by Jason Patel
Updated October 27, 2022
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A high school resume is an organized, professional-looking document. It lists your education, achievements, qualifications, work experience, skills, and awards.
Some colleges require a resume for admissions, but all internships and jobs require at least a resume when applying. You might even submit a resume for scholarships.
- The resume advice in thisarticle can be used for your college applications, internships, and jobs.
If you’re in high school, you should start building your resume right now. This will make it much easier to upgrade your resume over the next few years.
You’re going to use a resume for the rest of your professional life. Make sure to update it with pertinent information and new experiences.
Let’s first start with some frequently answered questions students ask about high school resumes.
How important is a high school resume for college applications?
Your resume usually will not lead to an acceptance or outright rejection.
But, a well-formatted high school resume can help you make your case for an acceptance.
In the same manner, a poorly formatted resume with plenty of grammar mistakes and lies can undermine your chances of an acceptance.
- Why? Admissions officers want to admit students show curiosity for the university. A student submitting a sloppy resume is showing her lack of interest in her application.
Undergraduate business, BS/MD, and honors programs frequently request a high school resume along with the application.
- In this case, the resume is more important than usual, so be sure to take your time and format it correctly (scroll down to find out how to format a resume).
Your application, essays, and transcript are more important to college applications than a resume is. With that said, if you’re submitting a resume or the college asks for one, you must submit a high-quality resume.
Is there an official high school resume template?
No. A high school resume comes in many forms, so you have many choices to choose from.
For high school students applying for college, internships, and jobs, you should embrace the best approaches for high school resumes.
Click above to watch a video on High School Resumes.
What is the best approach to writing a resume?
The best resumes are concise and packed with substantive information.
Remember, admissions officers and hiring managers are busy people, so you need to include pivotal information in your high school resume while wording your accomplishments in a concise and pithy manner.
Last, your resume needs to be formatted correctly. A resume that is formatted properly is easy on the eyes and, thus, will be much more enjoyable to read.
- Admissions officers and hiring managers are more likely to pay attention to resumes that are easy to scan and absorb.
Remember these four things when writing your high school resume:
- The wording must be concise
- All relevant information should be included
- Resume formatting should make for an easy and pleasurable read; anything that looks sloppy will reflect badly on you
- Try to keep the resume as close to one-page long. Over one page is OK for high school resumes, but it’ll be frowned upon later in your career.
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Transizion was so valuable to our students. They helped our kids navigate the college application process and made my life so much easier. Educators need support, and Transizion was there to help every step of the way. Our kids and their parents were very happy with the service Transizion provided. They were flexible and easy to work with. They kept my team and me in the know every step of the way. I highly recommend Transizion to other college counselors, principals, and school districts!
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Should I use an online template for my resume?
As a resume expert, I strongly recommend that you avoid copy and pasting online templates.
Why? Each student is different. What might work for someone else won’t work for you.
- Some students have a great record of academic achievements but a sparse record of extracurricular activities.
- Some are business-oriented, while others are liberal arts-oriented.
This means you should format your resume from scratch. Not only will you construct a resume that is customized to your needs, but you’ll also build resume skills that you’ll keep forever. These skills will come in handy in college and beyond.
How do I format my high school resume?
You should follow a few general rules when formatting your resume for college admissions, internships, and jobs.
- Use Times New Roman or Cambria on your resume. These fonts are easy to read.
- Regular font should be size 10-12. Headings should be at least two points larger than your font.
- Separate each section (Contact, education, experience, skills) with a heading that is underlined and/or bolded.
- Keep margins at 1 inch. If you need to shorten the length of the resume, .5 margins are OK. Anything less takes a toll on the eyes.
What information should my high school resume include?
In a nutshell, your high school resume should include:
- Contact info: Name, email, phone number, address
- Education: high school name, GPA, test scores, class rank, coursework, achievements and honors
- Experience: Work, volunteer, and extracurricular qualifications
- Skills: Computer expertise, foreign languages
How do I format each section?
You now know what makes a great resume. Now, let’s dive into the specifics.
This is how you format each section.
Name
Your name should be centered at the very top in bold. The font size can match your headings, or your name can be a point or two larger than the headings.
Contact
This information will go right underneath your name.
Include the name you used on your college application.
Underneath your name, put your cell phone number and professional email address.
