Writing a first resume without any formal job history feels like a contradiction: most jobs want experience, but a first job is exactly how a person gets experience. The way around this is understanding that “experience” on a resume can include much more than paid employment, and framing it clearly matters more than having a long list of past jobs.
Understand What Counts as Experience
Volunteer work, school clubs, sports teams, babysitting, tutoring, and personal projects all demonstrate real skills employers care about, such as reliability, teamwork, and initiative. A student who ran a school fundraiser, coached younger kids in a sport, or maintained a personal blog has relevant material for a resume, even without a single paycheck involved.
Lead With a Skills Summary
Instead of a work history section with little to show, a short skills summary near the top of the resume highlights strengths directly: reliability, communication, specific software or tools, languages spoken, or relevant coursework. This gives an employer useful information immediately rather than making them wait for a thin experience section further down.
Sections to Include Without Job History
- Education, including relevant coursework, GPA if strong, and honors
- Extracurricular activities and leadership roles
- Volunteer experience, even informal or unpaid work
- Skills, including specific software, languages, or certifications
Use Action Verbs and Specific Details
“Helped with fundraiser” says less than “organized a bake sale that raised $400 for the school’s robotics team.” Specific numbers and outcomes, even for informal experiences, make a resume feel concrete rather than vague, and this applies whether the experience was paid or not.
Tailor the Resume to Each Application
A single generic resume sent to every application misses chances to highlight the most relevant details for a specific role. Reordering sections, adjusting the skills list, or emphasizing different activities depending on what a particular job or program is looking for makes a stronger impression than a one-size-fits-all version.
Keep the Format Clean and Simple
A cluttered, overly designed resume can distract from the content, especially for a first resume with limited material to fill a page. A clean, one-page format with clear section headings, consistent fonts, and enough white space is easier for a hiring manager to scan quickly.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Leaving the resume mostly blank instead of including relevant unpaid experience
- Using vague descriptions instead of specific accomplishments
- Including irrelevant personal information, such as age or a photo, that is not standard practice
- Forgetting to proofread carefully, since small errors stand out more when experience is limited
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I include a resume objective statement?
Objective statements have largely fallen out of favor in most industries. A brief skills summary or a short, specific statement about what a student is looking for tends to be more useful to employers than a generic objective line.
Is it okay to ask a teacher or coach for a reference?
Yes, this is common and expected for a first resume. Teachers, coaches, and volunteer supervisors can speak to reliability and character in ways that carry real weight for an employer considering a candidate with limited formal work history.
Building on a First Resume
Every resume improves with each new experience added to it, and a thin first version is a normal starting point rather than a permanent limitation. For more on identifying strengths worth highlighting, see our guide on exploring career interests in high school.
How long should a first resume be?
One page is standard for a first resume, and often more than enough material exists once school activities, volunteer work, and skills are included. Stretching to fill a second page with filler content usually looks worse than a well-organized single page.
What if I genuinely have very little to include?
Even a small amount of relevant activity, described specifically, is enough for a first resume. It can also help to take on a short volunteer commitment or a small project in the weeks before applying, specifically to build material worth including.
Should a first resume include a cover letter?
When an application allows for one, a short cover letter can add context that a resume alone cannot, such as why a specific role appeals to the applicant. It is especially useful for a first resume, since it gives more room to explain relevant experience that might otherwise look thin on the page.