $1,500 for animal shelters with 70+ attendees”

Instead of:

“Wrote articles for a school magazine”

Write:

“Published 22 articles each year for 2 consecutive years, increasing readership by 28% in 2024”

Examples of measurable achievement bullets

• Facilitated over 51 table reservations per day through SevenRooms, ensuring efficient seating arrangements
• Monitored and updated 1,780+ inventory items in real-time through Square POS, preventing product shortages
• Drafted 22 articles per semester for the campus newsletter, increasing newsletter readership by 8%

What are strong action verbs for a high school resume?

Active verbs emphasize action, outcomes, and give a spark of the value you hold. Here are some grouped for quick access:

• Collaboration and teamwork: Supported, assisted, collaborated, and partnered
• Initiative and leadership: Led, supervised, coordinated, initiated, and managed
• Achievements: Optimized, surpassed, completed, accomplished, and awarded
• Problem-solving: Streamlined, improved, solved, created, and designed
• Communication: Presented, explained, informed, educated, and advised
• Planning/managing: Scheduled, organized, planned, arranged, and executed

Common mistakes to avoid on high school resumes

• Vague statements
• Spelling and grammar mistakes
• Irrelevant experience (e.g., 5th-grade honor roll)
• Crowded paragraphs with no bullet points
• Overly formatted templates

Key takeaways

• Customize for the specific role – read the job description or the college admission or scholarship prerequisites.
• Do your homework about the employer/school/program – before writing your high school resume, research your prospective employer, the school, or the scholarship program you’re applying to.
• Quantify your achievements – you may lack industry-specific experience, but that doesn’t limit you from adding measurable impact from projects and other voluntary activities.
• Be brief—you’re not writing your life story, and recruiters don’t expect it anyway. A one-page resume is enough to sell your value and have the admission board and HR teams call you for an interview.
• No room for errors – how do you, for instance, expect to crunch numbers for a giant retail company serving millions of customers each month when your resume is full of grammatical mistakes?
• Write for both ATS and humans – before your resume gets a chance to be reviewed by a human, it has to pass through online screeners. 
• Finally, to ensure your resume is optimized for ATS) use ourresume scanner to check its effectiveness