High School Graduate Resume Templates and Guide

As a newly graduated job seeker, your completed job application is your chance to make a great first impression with a hiring manager or potential employer. Hloom provides high school graduate resume templates that show you how to format your document in an easy-to-read, scannable layout that helps propel you to the next stage in the hiring process.

Premium High School Graduate Resume Templates

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Model

If you plan to join the entertainment industry and want a solid start, this modeling template can help you showcase your social media, self-marketing, and posing skills.
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Babysitter

Whether it’s caring for your younger siblings, helping neighbors, or running a trusted babysitting service, this resume showcases your important skills. You’ll get an extra boost if you can include formal certificates such as child and infant first aid or behavior management.
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Fast food server

Food service can be a great place to learn hirable skills. This resume can help you translate arithmetic skills for cash handling, time management skills, and previous community engagement as customer service potential.

Free High School Graduate Resume Templates

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General purpose teen resume

This template features a basic design and content for any position to which you’re applying.
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Multipurpose teen resume

Another multipurpose template with a blue-header theme. This resume includes work and volunteer experience sections.
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Student tutor resume

Resume template for post-grads who’d like to promote tutoring services to other students or student’s parents.
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Internship application

A basic single-page resume template to apply for an internship.
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General purpose graduate resume

A multipurpose template with sample content included.
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I.T graduate resume

A resume for someone with strong technical skills in IT, or for someone looking for a career in the IT sector.
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Web developer freshman

Resume for a person with basic web development skills and knowledge of different web applications.
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Recent college graduate resume

Hiring managers understand that college graduates have minimal professional experience. This template highlights education, accomplishments and training.

How to Write Your High School Graduate Resume

Choose a format.

As a new high school graduate, you’re likely to rely more on your skills than your previous work experience. In this case, a functional resume template is the best choice.

Add your skills to your student resume.

If you’re a college or high school graduate, employers want to see the skills you have, and which ones will apply to the position at hand. Even if you don’t have any work history, there are a variety of experiences you’ve had during formal education that can be used to your advantage on your resume, in your cover letter, and during the job interview.

For example, if you were in the band or played a sport, you acquired teamwork skills. If you took extracurricular classes in computers or a foreign language, you could add these skills to your resume. If you were involved in any of these activities and maintained good grades throughout your educational career, you learned how to juggle multiple responsibilities simultaneously.

Some of the top skills employers look for that students can include on a functional resume include communication, the ability to learn quickly, dependability, technology skills and teamwork.

For a functional resume, your skills section is the heart of your document. It’s after the summary statement and is divided into subsections. Scan through the job posting and make a note of the main keywords that pertain to the job description. If possible, use these keywords as subheads and detail how you can fulfill the requirements.

Try to include as many of these job-specific keywords throughout your resume as possible. For a student resume, consider some of the top skills employers look for:

Adaptability
Teamwork
Communication
Dependable
Critical thinking
Time management

Confidence
Punctual
Poised
Diligent
Microsoft Office

Introduce yourself in your summary statement.

On a functional resume, your summary statement sits at the very top of the resume under your name and contact information. This statement should detail what you think you can bring to the company. It should be job-specific and contain quantifiable achievements when possible. For a recent grad, this could include a statement related to your previous coursework.

You want to highlight academic successes, achievements like belonging to professional societies, your GPA and any completed projects. Try to include keywords listed in the job description. For example:

“Recent college graduate with a GPA of 4.0. Extensive leadership experience within the Theta Tau engineering fraternity, co-project manager of the winning vehicle for the 2018 American Solar Challenge, and an ability to work across departments.”

Objective statements are much shorter informational blurbs that declare what the job seeker wants from a company. Objective statements, unlike summary statements, are best for applicants with prior experience that doesn’t align with the job needs.

Share your past work history.

As a recent grad, most of your work ethic and experience will tie to your coursework, extracurricular activities, and community service. If you move ahead with a combination or chronological resume, you must emphasize any certifications, degrees and other professional training a potential employer is likely to find desirable. We strongly suggest that you use these formats only if you completed a certification course for a specific career or are applying for a position that requires a college degree. If not, skip over the following combo/chrono work history sample and read our advice on functional resumes.

Swim Instructor Certification, American Red Cross
Water Safety Instructor (WSI) Certification, 2019

Completed certification for work as a summer lifeguard volunteer
Can teach learn-to-swim courses across all ages
Trained in drowning prevention and water survival training

Babysitting and Child Care Safety, American Red Cross
Child and Baby First Aid/CPR/AED Certification, 2019

Completed course alongside water safety course
Fully training in child first aid and resuscitation

If you have plenty of informal experience and technical skills learned through school and extracurricular activities, a functional resume prioritizes your skills but reduces your work experience section to a brief summary of job-related roles. Instead of jobs, use internships, extracurricular activities or volunteer work to show your determination and successes.

