Getting your first job as a high school or college student is an exciting milestone! It's rewarding to apply for a job, get hired, and experience the feeling of learning new skills and building relationships--and of course, bringing home a paycheck that can help cover gas, school, or going out with friends.
If you're trying to figure out how to create a good student resume, however, this can often be easier said than done. Students won't have as much work experience as older people who have already started their career. This makes it difficult to fill out a high school resume or college resume without adding fluff.
With the right know-how, however, you can write a student resume that effectively convinces a hiring manager why you're the right person for the job--student or not. In this post, you'll learn about when students should create a resume and what sections to include (plus, what to say in each one). You can also take a look at some student resume examples to help get the creative juices flowing as you design a student resume.
Key Takeaways:
- Yes--students need a resume!
- The best resume format for students is chronological.
- Your student resume should include sections such as a headline; professional summary; education; work history; skills; projects; and interests.
What is a resume?
A resume is a document that summarizes your work experience, education, skills, and other relevant information about you that potential employers might be interested in. It's a one- or two-page document that provides a snapshot of your professional background.
Your resume helps you stand out as a strong candidate for a job. When you apply for a job, your resume is often the first thing employers will see--so you want to make sure your resume summary is well-written, highlighting your unique qualifications, experience, and achievements to convince the employer you're the best person for the job.
A resume is an important tool that you'll need if you're looking for work. It's worth taking the time to create a strong, well-written student resume that showcases your skills and experience.
When should students create a resume?
If you're currently a high school student or a college student, you might be wondering if you really need a resume. After all, a resume is the place where you describe your career journey and previous jobs. But what if you don't have any workforce experience?
Both high school and college students, however, can benefit from having a resume. For high school students, a resume can be helpful when applying to part-time jobs, internships, or even college. Even if you don't have a lot of work experience, you can still include information about your education, extracurricular activities, and any volunteer work or community service you've done. A well-written resume can demonstrate to potential employers or college admissions officers that you're responsible, motivated, and have valuable skills and experiences to offer.
By the time you're in college, you'll have a solid resume foundation to build on. A resume is essential for college students when applying for internships, co-op programs, or full-time jobs after graduation. By creating a resume early on in your college career, you can start keeping track of your academic achievements, work experience, and any other relevant information that you can include on your resume. This can make it easier to apply for jobs later on because you'll have a clear record of your accomplishments examples to refer to.
Long story short: If you're a student and you don't have a resume, the best time to create one is right now. This post will walk you through what kind of relevant experience to include, plus share some resume samples to help you get a feel for what a good student resume for first job looks like.
What is the best resume format for students?
When you're writing a resume, there are several different professional resume formats you can choose from--including options like chronological, functional, or hybrid. For high school or college students, the best resume format is likely chronological. Chronological resumes are actually technically reverse chronological. In the next section, we'll walk you through the correct order in which to lay out your information.
Use a standard black font, such as Times New Roman size 12 (with 0.5 inch margins). It's okay to bold or italicize information such as the headline with your name and contact info, or section headings. Leave plenty of white space in between sections so the resume is easily scannable.
A student resume can also be short, one page or less. In the future, once you've accumulated more work experience, you may choose to extend the length of the document.
What resume sections should students use?
As someone who's still building up their job experience, you may not have a lot of past work history to include on your resume. That's okay! There is plenty of other information you can include instead. The key is to present the information in the right way, proving that your education and life experiences have made you ready to enter the workforce.
Include the following sections to craft a job winning resume--student or not.
Resume headline for students
Your student resume should begin with a resume headline. This is where you introduce yourself to the hiring manager, adding your:
- First and last name
- Phone number
- Email address
This information should be highly visible so it's easy for anyone reading your resume to get in contact with you.
(Pro tip: If you don't have a professional email address yet, now is the time to create one. Some variation of [email protected] is a good choice.)
Resume professional summary for students
Most resumes begin with a short professional bio. This is a 2-4 sentence statement that provides an overview of your career up to this point.
As a student, you may not have enough work experience under your belt to really fill out this section. So for a student resume, this is often the place where you can include your career objective--in other words, what you want to be when you grow up. This might sound something like:
"I hope to obtain a teaching position that allows me to utilize my skills and gain experience in early education."
Teal’s AI Resume Builder with AI functionality can help if you’re feeling stuck. Use this free tool to help generate a summary that you can tweak to customize.
Resume education section for students
For a student resume, the education section is obviously going to be one of the main body sections of the document. You'll want to include a few different elements here. First, stick with the basics, including information about your school:
- For high school students: School name, your GPA, and expected graduation month and year
- For college students: School name, your GPA, your major (and minor), and expected graduation month and year
Second, add any relevant coursework you're taking. Applying for an accounting position? Go heavy on the math courses. Hoping to get a marine biology internship? Definitely mention your Intro to Algae class from last semester. List the names of these courses in a bulleted list.
