The Right Mindset for Your First Resume
Many people worry they don't have enough experience to fill a resume. Instead of focusing on what you haven't done, think about what you have. Babysitting, mowing lawns, helping at a family business, playing on a sports team. All of these involve responsibility, time management, and working with people. That's experience.
Your goal is to convince an employer you're capable, eager to learn, and a good fit for the role. You don't need years of work history to do that.
Many employers use Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to filter resumes before a human ever sees them. These systems scan for keywords from the job description. To get past them, read the posting carefully and mirror the language it uses when describing your own skills and experience.
What to Include
1. Contact Information
- Full name
- Phone number
- Professional email address (not a nickname or joke address from middle school)
- City and state
- LinkedIn profile URL (if it's complete and professional)
2. Resume Objective (Optional but Helpful for Beginners)
A one or two sentence statement summarizing your goal and what you bring to the role. Keep it specific to the job. "Hardworking student seeking any position" tells an employer nothing. "High school senior seeking a customer-facing retail role to develop communication skills and contribute to a team environment" is much stronger.
3. Education
- School name and location
- Expected or actual graduation year
- GPA if it's 3.0 or higher
- Relevant coursework (if it applies to the job)
4. Experience
This can include part-time jobs, informal work (tutoring, pet-sitting), volunteer work, school activities, sports, and clubs. For each entry, list your role, the dates, and two to three bullet points describing what you actually did. Use action verbs: organized, led, assisted, managed, created.
5. Skills
List both hard skills (specific software, tools, languages) and soft skills (communication, problem-solving, teamwork). Only list skills you genuinely have. You will be asked about them.
6. Optional Additions
- Certifications (CPR, food handler's permit, lifeguard certification)
- Relevant hobbies or interests (only if they connect to the job)
Example Resume Structure
Final Tips
- Keep it to one page. Employers prefer concise resumes, especially for entry-level candidates.
- Use a clean, readable font like Calibri, Arial, or Georgia at size 11 or 12.
- Proofread at least twice and have someone else read it too. One typo can cost you an interview.
- Save as a PDF before sending so formatting stays intact on any device.
- Tailor it. A resume tweaked for a specific job always outperforms a generic one.