Teen Resume Templates and Examples for 2024

Teen Resume Template Example

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Whether you’d like a summer gig or your first part-time job, your resume must show hiring managers that though you may not have years of experience, you do have potential. We’ll show you how to highlight the skills you’ve gained from school, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities to create an effective teen resume.

How To Write a Teen Resume

To make the best impression on hiring managers, consider using a professional template for your teen resume. Your resume template should include these sections:

Contact information

At the top of your resume, list your best contact information so hiring managers can easily reach you to schedule an interview. Provide your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to any relevant online portfolios or professional profiles.

Objective

Most professional resumes will have a profile section at the top, but teen resumes are a bit different. Instead, an objective statement tells potential employers who you are and why you’re applying. Introduce yourself, mention a few top skills that make you a good fit for the role, and explain your goal of securing a position with the company.

Key skills

As a teen, your skills list is one of your greatest assets. Although you may not have professional experience yet, you’ve had opportunities to grow and gain different abilities. Match up your skills with those listed in the job description and highlight them in a key skills list. If you don’t meet all of the technical requirements, focus on the interpersonal abilities you do have.

Common hard and soft skills for teens

Resume writer’s tip: Use specific action verbs

Action verbs help communicate that you get things done. These words allow you to show instead of tell what you’ve accomplished with wordy descriptions like “I was responsible for…” As you write about your past work, volunteer, or extracurricular activities, start each bullet point with an action verb. The list of words below will help you level up your teen resume:

Experience

Depending on what you’ve done as a teen, you’ll create professional, volunteer, or extracurricular experience sections. Describe what you were responsible for with each part you played. Think of the highlights and key moments. Were you helping customers, organizing books, or coaching kids in soccer? Detail what you did using action verbs and numbers to make your descriptions stand out.

Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience

In video games, high scores and stats are super important because they show how good you are. Quantifying your experience on your resume is kind of like that. It’s about adding numbers to the things you’ve done to make it even more impressive. Use percentages, dollar amounts, and whole numbers to help illustrate the scope of what you’ve accomplished.

Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume for each application

Whether you want to wait tables, sling lattes, or stock shelves, tailor your teen resume to the specific job you’re applying for. Many companies use software that scans resumes for specific keywords. If your resume doesn’t have these words, it might get passed over. It’s like using the right hashtag to ensure your post gets seen.

For example, if you’re applying for a retail or food service job, focus on your interpersonal abilities like communication and dependability. If it’s a tech position, highlight your computer skills or the time you helped set up the school’s website.

What if you don’t have experience?

Employers understand teens won’t have every technical ability they’re looking for. They know that anything can be taught to someone with the right attitude. If you are willing to learn and demonstrate strong soft skills, hiring managers are more likely to give you a chance.

You’ve got skills, even if you don’t realize it. The key is to present those abilities in a way that matches up with what potential employers need. Think about school projects, volunteer work, clubs, sports teams, or helping out with a family business. These activities require things like leadership, organization, multitasking, and time management, all of which you can feature on your teen resume.

Education and awards

If you’re still working toward your high school diploma, list it with your expected graduation date. The same goes for those of you in your freshman or sophomore college years. If you have a good GPA (3.5 or higher), include that as well. You can also list relevant coursework you’ve completed.

In addition to your education, include any honors or awards you’ve earned in school or otherwise. This recognition can speak to your work ethic and willingness to go above and beyond.

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Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

A resume should be a forward-looking value proposition that showcases your most relevant accomplishments for a target role — not a rear view summary of your previous roles and responsibilities.