Resume for Teens: Examples, Skills, Templates

Do teenagers need a resume? Not long ago, the answer was no.

Most employers were not that open to hiring high schoolers. Today, however, that’s changing. With the gig economy and freelancing on the rise, landing a quick side job or seasonal employment is way easier. But considering that most companies now recruit online (including for temp/seasonal positions and internships), you are expected to act like an “adult” applicant and file your resume.

And here’s the deal: a fine-written resume can impress potential employers. Even if you do not have much job experience, most employers will appreciate your effort and the fact that you have followed the corporate formalities. Even if you were not asked to provide a resume, bringing one to your in-person job interviews is best. In fact, it is better to get two copies. One you will give to the hiring manager, and the other you can give to anyone else who attends your interview.

Teenage Resume Examples To Swipe 

We’ve rounded up some of our fave examples to help you craft a standout application. From proper formatting tips to persuasive language, these resume examples have got it all.

Teenager Resume Example 

Sample Resume for First Job as a Teenager

Teenager Resume With No Work Experience

Download resume (.docx)

Resume Example For Teens (Text Version)

What to Put on a Resume as a Teenager?

A well-written resume provides the reader with a quick presentation of your skill, personality, and qualification levels. It should have the following information:

• Contact details: Full name, phone number, and email address.

• Resume objective or summary — a brief statement on what type of job you are looking for and what you can bring to the table. 

• Skills – abilities acquired through education, after-school activities, volunteering, or work experience.

• Education: Add your high school name, location, and graduation year (expected or actual). 

• Work experience: Any work you’ve been hired to do. Volunteering and club activities also count! 

Let’s take a look each each one in detail. 

Teenager Resume Objective

You have several ways to style a header for a teenager’s resume. 

The standard approach is to write a resume objective. An objective specifies what job you’re looking for and what you expect to learn, typically in one or two sentences at most. 

Here’s a sample objective for an internship:

Senior Arts School student looking to gain practical experience in exhibition design and curation. Available full-time during summer and part-time (after 15:00 during the semester).

Alternatively, you can choose a resume summary—a longer paragraph describing your job expectations, talents, and competencies. A resume summary works better if you have some work experience (even informal) or completed specialized training at school or elsewhere. 

Here’s a sample resume summary for a teen:

Teenager Skills for Resume

“Ugh, how do I prove that I’m qualified if I never held a job,” you may be thinking. Probably more than enough an employer needs. No one expects you to bring heaps of experience or practical knowledge. But you must still showcase some favorable qualifications and personal qualities. 

You can create a resume as a teen by listing knowledge and skills you’ve acquired through:

• School courses and practical workshops 
• Extracurricular activities 
• Volunteering 
• Online courses 
• Hobbies and interests 

For example, if you’re applying to a hostess position, you can mention how you helped welcome and seat guests during a recent school play. Likewise, you can put relevant research work on your resume to demonstrate your theoretical knowledge and indicate eagerness to apply it in practice. 

Finally, emphasize soft skills — different personality traits and qualities that make you a good worker. Employers are willing to show you the ropes — e.g., explain how to operate a cash desk or package goods. What you need to bring to the table is good attitude, reliability, and strong communication skills. 

Here are several types of soft skills to mention on a teenager resume: 

Interpersonal skills 

• Active listening
• Collaboration
• Teamwork 
• Politeness
• Tact 
• Cultural sensitivity 
• Conflict prevention 
• Feedback 
• Honesty
• Integrity 

Self-management skills 

• Time management
• Task prioritization 
• Adaptability 
• Maturity 
• Self-discipline 
• Goal-setting 

Analytical skills 

• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Logical reasoning 
• Online research 
• Information synthesis
• Digital literacy  

Work Experience

Include any part-time jobs, internships, volunteer work, or babysitting gigs in the work experience section. 

List the position, company or organization name, dates of employment, and key responsibilities. Use bullet points to structure information better for each entry. 

Let’s say you want to put babysitting on your resume. Here’s how a sample work entry may look: 

Education 

If you don’t have any work experience yet, go straight to the Education section as well. Put down your current school and expected graduation date. 

Mention all relevant academic achievements, specialized courses, or extracurricular activities. For example, emphasizing that you’re a member of the local chess club suggests that you have strong logical and analytical skills. 

You should also bring up any relevant online courses or tutorials you’ve completed. Again, these should be relevant to the job you’re after. If you’re applying as a fitness instructor assistant, do mention that you’ve completed Joe Wicks High-Intensity Interval Training workouts. 

Remember, your goal is to showcase how your background and personality help you be successful in the job. 

Recommended Resume Templates for Teens

Don’t start with a blank page. At Freesumes, we have over 180 professionally made and absolutely free resume templates. Modern, creative, minimalistic, or colorful, there are plenty of styles to choose from. Here are three of our top picks for teenager resumes. 

Effortless Elegance is modern resume style with some funky red accents. It provides ample room for a resume summary, a featured skills section, your work experience, and education.	Unconventional resume template flips the script in resume writing. You’ve got a big header area in the bottom and more space at the top to describe your background and talents.	Basic Grey And White is a simple, but effective resume template, oozing professionalism. The education sector is bigger here, so that you can easily compensate for your lack of experience.

Try Our Free Resume Builder 

Wanna get the job even faster? Check out our free resume builder for teens (well, and for adults too!). Generate a professional resume using one of the six available styles and contextual prompts from our team. 

Best Resume Tips for Teens

To effortlessly create a killer resume, there are some quick guidelines you should learn. These resume writing tips are designed to ensure that you can look as appealing as possible to potential employers, even when you don’t have a significant amount of work experience.

Remember that many companies now use an applicant tracking system (ATS). This software automatically scans resumes and filters irrelevant entries. How does ATS determine the qualifications? By looking for keywords, describe your skills and qualifications. 

For example, if a job listing says, ‘Must be able to use Microsoft Excel,’ the ATS software will scan resumes for the keyword phrase, ‘Microsoft Excel.’ If that’s not in your resume, it would likely be discarded. When you read a job listing, note and incorporate relevant keywords to your resume.

List your accomplishments. This is different from listing your duties. Sweeping the floors at a fast food restaurant is a duty. Maintaining a safe and clean restaurant is an accomplishment. Show proof when you can. This could be an award you’ve received for good work or another honor.

For accomplishments, It’s okay to focus on academics. As a teenager, you aren’t expected to have much, if anything, in the way of work experience. So, you can show your dedication and experience through academic and extracurricular work. For example, you can say that you’ve been “voted as the debate club captain” or that your choir team has won several regional competitions. 

Another must-do thing is to match the entries on your resume with the work requirements. Are you applying for a job at your local library? Highlight your excellent grades in English and Literature. If you want to work as a cashier, mention that you’re an A student in math. Finally, remember that sports and activities count as well. So do your community service hours.

Be honest! Don’t exaggerate or lie on your resume. Companies will often check your work experience or ask for references. The last thing you want to do is be embarrassed by your own dishonesty.

Proofread your resume carefully. Use spell check, but don’t rely on that entirely. Read your resume, and ask a friend or family member to also look at it. You want to show that you’re careful and that you pay attention to detail. Also, use a professional-looking email address.
Don’t sweat too much on crafting the perfect resume. Get a good enough version that gives employers a sense of your personality, motivation, and skills, and start applying!