Crafting your first resume can be a huge task, especially when you're a high school student with a limited work history. You may be wondering, "How should I begin?" What do I include if I don't have a job yet? How do I make it look professional? It’s a common challenge, but it’s also a perfect opportunity to showcase the skills and experiences you already have. 

This is where our blog comes in handy. Careerflow's AI resume builder is specifically designed to take hours of sitting and thinking time, guiding you step-by-step to create a polished, professional, and ATS-friendly resume in no time. Whether you’re applying for college, scholarships, internships, or your first part-time job, our builder helps you highlight your unique strengths and tailor your resume for any goal. Let us demonstrate the simplicity of creating a resume that captures attention.

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Who This Guide Helps

This guide is designed for anyone who is struggling with building a high school resume, including students who are applying to colleges, scholarships, pre-college academic programs, internships, summer camps, volunteer positions, or part-time and seasonal jobs. This also helps guidance counselors and teachers who are supporting students on their career readiness journeys.

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Why High School Students Should Be Leveraging an AI Resume Builder

High school resumes are different from those for experienced professionals. They focus on potential, academic performance, and extracurricular engagement, not extensive work experience. High school students may feel uncertain about what to include in their resumes when they have little to no job history, as well as how to write impactful descriptions for activities such as clubs, sports, and volunteer work. And also avoiding common formatting mistakes that can make a resume look unprofessional.

Our resume builder is tailored to solve these exact problems. It provides specific prompts and templates that make it easy to transform your involvement in school activities into compelling, results-driven content. This ensures your resume is polished, professional, and ready to help you stand out.

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How Our Resume Builder Works for High School Students

Our builder is designed to take the stress out of creating your first resume by walking you through each step. It’s tailored specifically to your needs, so you can build a professional, ATS-friendly resume quickly and easily.

• Select a High School-Optimized Template: Choose a template that best fits your goal, whether it's for a college application, a scholarship, an internship, or a part-time job. Each design is clean and professional.
• Fill Guided Sections: The builder guides you in each step to fill out the sections most relevant to high school students, such as Education, Activities/Leadership, Volunteer Work, Projects, Skills, and Awards. You won't have to guess what to include.
• Use Bullets & Action-Verb: Instead of struggling to find the right words, use our built-in generative AI to elevate your experiences. This helps you write powerful, impact-focused bullet points.
• Reorder Sections to Prioritize: Easily drag and drop sections to reorder what matters most for each application. For a college application, you might put Education and Awards first. For a part-time job, you'd lead with skills and experience.
• Save & Export Multiple Versions: You can save different versions of your resume tailored for various purposes. All resumes can be exported as clean, ATS-friendly PDFs, ensuring they'll be easily read by automated systems.

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What to Include on a High School Resume

Similar to every other resume, personal information and a summary should be maintained in all resumes irrespective of high school or college or experience. Apart from that, here are certain sections that need to be meticulously curated for high school students.

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1. Education

List your school name, location, and your expected graduation date. If your GPA is strong (e.g., 3.5 or higher), include it. Mention any honors, relevant coursework, or AP/IB classes.

✅ Example

Maplewood High School, Maplewood, N

Expected Graduation: June 2026 

GPA: 3.8/4.0

Relevant Coursework: AP Computer Science, Honors Physics

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2. Activities & Leadership

This is where you highlight your involvement in sports, clubs, student government, or committees. Focus on your specific role and contributions.

✅ Example

President, Debate Club (2024–Present) 

• Led weekly meetings and organized two school-wide debate competitions; mentored five new members, helping them place in the top 10 at the regional tournament."

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3. Volunteer & Community Service

In this section, describe the organization, your responsibilities, and, if possible, the measurable impact you had.

✅ Example

Volunteer, Local Food Bank (Summer 2024)

• Sorted and packed over 500 pounds of food per week; helped distribute meals to 75+ families during the holiday season."

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4. Projects

Include academic assignments, personal initiatives, or group projects. Mention the tools you used and the results you achieved.

✅ Example

Personal Website Project

• Coded and launched a portfolio website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to showcase my photography; optimized image loading speed by 25%."

Skills

Categorize your skills to make them easy to read. Include technical skills (like software or coding), languages, and creative skills.

✅ Example

Technical Skills: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe Photoshop, Python | Languages: Conversational Spanish | Soft Skills: Teamwork, Public Speaking, Problem-Solving"

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5. Awards & Scholarships

List any recognitions you’ve received, whether academic, extracurricular, or leadership-based.

✅ Example

Academic: National Honor Society Inductee (2025)

Extracurricular: First Place, State Science Fair (2024)

Leadership: Student of the Month (March 2024)

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6. Optional Extras

Include certifications, relevant interests, or links to a portfolio if they add value to your application.
✅ Example

Certifications: American Red Cross First Aid & CPR Certification (2025)

Interests: Digital Photography, Hiking, Creative Writing

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Formatting best practices

A clean, professional design helps your resume make a great first impression.

Firstly, for high school students, a one-page resume is more than enough to cover all relevant experience. Always use professional fonts in a readable size (10–11.5pt). Keep your section headers clear and easy to scan.

Moreover, maintain consistency in your spacing, bullet style, and formatting throughout the document. When exporting your resume, prefer to save it as a PDF to ensure the design is preserved on any device. And, name your file clearly (e.g., Firstname_Lastname_HighSchool_Resume_2025.pdf).

Lastly, ensure hyperlinks are clickable for any portfolio, project, or social media links you include.

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Tailor Your Resume for Your Goal

Every resume should be tailored to the specific opportunity you're applying for.

• For College/Scholarships: Emphasize your academic achievements, leadership roles, and community service. Align your examples with your intended field of study.
• For Part-time Jobs: Focus on transferable skills like teamwork, reliability, and communication. Highlight experiences that show you are a dependable worker.
• For Internships/Programs: Prioritize relevant coursework, skills, and projects. Mention specific tools or methods you've used that are applicable to the role.

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Additional Tips for Success

Update your resume regularly: Add new achievements at the end of each semester to keep it current.

Quantify your impact: Whenever possible, use numbers to show the scale of your accomplishments (e.g., “Raised $500,” “Led 12 volunteers”).

Use keywords: Look at the job or program description for keywords and phrases and incorporate them into your resume to pass through applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Proofread carefully: Typos and formatting errors can make a poor impression, so always double-check your work before sending.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Your resume forms a large part of your first impression, so it’s important to make it the best possible version it can be. Here are a few common mistakes we see on high school student resumes:

• Don’t use vague descriptions that simply list tasks without showing measurable results or impact.
• Don’t overdesign with multiple fonts, bright colors, or complex layouts that can confuse ATS software.
• Don’t leave out valuable experiences like volunteer work, personal projects, or club activities, which are crucial for demonstrating your initiative and skills.