Finally, we also recommend listing any academic accomplishments you can think of. For example, maybe you've:
- Won an award
- Made honor roll or honor society
- Gotten a scholarship
- Made the dean's list
These kind of accolades sound impressive--but more than that, they prove you're a dedicated, hardworking student whose talents are recognized by others.
Resume work history for students
Even if you're still in high school and haven't yet had your first "real job," you might have more relevant experience than you think. Have you babysat or pet-sat for families in your neighborhood? Worked at a camp during the summer? Volunteered at a local nursing home? These could be great examples of relevant "jobs" (even if you weren't paid for them) to add in this section.
Even extracurricular activities, such as playing on a sports team or participating in a club, can fit as part of your "work history." Internships are another valuable way to prove your real-world experience.
Once you've brainstormed ideas, list these work experiences in reverse chronological order, with the most recent ones first. You'll want to add a bolded or italicized header with the name of the organization, its location, and your job title (if you didn't have an official title, make one up!). Then write 1-3 sentences or bullets briefly explaining what you were responsible for and how you contributed. For example:
- Starbucks Barista, Athens, GA, 2021 - Present
- Provided excellent customer service in a high-volume, fast-paced environment
- Managed cash and credit transactions and maintained a clean and organized work space
The AI Resume Builder offered by Teal has a "Bullets” section so you can easily fill in whatever you’ve done up to this point.
Resume skills for students
Your student resume should include both hard and soft skills. Hard skills are more technical knowledge or training that help you on the job--things like graphic design, speaking a foreign language, or computer programming. Think of soft skills as more like personality qualities, or interpersonal skills. For example, creativity, critical thinking, and good communication help you interact with people like your boss, coworkers, and customers.
Some skills are in high demand for employers hiring college graduates. If you're having trouble coming up with relevant skills, look up a list of example skills online and see which ones resonate most with you. Or ask a parent or teacher what qualities and skills they see in you. You can also look at the job description of the position you're applying for to pull out specific skills that are mentioned.
Need more help? Use Teal's AI Resume Builder to customize each resume with the option to select and de-select all the skills relevant to the job you’re applying for.
The best way to format your skills section is generally as a list of bullet points.
Resume projects section for students
Next, add a section for projects you've completed. These will likely be academic/school projects (done for a class or maybe a capstone program). However, they could also be work-related (maybe you helped with a big project as part of an internship) or personal (such as writing a novel in your spare time).
Choose projects that demonstrate your skills and work ethic. Ideally, they'll be relevant to the job you're applying for.
Resume interest section for students
Remember how teachers and counselors are always telling you that it's important to be a well-rounded individual? This is the student resume section where you can show hiring managers just how interesting you are.
List a few of your unique hobbies and personal interests on a resume, as well as things you're passionate about in a short bulleted list. If you have space, you can write a brief sentence about each one to explain what you like about it and how you enjoy participating in it. This will likely be the very last section in your resume.
Additional resume sections for students
Want to beef out your resume a little more? These sections aren't required, but if you don't have much professional experience, they can be helpful ways to add more length to your resume without adding fluff:
- Volunteering and leadership. If you've already included volunteer experience in your work history section, you don't need to state the same positions twice. Otherwise, however, those volunteer positions can go here--and so can any leadership experience, such as running a club at school.
- Awards and scholarships. Once again, there's no need to restate any academic awards you've already listed earlier on your resume. But if you've racked up them up during your academic career, add the awards to your resume in a new section.
- Publications. Has your written work been published in a magazine, website, or other type of publication? Have you been interviewed by a publication? This is one final student resume section that can be good to have.
Student resume examples
Ready to start designing your high school resume or college resume? Before you dive in, take a look at these good resume templates that can help you better understand how to write a student resume.
High school student resume example
Madison Smith 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA | (123) 456-7890 | [email protected]
Objective: To obtain a part-time job or internship that allows me to utilize my skills and gain experience in education.
Education: Washington High School, Anytown, USA Expected Graduation: June 2024 GPA: 3.8
Relevant Coursework:
- English (Honors)
- Advanced Composition (Honors)
- Shakespeare (Honors)
- History (Honors)
- Math (Honors)
Extracurricular Activities:
- Shakespeare Club, Member, 2020 - Present
- National Honor Society, Member, 2020 - Present
Volunteer Experience:
- Church Volunteer, 2016 - Present
- Taught children's classes each Sunday
- Assisted with Vacation Bible School every summer
Work Experience:
- Nanny, 2019 - Present
- Assisted with homework completion for two children (ages 8 and 10)
- Planned educational activities and games
Skills:
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator)
- Strong writing and editing skills
- Ability to work independently and in a team environment
- Detail-oriented and highly organized
- Empathetic and able to connect with children
- Critical thinker and problem solver
- Photography skills
References: Available upon request
College student resume example
Madison Smith 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA | (123) 456-7890 | [email protected]
Objective: To obtain a teaching position that allows me to utilize my skills and gain experience in early education.
