Teen Resume Examples, Templates, & Guide
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Whether you're seeking a part-time job, internship, or volunteer opportunity, a well-crafted teen resume is essential for showcasing your skills, initiative, and willingness to learn.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through essential tips to help you create a standout resume tailored to your strengths and goals as a teen job seeker.
Explore our teen resume examples and use our Resume Builder to quickly and easily create a resume that sets you apart from your peers.
Why a Resume for Teens Is Important
A resume helps teens present their skills, education, and extracurricular activities in a clear, professional format. Even without formal work experience, a well-written teen resume shows responsibility, initiative, and readiness for a first job.
It also prepares teens for interviews, job fairs, internships, and future academic or career opportunities. Here’s a closer look at why crafting a strong teen resume is important:
- Gaining a competitive edge: A well-crafted resume helps you stand out when applying for part-time jobs, internships, or academic programs by showcasing your involvement in extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and leadership roles.
- Early career development: Building a resume allows you to reflect on your skills, experiences, and goals, which can inform your decisions about future career paths, education, and job opportunities.
- Showcasing skills beyond work experience: Even with no work experience, you can highlight transferable skills such as teamwork, time management, and problem-solving gained through school projects, sports, or volunteering.
- Preparing for long-term success: Starting a resume early helps you track your growth and achievements over time. It also makes it easier to update it for future opportunities and continuously build your personal brand.
Explore our guide on how to write a resume for tips tailored to different experience levels and examples from Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW).
Best Format for a Teen Resume
The functional resume format is generally the best choice for teens because it emphasizes skills and abilities over formal work experience.
Even when you don’t have an extensive job history, this resume format allows you to highlight what you’ve learned from extracurricular activities, school projects, or personal interests.
Skills developed through these activities are often transferable to the workplace, such as leadership and organizational skills from captaining a sports team or organizing a school event.
The teen resume templates below will give you a better idea of what a resume looks like, so you can start crafting a well-formatted resume that reflects your unique skills and experiences.
Formatting your resume is about more than aesthetics. Your resume format ensures your experience and skills are easy to read and quickly understood by hiring managers. Clean layouts, consistent fonts, and strategic use of headings and bullet points help your most important accomplishments stand out, making a strong first impression.— Jasmine Escalera, Career Professional
Teen Resume Examples
Explore our sample teen resumes to get started. For additional inspiration and guidance, we recommend checking out our professional resume examples.
No Work Experience
Some Work Experience
Volunteer Experience
Explore our professional resume templates for additional layout options. You can edit and customize your selected template in our Resume Builder.
What Should a Teenager Put on Their Resume?
A teenager’s resume should include contact information, a brief objective statement, education details, relevant skills, and extracurricular activities. Volunteer work, part-time jobs, babysitting, or school projects can also demonstrate responsibility and teamwork.
Focus on transferable skills (like communication and time management) that show readiness for a first job. Explore the key sections of a teen resume in further detail below.
Contact Information
In your resume header, include your full name, phone number, and email address so that employers can contact you for an interview.
Avoid using an outdated or informal email address, which can appear unprofessional. Instead, opt for a polished email address such as firstname.lastname@email.com.
You may also include your home address (city and state) and, if applicable, a link to your professional profile or personal portfolio if relevant to the role.
Resume Objective
Your teen resume should include a resume objective, which is a brief statement highlighting your goals, what you hope to achieve in the role, and how you can contribute to the company.
Including an objective in your teen resume is a powerful way to introduce yourself to potential employers, especially if you have limited work experience.
Unlike a resume summary, which focuses on career highlights, an objective provides a forward-looking statement tailored to entry-level roles.
Here’s a compelling teen resume objective example:
Motivated and responsible high school student seeking a part-time social media marketing position to gain hands-on experience and contribute strong communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Eager to help your team spot trends, create posts that foster engagement, and improve your brand’s social media reach and presence. Brings leadership abilities from school clubs and volunteer work.
Education
Including a strong education section is crucial for teens, as it often represents a significant portion of their qualifications at this stage.
The education section highlights academic achievements, relevant coursework, and school-related activities demonstrating skills or knowledge.
Include your school’s name, expected graduation date, and GPA if they are solid and relevant to the position. You can also list honors, awards, or any advanced or specialized classes related to the job or opportunity you're seeking. For example:
EDUCATION
Springfield High School | Springfield, IL
- Expected Graduation: June 2026
- GPA: 3.8
- Relevant Coursework: Advanced Placement (AP) English, Algebra II
- Honors: National Honor Society, Student of the Month (March 2024)
Skills
Including a skills section on a resume for teens is essential for highlighting abilities that may come from something other than traditional work experience.
Reflect on skills you have developed through school, extracurricular activities, or volunteer work, paying close attention to those that align with the job description.
Be sure to include a mix of hard skills (such as proficiency in Microsoft Office, social media, or coding) and soft skills (like communication, time management, teamwork, and leadership).
