It’s time to leap into the unknown and start your life for real. Build yourself a solid pair of wings and nail the interview with this on-point high school graduate resume sample.
Career Expert
Graduation cap tossed and diploma in hand, you're ready to conquer the world. But before you can start your journey, you need to impress potential employers with a stellar resume. The job market is competitive, and one misstep could steer you off course.
Fear not! We're here to help you craft a high school graduate resume that lands you that dream job and sets you on the path to success.
In this guide:
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- 29.73% of our users include certifications on their resumes.
- A total of 2.65% of users report zero work experience, while 18.06% have less than three years on their resumes.
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Driven high-school graduate with exceptional communication and organizational skills. Eager to join Aardvark Inc. as a Sales Associate. As leader of the Furry Angels Fundraising Group, helped save the lives of 1,500 animals, raising $2,000+ annually.
John Jay High School, Katonah, NY
President, High School Yearbook Committee
Excelled in Business Coursework
Captain of Debate Team 2 Years
Furry Angels Animal Fundraising Group
Barvel's Corner Store
Counter Clerk, Cook
Lacrosse Team Co-Captain
Hard Skills: marketing, strategy, mathematics
Soft Skills: interpersonal skills, collaboration, communication, time management, problem-solving
Languages: Spanish (Advanced)
Your first impression is precious in a high school graduate resume. Don’t blow it with frazzled resume formatting. Use these tips:
Expert Hint: Recruiters spend about 7 seconds initially scanning a resume. Make sure yours is formatted in a way that highlights all the important stuff in very little time.
The recruiter just deleted your high school graduate resume. It seemed a little mediocre for the job. But you can drop jaws instead. Write a high school graduate resume profile in the form of a resume objective.
Include:
Picking the right accomplishments right of the bat is difficult, so write it at the end so you don’t struggle with the material.
On a side note, you may have come across the term resume summary as well. Generally, resume summaries serve the same purpose as resume objectives, but are suitable for experienced candidates who have several years of professional experience under the belt.
Now, see these high school graduate resume examples:
Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now.
What skills should you put on a high school grad resume? Well, it depends. To determine the best skills to add, read the job posting and locate resume keywords. In most cases employers tell you outright that they want a candidate who is a "problem solver," or "teamworker" etc.
But here are the top 10 resume skills you might want to add for most jobs.
Word of caution— Don’t list them all. Only list skills you can prove in your high school graduate resume. And go for about 10 skills total at most.
One more thing. Mix your hard skills with soft skills. This will show you're skilled in both the technical and interpersonal aspects.
Do you need sports in a high school graduate resume? Well, no. But i f you’ve rocked the gridiron, court, or pool, let your dedication shine.
Do it like this no work experience resume for high school graduate:
Lacrosse Team Co-Captain
The recruiter won't see a run-of-the-mill job applicant when they read that. They will see a hard-working leader who makes good things happen.
But sport isn't the only extra thing you might consider adding to a high school graduate resume. Take a look at what else you can add.
You don’t have to put anything else in your fresh-out-of-high-school resume. But think of it this way—
You’ve got a finite amount of space. This is your chance to impress them. To show what you’ve achieved. Your goal should be to pack your resume for high school graduate with the best and coolest things you’ve done.
List things that show you can:
Choose carefully, but only add your most impressive points.
Pick from:
See these examples:
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
Haven't written your cover letter yet? See:
Here’s how to write a resume for a high school graduate:
If you want to look more into writing a resume, visit this guide: How to Build a Resume.
Got questions on how to write good resumes for high school graduates? Not sure how to choose what to put in your resume objective for high school graduates with little experience? Leave a comment. We’ll be happy to reply!
At ResumeLab, quality is at the crux of our values, supporting our commitment to delivering top-notch career resources. The editorial team of career experts carefully reviews every article in accordance with editorial guidelines, ensuring the high quality and reliability of our content. We actively conduct original research, shedding light on the job market's intricacies and earning recognition from numerous influential news outlets. Our dedication to delivering expert career advice attracts millions of readers to our blog each year.
Written by Tom GerencerHaving published over 200 career-advice articles, Tom Gerencer is a career expert who covers the whole array of job-seeking topics for people at all career stages, from interns to C-suite members. His insights, commentary, and articles reach over a million readers every month. With inside knowledge of key industry players and in-depth research, Tom helps job seekers with advice across all professions and career stages.
How to start a cover letter? Just follow our guide and write a cover letter introduction that will sweep your future boss off their feet.
To land a perfect job, you need the best-looking resume. This guide will show you what should a good resume look like, and what you need to do to have one.
Maciej Duszynski, CPRW
Certified Professional Resume Writer, Career Expert
Long story short: if your cover letter looks bad, it will generate zero interest. And there’s more to making it look great than setting the right margins and picking good fonts.
Maciej Duszynski, CPRW
Certified Professional Resume Writer, Career Expert
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