Education: University of Georgia, Athens, GA Bachelor of Science in Early Education, Expected Graduation: May 2028 GPA: 3.8
Relevant Coursework:
- Educational Theory and Practice
- Elementary Curricula and Instruction
- Language and Literacy in Elementary Education
- Mathematics in Elementary Education
- Science in Elementary Education
- Social Studies in Elementary Education
Awards and Honors:
- Regional Award for Best Essay in Social Studies
Extracurricular Activities:
- National Honor Society, Member, 2020 - Present
Field Experience:
- Student Teacher, Multiple Local Schools, 2025 - Present
- Assisted lead teachers in classroom management, lesson planning, and student engagement
- Interacted with students, families, and faculty to build a positive learning environment
- Community Service Projects, Multiple Local Communities, 2024 - Present
- Participated in on-site projects that focused on improving education and literacy in local communities
Work Experience:
- Starbucks Barista, 2024 - Present
- Provided excellent customer service in a high-volume, fast-paced environment
- Managed cash and credit transactions and maintained a clean and organized work space
- Nanny, 2018 - 2020
- Planned educational activities and games for two children (ages 6 and 8)
- Assisted with homework completion and after-school routines
- Church Volunteer, 2016 - Present
- Taught children's classes each Sunday
- Planned and facilitated educational activities and games
Skills:
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator)
- Strong writing and editing skills
- Ability to work independently and in a team environment
- Detail-oriented and highly organized
- Empathetic and able to connect with children
- Critical thinker and problem solver
- Photography skills
References: Available upon request
Business student resume example
Madison Smith 123 Main Street, Athens, GA 30602 (123) 456-7890 [email protected]
Education: University of Georgia, Terry College of Business Bachelor of Business Administration, expected graduation 2024 Major: Business GPA: 3.8
Relevant Coursework: Economics, Financial Management, Marketing
Skills:
- Project Management
- Time Management
- Communication
- Leadership
- Microsoft Office and Google Suite
- Social Media Marketing
- Proficient in German
Experience: Sales Associate, Old Navy, Athens, GA August 2021 - Present
- Assist customers with product selection and purchase decisions
- Maintain a clean and organized store environment
- Meet sales goals and contribute to team success
Study Abroad Program, Munich, Germany January 2022 - May 2022
- Completed an internship in Munich, Germany
- Developed cross-cultural communication skills
- Gained experience in a global business environment
Projects:
- Conducted a cost-benefit analysis for a new product launch in Marketing class
- Collaborated with a team to develop a technology-based solution for a business problem in Information Systems class
- Completed a cultural awareness project in International Business class
Leadership and Extracurricular Activities:
- UGA Business Society Member, 2021-Present
- Volunteer at local non-profit organization, 2019-Present
As a highly motivated and organized individual, I am excited to leverage my skills and experience to pursue a career in HR.
Engineering student resume example
Madison Smith 123 Main Street, Athens, GA 30602 (123) 456-7890 [email protected]
Objective: To obtain a position as a product design engineer
Education: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, expected graduation May 2024 University of Georgia, Athens, GA GPA: 3.8
Relevant Courses:
- Engineering Materials
- Engineered Systems in Society
- HVAC Systems for Buildings and Industry
Experience: Mechanical Engineering Intern, XYZ Company, Athens, GA (June 2021-present)
- Work on hands-on projects to improve product design and efficiency
- Collaborate with engineering teams to troubleshoot problems and develop solutions
- Conduct research on new materials and technologies
Skills:
- Strong problem-solving and critical thinking abilities
- Leadership and team management skills
- Proficient in programming languages, including C++ and Python
- Experience with robotics and automation systems
Activities and Honors:
- Member of the Society of Women Engineers
- Recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Award (2021)
References: Available upon request
How to create a resume as a student
By following the steps outlined here, you can create a solid student resume that helps you get a job--whether you're a recent college graduate or still in high school.
Get your foot in the professional world with the help of Teal. Our AI Resume Builder uses your resume and the job description to generate the perfect student resume for each application.
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Plus, our new features (covering resume sections like education, interests, GPA, and more) are ideal for students of all ages. Get started building your resume today!
While this post only covers student resume examples, you can use this resource for even more resume examples as you progress in your career: 850+ Resume Examples (+Tools & Guidance) to Help You Win 2023!
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