How to Make a Resume When You Haven’t Had a Job Yet

A resume is a one-page summary of what you can do and what you’ve done. When you haven’t had a paid job yet, your resume is built from school, activities, volunteering and the informal work you’ve already done. That’s normal, and employers hiring for first jobs expect it.

Here’s what to include, how to describe your experience honestly and clearly, what to leave off, and a sample resume you can use as a model.

What a first-job resume needs to show

For most first jobs, an employer reading your resume is trying to answer a few simple questions:

• Will this person show up when they’re scheduled and take the job seriously?
• Can they work with other people and follow directions?
• Are they willing to learn?
• When can they work?

Everything on your resume should help answer one of those questions. You don’t need impressive titles. You need clear, true examples.

What to include

Contact information

Your name, your city and state, a phone number you answer and an email address you check. An address like firstname.lastname@ is better than a nickname. You don’t need your street address.

A short summary (optional)

One or two sentences at the top can help when you don’t have job titles to show. Keep it specific. For example: “High school junior with three years of volunteer experience at a youth sports program. Reliable, comfortable working with kids and available weekday afternoons and weekends.”

Education

List your school, the year you expect to graduate and anything relevant: a class that relates to the job, an honor roll, a certificate program. Include your GPA only if it helps you.

Experience

Call this section “Experience,” not “Work Experience.” That way it can include everything that shows you can handle responsibility:

• volunteering at a food bank, animal shelter, library, place of worship or community event;
• babysitting, pet sitting, tutoring or yard work for neighbors;
• helping with a family business;
• a school job, such as office aide or tech helper;
• leading or organizing something: a fundraiser, a club event, a group project.

For each one, give the role, the organization or setting, the dates and one to three short bullet points about what you did.

Activities and leadership

Sports teams, clubs, band, scouting, youth groups, student government, theater crew. These show commitment, teamwork and time management. If you held a role, like captain, section leader or treasurer, include it.

Skills and certifications

Be specific: “Bilingual in English and Spanish,” “Comfortable with Google Docs and Sheets,” “CPR and First Aid certified (expires 2027).” Only list a certification you actually hold and that is current.

Availability (optional)

For part-time and seasonal jobs, a line like “Available weekdays after 3:30 p.m. and weekends; full-time June through mid-August” answers a question every employer has.

Turn what you’ve done into strong bullet points

A good bullet point starts with an action verb, says what you did and, when you can, adds a detail that shows scale or responsibility. Everything in it should be true and easy to explain in an interview.

Instead of	Try something like
Babysitting	Cared for two children on weekday afternoons; prepared snacks, helped with homework and followed the family’s bedtime routine.
Volunteered at the food bank	Sorted and shelved donations on Saturday shifts; helped greet and check in visitors during busy distribution days.
Soccer team	Played four seasons on the varsity team; attended practice five days a week while keeping up with schoolwork.
Mowed lawns	Ran a summer lawn-care service for five neighbors; scheduled visits, kept track of payments and showed up on time each week.

Useful verbs to start with: helped, organized, led, cared for, prepared, taught, greeted, sorted, scheduled, tracked, cleaned, built, planned, answered, trained.

Once you have a first job, update your resume with it. The skills you’re really building at your first job shows how to turn everyday shifts into specific, believable bullet points.

Keep the format simple

• One page.
• Clear section headings, plenty of white space and one easy-to-read font in a normal size.
• Dates in the same format everywhere (for example, “June 2025 – Present”).
• Most recent and most relevant first in each section.
• Save it as a PDF named with your name, like FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf, and keep a plain-text copy for online forms that ask you to paste your resume.

A sample first resume

Here’s how the layout above can come together for someone who hasn’t had a paid job yet.

Notice what isn’t on it: no birth date or age, no photo, no street address and no Social Security number. References go on a separate page, covered below.

What to leave off

• Your Social Security number, birth date or age. They aren’t needed to apply. If a job has a legal minimum age, the listing or application will ask whether you meet it.
• A photo. Federal equal employment guidance says employers generally shouldn’t ask for an applicant’s photo before a job offer, so there’s no reason to include one.
• Your full street address. City and state are enough.
• Personal details unrelated to the job, such as religion, marital status or health information.
• Anything you can’t back up. Never invent a job, a title, a skill or a certification. Employers check references, and you’ll be asked about what you wrote.

Line up your references

Keep references on a separate page instead of on your resume. Choose two or three adults who aren’t relatives and who know how you work: a teacher, coach, volunteer coordinator, youth leader or a family you’ve babysat for. Ask each one first, and let them know what kind of job you’re applying for so they’re ready if someone calls.

Before you send it

1. Read it out loud to catch typos and awkward sentences.
2. Ask a teacher, counselor or another adult you trust to look it over.
3. Compare it with the job listing. If the listing mentions working with kids, customer service or a specific schedule, make sure your most relevant experience and availability are easy to spot.
4. Check that your email address and phone number are correct.

A first resume doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be clear, honest and easy to read. When it’s ready, start looking for jobs that welcome first-time workers, and when you get a call back, read up on how to prepare for your first interview.