Format your cell phone correctly. That means you have two options:
- There will be parenthesis around your area code and a hyphen after the first three digits of the number. Example – (536) 276-6690
- No parenthesis at all but with hyphens after the area code and first three digits of the number. Example – 536-276-6690
If your current email address [emailprotected], it’s time to create a new email. Use Gmail, since it’s secure and works with the G Suite platform, which you’ll use extensively in college.
A safe email is one that includes your first name initial, last name, and the last two digits of your birth year. For example:
[emailprotected]
(Video) Create Transition Between Templates
Last, you can put your home address if you so choose. Including your home address is not mandatory.
The name and contact sections will look like this:
Todd Gurley
[emailprotected] | (536) 276-6690
30 McVay Avenue Los Angeles, CA
Objective
You don’t need an objective section. Most objectives are common sense. They are clichés that provide no value to the document.
Education
The education section is easy as long as you know your academic information. Follow these steps.
List your high school, location, and your graduation date:
Black Horn High School, Bastion Ridge, South Carolina (Graduation: June 2021)
Underneath that, put your GPA (unweighted/weighted), and your best test scores:
GPA: 3.45/4.2 | SAT: 1350 | SAT II Math: 710 | SAT II US History: 680
Then, list your honors right under your GPA. Below your honors, write “Coursework:” and input your highest, most prestigious classes. If you’re applying for an internship or industry-specific job opportunity, you can put related coursework.
Coursework: AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP World History, Spanish Honors
If you’re a freshman, sophomore, or junior, you can also add a “Projected Coursework” section, in which you’ll add courses you’re bound to take next year.
Additionally, students of all grade levels should add an “Awards” section. List your awards under “Coursework/Projected Coursework.” Here’s how it’d look:
Awards: AP Scholar, FRC National Champion, National Honors Society, Musk Receipient of Excellence in Robotics, DECA Achievement Award
When you finish this section, this is how it’ll look:
Black Horn High School, Bastion Ridge, South Carolina (Graduation: June 2021)
GPA: 3.45/4.2 | SAT: 1350 | SAT II Math: 710 | SAT II US History: 680Coursework: AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP World History, Spanish Honors
Awards: AP Scholar, FRC National Champion, National Honors Society, Musk Receipient of Excellence in Robotics, DECA Achievement Award
Experience
Now comes the fun part. The quality of this section will determine the overall strength of your resume. You want to remember several critical tips before you dive into this section.
First, your experience headings need to be evenly formatted.
- Keep necessary elements italicized.
- Don’t bold everything for the sake of emphasis.
- You should have two or more bullet points per qualification.
- When writing the location (“city, state”) of your qualification, make sure it’s formatted the same as your “city, state” in your contact section. As such, if your contact section has “Washington, DC,” then don’t add periods in “DC” in your “Experience” section. In general, watch out for inconsistencies when adding periods in state abbreviations – stick to one version: with or without periods.
Second, your bullet points should be neatly formatted.
- All bullets should be fragments beginning with action verbs. You are not writing in the first person (e.g. “I collaborated”).
- Bullets should not end with periods.
- Choose specific action verbs. Try to avoid using weak action verbs, such as “worked,” “assisted,” and “helped,” among others.
- Action verbs should be in the past tense (e.g. “collaborated” and “managed”) unless you’re describing an experience that you’re a part of right now. In that case, your action verbs should be in the first-person singular tense (e.g. “collaborate” and “manage”).
- The roles you had most recently should be at the top. This means you’re following reverse chronological order.
- If you want to combine similar activities into one bullet point, separate them with a semicolon.
Third, your bullet points can include any of the following:
- Summer jobs
- Volunteer activities
- Community service
- Extracurricular activities
- Internships
- Informal jobs (babysitting)
Fourth, bullet points should be specific. Try to tell a story. Include results.
- Include numbers, figures, percentages, or anything else that will help you demonstrate your ability to procure results.
- If you’re having trouble thinking of details to include, think of the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your job duties.
- Remember, the admissions officer and hiring manager don’t know who you are, so it’s your job to paint a picture of your qualifications.
Here are great examples of bullet points in high school resumes:
Managed four team members during two-hour shifts, resulting in 100% customer-satisfaction rate
Collaborated with supervisor to create 100 cards for cancer patients over 30-day span
Created sandwiches and addresses customer concerns during lunch rushes five days per week; utilized slicer, Panini press, and cash register to facilitate customer requests
Guarded 20 students per swimming session; instructed three students during daily one-on-one swimming classes, resulting in a 100% graduation rate
Hint: You can use these bullet points in the extracurricular activities section on your college application.
