High school sophomore looking for a first part-time job as a crew member or store associate. Volunteer at a local animal shelter for 80 hours and run a small lawn care business serving 9 neighbors. Reliable, available weekends and summers, and quick to learn new tasks.
Experience
Volunteer Kennel Assistant, Second Chance Animal Shelter (Boise, ID)
Mar 2025 – Present
Clean kennels, feed and walk dogs every Saturday, logging more than 80 hours
Greet visitors at adoption events and answer basic questions
Lawn Care and Yard Work, Self-employed (Boise, ID)
May 2024 – Present
Mow, rake and shovel snow for 9 neighborhood households
Schedule jobs by text and keep track of payments in a simple spreadsheet
Education
High School Diploma (expected), GPA 3.4, JV Soccer, Spanish Club, Foothills High School (Aug 2025 – Jun 2029)
Skills
Work habits: punctual, follows instructions, teamwork, works well outdoors
Computer: Google Docs, Google Sheets
Languages: English and basic Spanish
How to write a First Job resume
A strong First Job resume shows the skills you can prove from school, part-time work, volunteering, projects or an earlier career, and how they carry over to the role you want next. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
Sections, in order
Summary
Education
Experience
Projects
Skills
Length: One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Summary: Write two or three lines: your role, your strongest skills, and one result that proves them.
Skills to feature
Communication
Customer service
Teamwork
Time management
Microsoft Office and Google Workspace
Problem solving
Reliability and punctuality
Learning new tools quickly
Organization
Role-specific certifications
Example bullet points
Served about 120 customers a shift at a busy campus cafe and trained 4 new baristas on the POS system
Built a sales dashboard in Excel and Power BI as a certificate capstone, cutting a weekly report from 3 hours to 20 minutes
Kept the books for a 400-family school PTA during a career break, closing each year with a balanced audit
Tips from recruiters
Lead with the strongest evidence you have: put Education first if you are still in school, and a recent certificate or project first if you are changing careers.
List a career gap as one honest line with dates, then add volunteer, freelance or caregiving work and the courses you took during or after it.
Rewrite past duties in the language of the job you want, for example "handled cash and inventory" becomes "reconciled $8,000 in daily sales and ran weekly inventory counts".
Recommended templates
Classic (ATS-friendly): Jake's-style LaTeX classic: small caps and hairline rules
Ivy (ATS-friendly): Harvard-style Times layout with centered headings
Modern (ATS-friendly): Clean single column with accent headings and rules
First Job resume FAQ
What should a First Job resume include?
A First Job resume should show the skills you can prove from school, part-time work, volunteering, projects or an earlier career, and how they carry over to the role you want next. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Education, Experience, Projects and Skills. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
What is the best resume template for a First Job?
Classic, Ivy and Modern work well for First Job roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.
How long should a First Job resume be?
One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Which skills should a First Job put on a resume?
Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for First Job roles are Communication, Customer service, Teamwork, Time management, Microsoft Office and Google Workspace and Problem solving.
How do I write strong First Job resume bullet points?
Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as GPA or honors, customers served and hours volunteered. For example: "Served about 120 customers a shift at a busy campus cafe and trained 4 new baristas on the POS system."