Resume Tips for High School Students

Crafting a resume as a high school student might seem daunting, but it's an essential tool for college applications, scholarship opportunities, and even part-time jobs. A well-constructed resume highlights your accomplishments, extracurricular activities, and skills, providing a snapshot of who you are beyond your academic record. It also serves as a valuable resource when requesting letters of recommendation from teachers or preparing for college interviews.

Why a Resume Matters for High School Students

A high school resume is more than just a list of activities; it's a strategic document showcasing your strengths and experiences. Colleges and scholarship committees often request or recommend a resume to get a comprehensive view of your qualifications. It allows you to present information that might not be fully captured in other application materials.

Essential Sections of a High School Resume

Contact Information

Your contact information should be prominently displayed at the top of your resume. Include the following:

Your name
Phone number
Email address (use a professional-sounding email)

In many cases, you won’t need to include your address on your resume.

Education

Since your education is your most recent and relevant experience, place it at the top of your resume, especially if you're a current high school student or recent graduate. Include:

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High School Name, City, STATE (start year - end year)
GPA, weighted and unweighted (if above 3.0)
Best test scores (ACT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, AP)
Relevant coursework that reflects an interest in your major.

Listing the location of your high school provides context for employers about where you live. Even if it’s just your diploma, listing the degree type on your resume as “High School Diploma” is a good idea.

Experiences (Activities List)

This section is your chance to showcase your involvement outside of the classroom. Think of it as an expanded "Activities List." Include both responsibilities and accomplishments. When describing your experiences, use strong action verbs and quantify your achievements whenever possible. List experiences in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent activities and working backward. For each activity, list the organization/business (even if it’s just your school), location, your position, and the dates of experience. The dates show much you’ve invested in that activity. Avoid first person. Instead of saying “I managed,” just say “managed.” Keep verb tenses consistent. So, if you’re still participating in the activity, use present-tense verbs. If you’re not, use past-tense verbs.

Responsibilities vs. Accomplishments: Focus on what you achieved, not just what you were responsible for.
Numbers Matter: Use numbers to provide context and scale.
- Example: "Editor of school newspaper: Published 10 papers, oversaw 20 articles per issue, led weekly meetings with 15 student writers."
Active Verbs: Use strong verbs to describe your actions.

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- Examples: Led, managed, organized, created, problem-solved, budgeted, maintained, coached, produced, written, presented, scheduled, built, developed.

Awards and Honors

Think of this section as your trophy case on paper. Include any awards, honors, or recognition you've received.

Include the name of the award and, if it’s obscure-or only someone from your town would recognize it-briefly describe what it is.
List the organizations involved, your position and the date you received the award (month and year works).
Be specific and use numbers.
Include if you were selected for something. (Examples: “1 of 200 students selected to serve as student/admin liaison” or “1 of 4 students chosen to represent our school at the national conference.”)

Additional Skills

This final section should be short and sweet. What are skills? Anything you can do that could be relevant for college or your major. This section allows you to show off any extra classes you’ve taken in high school that reflect an interest in your major.

Avoid cliches like “punctual,” “passionate,” “organized,” “hard-working,” “team-player.”
Focus especially on computer and language skills.
- If you’re a Google Drive maven, add “Google Apps for Work”
- If you can rock Word, Powerpoint and Excel, add “Microsoft Office Suite”
- If you know how to hack or code, include it.
- If you’ve taken Spanish I, include it. If you’re studying Arabic through Rosetta Stone, or High Valyrian through Duolingo, include it!
Some examples of other skills you might include:

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- Sports-related skills
- Technical skills (welding, fixing cars, construction, computer repair, etc.)
- Data analysis skills
- Communication or teaching skills
- Writing skills (Maybe you can create comics, or write screenplays or newspaper articles; maybe you know AP style or APA style like the back of your hand-include it!)
- Speech and debate skills
- Artistic skills (Which mediums can you work with? With which types of paint do you thrive?)
- Interpretation/translation skills (This goes beyond just speaking a language!)
- Musical proficiencies (Can you read music? Play five instruments? Sight-read?)

Formatting and Design Tips

Commit to one page.
Respect white space. Leave the document’s margins at 1 inch. Keep a space between each section.
Choose a professional template. Canva’s ready-to-use, customizable resume templates can be a great starting point. Go to File > Make a copy, and copy the document to your Google Drive.
Choose a serif font. A serif font looks a little more traditional and professional on a resume.
Create a style for each level of information. Bold or capitalize headings. Use italics or underline if you’d like. Make use of bullet points. The key here is consistency. There’s not one right way-just choose a style and stick to it.
Use Bullet Points - Avoid lengthy paragraphs in your resume, and instead rely on bullet points to inform the reader of your skills and capabilities.
Save as a PDF. Always be sure to submit your resume in pdf format, unless specifically asked not to by the hiring manager.
Get creative! Promote accomplishments like perfect attendance, fluency in a second language, and competitive awards such as sports championships.

What to Avoid

Don’t Give ‘em Helvetica.
Avoid cliches.
Avoid first person. Instead of saying “I managed,” just say “managed.”
Leave the References Off - Don’t list any references on your resume.
Don’t include an “Objective.” They know your objective is to get into college, get a job/scholarship/internship.
Don’t write, “References available on request.” It sounds nice, but whoever reads your resume knows to contact you if he or she needs references, so it’s just wasted space.

Final Touches

Proofread, Proofread, and Proofread!!! - There is no worse turn-off for a hiring manager than spotting a typo or grammatical mistake in a resume.
Save your resume as a PDF with a professional, clear title. Include your name and the word “Resume.” Avoid titles like “asdjks.pdf” or “Resume.pdf,” which can come across as unprofessional or confusing.
Keep your resume updated. As you gain new experience, skills and awards, add them!
Remember that you are not your college resume. You are a human being, not a human doing. If you don’t have a rockstar resume, that’s okay. Work with what you’ve got.

Using Your Resume

Colleges: The Common App typically lets schools decide whether or not to offer an upload function within each colleges individual supplemental section.
Interviews: If you can afford it and plan to do interviews in person, go to your local office supply store and buy some thick, white or off-white resume paper. Grab a professional-looking folder while you’re at it (no folders with kittens or polka-dots). Print 10 or so copies to keep on hand. When you walk into an interview, whether it’s for college or a job, bring a copy for every interviewer.
Letters of Recommendation: When you ask teachers for letters of recommendation, give them a copy.

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