Does that make sense? Good. Let’s look at what a properly formatted experience section looks like.
- Write the workplace or club name on the top line.
- Next to it, write the location.
- On the next line, write your position in italics.
- Next to your position, write the date (month year – month year) during which you worked in that position. Writing out the entire month is not important; what matters is sticking to the format for all your experiences.
- The bullet points go under the position and date.
For example:
SM Pediatrics and Healthcare, Portland, OR
Intern, September 2018-December 2018
- Coordinated daily appointments and schedule at the front desk for over 50 patients
- Facilitated insurance paperwork and co-pays to guarantee patient satisfaction
- Created new filing system for office staff, resulting in 30 minutes of saved time; integrated Trello into office project management by leading tutorials on the platform
Repeat this several times until you’ve addressed each one of your pertinent activities, work experiences, and engagements.
Skills
This section usually focuses on two elements: computer and language.
Next to “Computer:” list the things you can do well using, you guessed it, a computer. This can range from coding to graphic design to PowerPoint to CMS to software.
Under the computer section, you’ll input “Language:” if you know any foreign languages. List them by naming the language and, in brackets, give the level at which you know it. There are four levels to foreign languages:
- Native or bilingual proficiency – You can read and write fluently; you can do business and live in a foreign country with your skills
- Professional working proficiency – You can do business in the language but aren’t aware of every cultural norm
- Limited working proficiency – You can read and write here and there but wouldn’t be able to do business fluently.
- Elementary proficiency – You can barely read or write but can steer a conversation every now and then
All told, the “Skills” section should look like this:
Computer: HTML, SQL, Java, WordPress, Wix, Python, PHP, Adobe Photoshop, MS Office Suite, Wave, Trello, Slack, Quickbooks, MailChimp, Stripe, PayPal
Language: Spanish [Professional working proficiency)], French [Elementary proficiency]
Saving and Sending the Resume
Always save your professional documents (cover letter, resume, writing samples transcripts) in PDF. Name the document as [first name]_[last name]_[document type]:
Todd_Gurley_Resume
Underscores are your safest bet when naming a resume. They render your resume easy to organize so admissions officers and hiring managers don’t lose track of them.
Moving Forward: Upgrading the Resume
Over the years, you should update your resume. Spend 30 minutes every few months adding experiences and job duties that will help you attain your next opportunity.
- As you grow older, your resume will need to be more specialized.
This means you’ll need to add more experiences, duties, qualifications, skills, and credentials that relate to your industry and desired position.
Between senior year of high school and college, your resume will look completely different.
- In order to ensure you’re updating (or upgrading!) you resume correctly, use the notepad in your smartphone to record your job tasks and duties.
- If you were asked to do something new, expand your skill set, or develop talents, you need to add these in your resume.
- The notepad in your smartphone will be a useful resource for when you sit down to upgrade your resume – it will keep your memory fresh and prevent you from hitting writer’s block.
As an exercise, spend a few minutes every year perusing your notepad, witnessing your professional growth.
Expert Resume Advice
Over time, we’ll add expert resume advice below.
Here’s what Vic Lindsay, director of student life at Sweet Briar College, has to say about your resume:
Our role as educators is to give students the skills they need to be successful in future endeavors. When I make hiring decisions, I’m searching for students who want to be molded and who are looking for more than just a paycheck.
When you’re ready to move out into the real employment world, your resume should be focused on skills you obtained and achievements that show leadership and initiative. Don’t tell me what you were, tell me what you’ve done. Show me where previous supervisors have trusted you with significant responsibility and that you lived up to those expectations.
High School Resume Templates: Great Samples
Finally, if you were looking for outstanding samples of high school resumes, I got your back.
As I mentioned before, don’t just copy and paste your items into the resume.
Instead, take the time to scrutinize action verbs and bullet-point formation.
Check to see if the grammar and data make sense.
Here are your templates:
High_School_Resume_Template
High_School_Resume_Template_2
High_School_Resume_Template_3
You can also look at them below. Enjoy!