For a college student, both paid and unpaid internships stand in place of jobs. Not only do they show real-world experiences, but they also give a potential employer someone to call as a reference to your previous work. The same goes for any volunteer positions. Whether you’ve donated time to your church youth group or worked alongside the prom committee to organize the event, it’s worth listing in relation to any work you’d be doing at the job at hand.

Because your work experience section isn’t highlighted on a functional resume, it’s OK if it’s succinct.

Fellowship, Hills College Science Department
Hills College, Hillsboro, TX

Cashier, Campus Pizza
Hills College, Hillsboro, TX

Fill in your education section.

Your educational experience is listed at the bottom of your resume. It should include the name of the institution, your area of study, and any relevant achievements or diplomas received. If your education isn’t critical to the job, it’s OK to leave this section off, but it might elicit questions by an employer.

Before writing this section, check job boards, the job description, and even the social media page or website of the company to which you’re applying. See if it lists any certifications or educational backgrounds of current employers. This can give you an idea of what the company looks for in its employees. Consider this education section example:

Florida State University, 2015–2019

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Add a Cover Letter

Most employers will understand a limited work history from recent high school graduates and are willing to take a chance on you, especially if you convey energy and enthusiasm in your application. A cover letter can help you convey your eagerness to learn –– our Cover Letter Builder can help you convey your potential.

Get Tutor-Level Help From Our Builder

Writing a resume can be nerve-wracking, even with a detailed study guide. We created an online Resume Builder to help you write a powerful resume based on your limited experience, education, and volunteer work. We use pre-written resume sections, additional tips, and professional templates to give you a professional head-start.

Accentuate

Artistic

Distinguished

Deluxe

Original

Refined

Insightful

Emphasized

Managerial

Professional

Contemporary

Standout

Acclaimed

High School Graduate FAQ

How do I apply to jobs as a high school graduate?

There are various options to apply for jobs as a high school graduate. Here are a few ways to find local opportunities using your existing job network:

Visit your school counselor’s office and ask about graduate-friendly employers in your area.
Ask trusted adults in your life, such as coaches, club supervisors, and volunteer organizers about student-friendly employment opportunities.
Visit local malls or storefronts, ask workers about current hiring needs, and determine if they accept in-person or online applications.
Visit online job boards such as LinkedIn or Glassdoor for local entry-level jobs.

How do I write a resume with no experience?

You can still write a strong resume if you have no work experience:

Include club memberships and elected positions such as president or treasurer. These positions indicate strong leadership, organizational, and money-handling skills that benefit your job search.
Include sport-related activities that indicate teamwork, collaboration, and leadership skills.
Include volunteer work or community service that can indicate long-term commitment, community involvement, and organizational skills.
Include semester-long school assignments that indicate strong project management, research, interview and time-management skills.

How do I add my cashier experience?

How you add your cashier experience depends on the resume format you choose. If you worked for less that six months, use a functional resume and format your experience like this:

Cashier, Walmart

Atlanta, GA
2019

If you worked for more than six months, use a combination or chronological resume and format your experience like this:

Cashier, Walmart

Atlanta, GA
May 2019 - December 2020

Ran the cash register for 6-hour shifts and processed approximately 20 transactions per hour.
Successfully encouraged 32% of shoppers to add 3-5 items from the checkout aisles, increasing average transaction scores.

How do I display my experience as a babysitter?

Formatting your resume’s babysitting experience can be unique depending on your services. You may only offer one-off services, long-term child care, or a combination. Your babysitting experience may be better suited to a functional format, where you showcase your skills under a “Summary of Qualifications,” and list your clients under your work experience.

For example, you may write something like this:

Summary of Qualifications

Child Care

Care for an average of 2 children per family
Available for 3 hour shifts on school nights and full-day engagements on weekends and school holidays.

Tutoring

Offer homework assistance on English, Math and History subjects
Offer specialized tutoring services in Spanish and French

First Aid

Fully certified in child and baby first aid and CPR
Attend annual refresher courses provided by the local YMCA chapter

Work History

The Hloom Family, 2021 - now
The Hloomberg Family, 2020 - now
The Hloomingson Family, 2019 - 2020

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Gabriela Barcenas

Gaby is Hloom’s resident writer, a certified professional resume writer (CPRW), and a baking enthusiast. She likes to defend the use of the functional resume to her friends in HR. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing and wrote about career growth, tech startups, education, fashion, travel and lifestyle culture throughout her career.