Organize your skills into groups and provide a brief overview of where you learned and implemented them. Here’s an example resume skills section for a teen resume:
SKILLS
Leadership Skills
- Student Council Vice President: Led and organized school events and managed a team of 10 student representatives.
- Basketball Team Captain: Coordinated team practices and motivated teammates, contributing to a winning season.
Communication Skills
- Debate Club Member: Developed strong public speaking and argumentation skills through participation in regional competitions.
- School Newspaper Editor: Edited articles and collaborated with a team of writers, ensuring timely publication.
Technical Skills
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint): Used regularly for school projects and assignments, including data analysis and presentations.
- Basic Graphic Design: Created posters and event flyers using Canva for school events and volunteer activities.
Work Experience
If applicable, you can include a work history section to demonstrate responsibility, reliability, and real-world skills, even if the jobs are part-time or informal.
Whether it's babysitting, dog walking, or a summer job at a local store, these roles show you have experience managing tasks, working with others, and providing services.
Be sure to include details about your specific responsibilities and any achievements that reflect transferable abilities, such as time management, communication skills, or problem-solving.
Here’s an example of a work history section for a teen's resume:
EXPERIENCE
Babysitter
Self-employed | Springfield, IL
May 2024 – Present
- Supervised two children (ages 4 and 7) for up to 6 hours per day.
- Organized educational and creative activities to keep children engaged.
- Ensured safety and maintained a clean environment.
- Communicated effectively with parents about children’s needs and schedules.
Part-Time Sales Associate
Old Navy | Springfield, IL
June 2023 – September 2023
- Assisted customers with product selection and provided excellent customer service.
- Managed the cash register, processed payments, and handled returns.
- Helped with inventory organization and stocking merchandise.
Optional Sections
You can include optional resume sections on your teen resume, which is especially helpful if you don’t have formal work experience. Here are a few examples:
- Extracurricular activities: Include clubs, sports teams, or school organizations that demonstrate leadership skills, teamwork, or other relevant abilities.
- Volunteer work or community service: Highlight any unpaid work that shows dedication, responsibility, and a willingness to give back.
- Personal projects: Highlight relevant projects, such as creating a blog, coding an app, or organizing a charity event.
- Awards and honors: Showcase academic or extracurricular achievements, such as honor roll, scholarships, or sports awards.
- Certifications: List certifications such as CPR, first aid, or computer skills that add value to your qualifications.
- Languages: Add any foreign languages you speak and your proficiency level (beginner, intermediate, or fluent).
- Hobbies and interests: Mention hobbies relevant to the job, such as photography, writing, or coding, to provide insight into your personality and passions.
Explore our high school resume examples, which demonstrate skills and activities that you can highlight as a teen with limited professional experience.
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Tips for Creating a Strong Teen Resume
- Include measurable achievements. To demonstrate impact, quantify your accomplishments with specific numbers or outcomes.
- Showcase any work experience. Include part-time jobs, babysitting, dog walking, or any informal work experience that shows responsibility and time management.
- Use consistent formatting. Use consistent resume fonts, bullet points, and section spacing to ensure your resume is easy to read.
- Tailor the resume to the job. Customize your resume for each job by emphasizing the skills and experiences most relevant to the position or industry you're applying to.
- Keep it to one page. As a teen, your resume length should typically be one page. Be concise while still detailing your most relevant experiences and accomplishments.
- Use action verbs. Begin bullet points with strong action verbs like “led,” “organized,” or “managed” to make your experience and skills more dynamic and impactful.
- Ask for feedback. Have a teacher, mentor, or parent review your resume to provide feedback and ensure everything is clear, concise, and relevant.
How to Tailor Your Teen Resume
Tailor your teen resume by matching your skills, activities, and achievements to the job description. Explore how to customize your resume for various scenarios below.
Part-Time Job
When applying for a part-time position, highlight skills directly related to the job, such as customer service, communication, time management, or specific technical skills.
For example, if applying for a retail job, emphasize any experience dealing with people or handling money, and incorporate keywords such as “customer service” and “product knowledge.”
Internship
When writing an internship resume as a teen, emphasize relevant coursework or academic projects related to the field.
For instance, if you’re applying for a marketing internship, mention any marketing-related classes where you developed software proficiency, research skills, or writing abilities.
Volunteer Role
For a volunteer position, tailor your resume to express enthusiasm for the organization’s mission and explain how you hope to contribute.
If you’ve volunteered before, even in informal settings (such as helping at school events), be sure to include this to show that you are familiar with and committed to volunteer work.
Emphasize skills like empathy, teamwork, and communication, which are often highly valued in volunteer roles.
College Application
For college resumes, highlight your academic strengths. Include GPA, relevant coursework, honors, and awards to showcase your dedication to learning.