High School Resume Template 1
High School Resume Template 2
High_School_Resume_Template_2
High School Resume Template 3
High_School_Resume_Template_3
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FAQs
What is a brag sheet example? ›
A brag sheet is similar to a student resume – it highlights your accomplishments, key experiences, leadership skills and employment throughout your secondary education. Essentially, it's a quick reference guide with all the details and achievements for someone trying to get to know you better.
How long should a brag sheet be? ›How Long Should a Brag Sheet Be? Your brag sheet should be two pages long or less unless your school has a longer brag sheet template they want you to use.
What's a brag sheet? ›Brag sheets are a way for you to help your counselor and teachers write letters of recommendation. These forms give them more insight into who you are outside of school and your interests. Fill out these forms, and share them with your counselor and teachers when you ask them for a letter of recommendation!
How do you answer brag sheet questions? ›Because counselors often have to read through hundreds of brag sheets, you should respond to the questions succinctly and accurately. Respond in full sentences, not bullet points, so that your responses can be inserted directly into letters of recommendation.
What should a brag book look like? ›What Should be Included in a Brag Book? A brag book should include achievements related to your professional goals, measurable data, and positive feedback you've received along the way. These achievements could include awards, project wins, promotions, educational milestones, military honors, and academic accolades.
What should not be included in your brag book? ›Do not, under any circumstance, include original documents in your brag book (except for your résumé). This way, if you are asked for your transcript, for example, you're giving the interviewer a copy (one of several you've made), not your only copy (your original).
How do you humbly brag? ›- 1 Take credit for your hard work. Some projects are hard, long, or complex. ...
- 2 Be honest about your achievements. ...
- 3 Keep your bragging brief. ...
- 4 Focus on your tone. ...
- 5 Avoid putting yourself down when talking about your work. ...
- 6 Show thanks to those who helped you succeed. ...
- 7 Act grateful. ...
- 8 Avoid humblebragging.
- #1 Share a Story. ...
- #2 Show Gratitude for Your Past Success. ...
- #3 Use Numbers to Show Off Your Skills. ...
- #4 Talk About Your Achievements. ...
- #5 Use Some Humor. ...
- #6 Focus on How Your Experience Relates to the Job Description. ...
- #7 Ask Others to Recommend You.
Students should be selective when choosing hobbies because not all hobbies need to be included. Only hobbies that can impress the reader should be included in the brag sheet. Examples of hobbies could be photography, musician, or anything that is done competitively.
What is another name for a brag sheet? ›(US) A resumé or curriculum vitae consisting of a standard form with a list of questions to be answered.
Is a brag sheet necessary? ›
Not only is it used to help the people who are writing your recommendation letters do so with as much ease as possible, but it is also a guaranteed way to ensure that everything important about you is there for your recommenders to utilize. Intended major (if you know this!)
What do you say on a parent brag sheet? ›- Be honest, but don't exaggerate. ...
- Include specific details about what separates your child's achievements from other applicants. ...
- For questions that ask you to talk about flaws or weaknesses, be honest, but keep the tone positive and show how your child has grown.
- "I was chosen to lead a team of a dozen people for this campaign. ...
- "Thank you! ...
- "My team and I... "
- "I've exceeded my own projected sales for the last three quarters in a row."
- "My company has been setting industry standards for a decade. ...
- "Thanks for asking!
#4 - Bragging or Cockiness
Of course, you want to write about your accomplishments in a positive way. Even when you write about challenging personal experiences, you'll likely aim to highlight how you overcame (e.g., adaptability, perseverance), but you should avoid arrogance.
List your major activities outside of school. Consider things like clubs, sports, work, community service, hobbies, and family responsibilities. Include what grade(s) you have participated (9,10,11,12, other) and any leadership positions, honors, and/or awards received.
How do you write an essay without bragging? ›- Show what you've learned. Talking about your achievements shouldn't be a list. ...
- Show why you succeeded. ...
- Show cause and effect. ...
- Show gratitude. ...
- Show growth.
A brag book is a digital portfolio highlighting examples of your best work and providing a place to share what makes you different from other candidates. Think of it as your own personal bragging rights, all in one place.
What does your brag book have to do with interviewing with employers? ›Your brag book acts as an easy place to keep key milestones across your personal and professional life. You can reference it when you're building a resume, interviewing for a new job, navigating a salary increase, or even when you need a morale boost.
