How to Write a High School Resume
High school students need resumes readily available for a variety of reasons. Prospective employers are impressed when a teenager shows up for a part-time job interview with a resume in hand. High school students often attach resumes to both college and scholarship applications. It's a good idea for teenagers to keep a resume file on their computer desktops and to not only update it often but to also understand how to alter the resume for various uses.
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Instructions
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Place all your contact information at the top of the resume in letterhead style: that is, centered and single-spaced. Your name, with your middle initial, goes on the top line with your street address under that; write out words such as "Street, "Avenue" and "Drive." Under the address write the name of your city followed by a comma, the two-letter state abbreviation, and your zip code. On the next line write your phone number with the area code in parenthesis. On the fifth line you can add an e-mail address if you wish.
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Title this section "Education," placing the title flush left. Use this section to put the dates you have been in high school, and give the name and address of your school. It is optional to state your grade point average or class ranking. List any specific elective classes that you feel would be of interest to those reading your resume. For example, in applying to admittance to a summer art camp, your resume should list the specific art courses you have taken. You might want to list classes that demonstrate your expertise in using the computer.
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Make a list of all your work experiences and put these in the third section of your resume. There is not one correct way to list this information, but it is necessary to include the name and address of the employer, the dates you worked there, your title, and a description of your duties. Describe the work you did in the past tense if you have completed a job. Tell briefly, under each job listing, what responsibilities were assigned to you. If you are currently working, list your job with a beginning date and say "Present" where the end date would be. Write the job description in the present tense for your current job. All jobs should be in chronological order, beginning with the most recent. If you have not had any formal work experience, you might list baby-sitting, yard work or volunteer activities. It is important to be consistent in the way you list each job, and your entries should be neat, readable and well-designed.
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Add sections for "Activities" and/or "Awards and Honors" only if you feel you have sufficient material to put into these sections and if you feel this information is fitting for the purpose of your resume. Under activities list extra-curricular activities such as sports, theater and debate, music, and various club memberships. You might also want to list activities in which you participate unrelated to school; for example, you might belong to a church youth group or volunteer with a local organization. Awards for good attendance are something a future employer would want to see.
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Create a section called "Interests" only if you feel that your resume is particularly short or if you think that your areas of interest are important to the job or scholarship for which you are applying. For example, if you are looking for a job at a bike shop, it would be important for an employer to know that you are an avid bike rider. If you are applying for a scholarship for students looking toward careers in engineering, your interest in rocketry could be noted.
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Tips & Warnings
Using bullets helps to give definition to the look of your resume and makes it easier to read.
Limit your resume to one page.