Colleges look for well-rounded candidates, so include any extracurricular involvement, especially leadership roles in clubs, sports, or volunteer groups.
See how to write a high school resume for a college application for guidance and examples from career advice experts.
Teen Resume Mistakes to Avoid
- Using an unprofessional email address. Avoid using a casual or overly creative email address. Instead, opt for a professional email that uses your name.
- Overcrowding your resume. A cluttered resume is difficult for hiring managers to read. Start with a resume outline to organize your document into clear sections.
- Writing a generic resume objective. Customize your objective to the specific position or opportunity, highlighting your enthusiasm and what you bring to the role.
- Typos and grammatical errors. Always proofread your resume carefully. You can use our ATS Resume Checker to scan your resume for common errors.
- Using excessive filler words. Avoid using overly wordy phrases like “responsible for” or “helped with.” Be concise and use strong action verbs such as “organized” or “led.”
- Leaving out extracurricular activities. Your involvement in sports, clubs, and volunteer work is valuable, especially when you have limited formal job experience.
Craft a Cover Letter for Your Teen Resume
While your resume lists your skills and experiences, your cover letter allows you to explain why you are applying for the position and how your abilities make you a great fit.
You can use our Cover Letter Generator to craft a strong teen cover letter. Use your resume to generate a matching cover letter, or start from scratch with step-by-step guidance and pro tips.
A well-written cover letter also shows professionalism and attention to detail, which can set you apart from other applicants. Here are a few resources to help you get started:
Key Takeaways
- Writing a teen resume lets you showcase your skills, experiences, and potential to stand out to employers, secure opportunities, and build a foundation for future career success.
- Your teen resume should highlight transferable skills from school, extracurriculars, and any relevant volunteer experience or part-time work.
- Tailor your resume for each job, internship, or college application to fit the opportunity and impress hiring managers or admissions officers.
- Keep your resume clear and concise with a clean, organized layout. Proofread carefully to ensure your resume is free of typos and errors for a professional impression.
FAQ
How do I write a resume for a teenager?
To write a resume for a teenager, start by listing contact information, education, and a brief objective statement, then add skills, extracurricular activities, and any volunteer or part-time work.
Focus on transferable skills like communication, teamwork, and time management. Keep the format simple, limit it to one page, and tailor it to the specific job.
Do you need a resume for your first job as a teen?
Yes, even for a first job, submitting a teen resume is helpful. It highlights your skills, school achievements, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities, demonstrating your reliability and initiative to employers.
A resume gives you a professional edge, helps you stand out among other applicants, and can make the interview process smoother by clearly presenting your experience and abilities.
How does a 14-year-old write a resume with no experience?
A 14-year-old can write a resume with no experience by focusing on school achievements, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and personal projects.
Emphasize transferable skills like responsibility, teamwork, and communication. Include a brief objective statement and keep the resume clear and one page long.
Even without formal work experience, this approach shows initiative and readiness for a first job or volunteer opportunity.
What does a 16-year-old’s resume look like?
A 16-year-old’s resume typically includes contact information, a short objective, education, relevant skills, and any work, volunteer, or extracurricular experience. It highlights achievements like school projects, sports, clubs, or babysitting jobs.
The format is simple, one page, and organized with clear headings, showing responsibility, initiative, and readiness for part-time or entry-level positions.
How long should a resume be for a 15-year-old?
A resume for a 15-year-old should be one page long. Focus on the most relevant information, such as education, skills, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and any informal work experience.
Keeping it concise ensures that employers can quickly see your strengths and potential, even if you have little to no formal job experience.
Should I include my GPA on my teen resume?
Yes, you can include your GPA on a teen resume if it is strong (generally 3.5 or higher). Listing your GPA can demonstrate academic achievement and responsibility to employers, especially for first jobs or internships.
If your GPA is lower, focus instead on relevant skills, accomplishments, and extracurricular activities that highlight your strengths.
What should I not put on my resume?
Avoid including personal details like age, birthdate, or Social Security number, as well as unrelated hobbies or negative information. Don’t exaggerate skills or experience, and skip references or hourly pay expectations on your teen resume.
Instead, focus on relevant education, skills, activities, and volunteer or work experience that demonstrate your abilities and readiness for the job.
What skills should a high schooler list on their resume?
A high schooler should list transferable skills that show responsibility and readiness for work, such as:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Problem-solving
- Organization
Other valuable skills include:
- Computer literacy
- Customer service
- Leadership from clubs or sports
- Any technical or creative abilities relevant to the job
Tailor the skills section to match the position you’re applying for.
How We Reviewed This Article
Since 2012, we have helped more than 11 million job seekers. We want to make your career journey accessible and manageable through our services and Career Center’s how-to guides and tips. In our commitment to bring you a transparent process, we present our Editorial Process.
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Teen Resume Examples, Templates, & Guide
Elizabeth is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches. She is committed to helping job seekers navigate the job market and succeed in their careers.
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