High School Resume Template & Writing Tips | Resume Companion (2024)

1. Start Off With a Strong High School Resume Objective

When writing a resume, especially when you have little to no experience like this applicant, it’s important to have a strong student resume objective. Your resume objective should convey your skill, intent, and experience to an employer. Let’s look closer at what this high school applicant did for a reference:

• “Motivated student (3.6/4.0) who demonstrates strong work ethic and creative ability.”

Again, this applicant has no experience, so they focus on their skills instead. Also, because they’re a student, they include their GPA (only do this if your GPA is above 3.0).

• “Seeking to apply my graphic design skills and artistic drive as a summer intern at your company.”

In this segment, the applicant mentions their intent by clearly stating their goal.

• “Will leverage proven experience as a competent designer to contribute to company goals and needs.”

This concluding sentence provides experience and also acts as an extension of their intent.

Resume objectives are great for resumes with a specific purpose. This student wants to get a summer internship, and they will probably obtain that goal; they’re coming out of the gate swinging, and employers will notice.

2. Include a Thorough Education Section

For a high schooler, education is the top priority, so it makes sense that this applicant placed their Education section underneath their Career Objective. Employers can learn all they need to know about a candidate from their school performance, so your Education section needs to reflect well on you. If you’re an active student, be sure to show it here.

Let’s review what this applicant did:

• GPA: 3.6 / 4.0
• Relevant Coursework: Intro to Graphic Design, AP Art, Yearbook, Computer Applications
• Honors: Member of the National Honors Society and National Art Education Association
• Clubs: Yearbook Club, Santa Monica Newspaper, Spanish club

First, they reiterate their GPA. They then mention relevant coursework, all of which is pertinent to a graphic designer internship. This student is also a member of the National Honors Society, the National Art Education Association, Yearbook Club, the school paper, and even the Spanish club. If there were any doubts about this students work ethic, then this Education section puts them to rest.

You don’t have to have the same credentials as this applicant. Are you in the band program? Are you on a debate team, or do you write and/or critique literature in a literature community? Include it. Your goal with your Education section should be to appear as active as possible.

If you still have questions, check out our guide on how to list education on a resume.

3. How to List Major Achievements

If you don’t have work experience, how are you expected to list it on a resume? In this situation, you need what we call a “Major Achievements” section. Similar in form to “Professional Experience“, Major Achievements highlight your non-work related accomplishments in a way that they seem like actual job experience. Let’s look at the applicant’s example to get an idea of how to do this:

• “Created a Yearbook logo designed to incorporate school mascot and colors; opted to use coated paper in 2016, which improved photo quality and increased profits by 5%.”

This student applied quantifiable results in their example, giving them an air of professionalism. By using results-oriented language, they made a simple high school project sound like a company campaign. Let’s looks at one more example:

• “Custom design page layouts to fit articles, photos, and advertisem*nts into strict format.”

Yet another achievement that demonstrates their aptitude and knowledge of graphic design. This kind of experience, while not quantifiable, still speaks to this applicant’s overall credentials.

Your goal with a major achievements section is to use whatever materials you have and to bulk them up. Make yourself sound impressive like this applicant, and you will catch the interest of employers.

If you need more help with your major achievements, you should read the professional experience section of our resume writing guide.

4. Conclude Your Resume with Additional Skills & Honorary Mentions

Adding an “Additional Experience” section is a nice way to wrap up your resume; it also takes up space! This is the best place on your resume to mention any other commendable skills that would make you a top pick. High schoolers may think they haven’t had time to cultivate real “additional skills,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Our applicant included “basic knowledge of Adobe Dreamweaver” (very advanced), but they also said “great photographer.” With this skill, employers have to take the applicant for their word; you can do the same thing.

Think of skills and talents you have that would fit your resume. To help you, we’ve listed some soft skills below:

• Problem solver
• Critical thinker
• Excellent time management
• Organized
• Great interpersonal skills

…and some hard skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Word
• Can type 70 WPM
• Familiar with Google Docs
• Familiar with Vimeo video-editing software
• Run a personal Youtube channel

Lastly, if you have awards or honorary mentions, you can append those at the very bottom of your resume. These bolster the rest of your resume by making you look all the more diligent.

If you still want more help with your additional skills section, see our guide on skills for resumes.

And if you’re interested in getting a completely polished resume in minutes, check out our intuitive resume builder.