What should not be included on a cover page? ›Keep your cover letter format professional and avoid too many personal details. Focus on your strengths as a worker and the key job requirements. You don't need to say your marital status, religion, ethnicity, age, hobbies, or anything else unrelated to your ability to do the job.
Why is boasting and bragging bad? ›Bragging is risky. Past research shows that braggarts can be perceived as narcissistic and less moral. In addition, they tend to be less well-adjusted, struggle in relationships and may have lower self-esteem. Women who brag are judged more harshly than men who do.
What is humble bragging examples? ›
Another typical way that humblebragging is expressed is alongside a complaint. Saying “I have to miss happy hour to pick up my Mercedes from the detailer after work” may seem like an annoyance to the speaker, but to anyone listening, this is nothing but a classic humblebrag.
What is a word for bragging about yourself? ›conceited. egotistic. egotistical. haughty. high-and-mighty.
What are character traits bragging? ›People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to consider themselves grand, important, and better than others. Grandiose behavior, which helps establish this sense of personal importance, might involve: bragging about personal achievements and skills. exaggerating or lying about past accomplishments.
How do you say you're good at something without bragging? ›Stick to self-disclosure, rather than self-praise and you'll sound more authentic. Rather than saying, “I'm an excellent leader,” say, “Since I took over the team, sales have doubled.” Let other people interpret the facts.
How do you say brag in a nice way? ›- acclaim.
- applaud.
- celebrate.
- commend.
- eulogize.
- exalt.
- glorify.
- laud.
- One to make you money.
- One to keep you in shape.
- One to stay creative.
Walk, swim, rollerblade, dance, hike, trampoline or just wiggle, but get that body moving. Healthy living is part of having a balanced life and with so many options to choose from these days there is something for everyone.
What are three hobby rules? ›Remember, the secret to life, happiness and fulfillment is simple: "Find three hobbies you love: One to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative."
What is one sheet another word for? ›A one sheet is sometimes also referred to as a press sheet or a promo sheet.
How do you brag without showing off? ›Talk incessantly about themselves. Don't listen to others. Only listen for an opening in the conversation where they can turn the discussion back to themselves. Try to one-up colleagues' experiences or accomplishments.
Do you laminate brag tags? ›
Firstly, you need to get laminating and cutting! Use good quality laminating sheets to ensure the brag tags last! I would suggest using some laminating sheets from a stationery store such as Office Depot. Here is a tip – you don't need to cut out the brag tags first, then laminate, then trim again!
Is it OK to brag on resume? ›By remembering that it's not bragging if it's true, and by cultivating a different attitude as you craft your resume and incorporate language that embraces the art of selling yourself. So go ahead – brag on your resume.
How do you write a good parent statement? ›General Parent Statements
One paragraph should review how your child is "smart," but don't discuss grades or test scores here. Instead, focus on how your child is academically engaged and intellectually curious. Use stories and anecdotes to add depth. Another paragraph, describe your child's character and personality.
- Keep it short and sweet. ...
- Begin with a memory from when your daughter was a baby.
- Write 2 or 3 positive characteristics you love about them.
- End with what you most look forward to for their future.
- Avoid cliches or anything embarrassing.
- Remember the basics of social etiquette. Don't be a braggart. ...
- Focus on who your children are as people rather than their latest test score. ...
- Restrict talk about your child's successes and talents to the child's other parent, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.
- Be honest, but don't exaggerate. ...
- Include specific details about what separates your child's achievements from other applicants. ...
- For questions that ask you to talk about flaws or weaknesses, be honest, but keep the tone positive and show how your child has grown.
The braggart tries to make you feel insecure about yourself. In fact, they are probably projecting their insecurities onto others in order to be able to examine them. The boaster needs to showcase his/her accomplishments.
How do you introduce yourself without bragging? ›- Share A Story About Your Traits.
- Practice Your Stories Out Loud.
- Fill Your Narratives With Complete Story Elements.
- Say What Others Have Said About You.
Some common synonyms of brag are boast, crow, and vaunt. While all these words mean "to express pride in oneself or one's accomplishments," brag suggests crudity and artlessness in glorifying oneself.
What are the benefits of humble bragging? ›[Google Scholar]). Humblebragging has become a popular self-presentation strategy because it allows individuals to signal to others how good they are in a subtle way by veiling their skiting as a complaint (Ferdman 2015. The Washington Post. [Online].