Teen Resume Template for When You Have Zero Experience
Babysitting, volunteering and clubs all count. A copy-and-fill teen resume template, how to write each section and the mistakes that get resumes tossed.
In this guide
You need a job to get experience, and you need experience to get a job. Except, for your first job, you really don’t. Managers hiring teens know you’ve never had a “real” job. What they want to see is that you’re reliable, you show up and you can learn.
Here’s how to write a teen resume with zero work experience, plus a template you can copy and fill in.
What counts as experience (more than you think)
If you’ve done any of these, you have something to put on your resume:
- Babysitting or pet sitting, even for neighbors or family friends.
- Yard work, snow shoveling, dog walking.
- Volunteering: food banks, animal shelters, church or community events, school fundraisers.
- School clubs and teams. Being on a team shows you can commit and work with others.
- Leadership roles, like club officer, team captain or class rep.
- Helping with a family business.
- Selling things you make, or running a small side hustle.
- Taking care of younger siblings regularly, if it’s a real responsibility.
Teen resume template
Copy this, replace everything in brackets, and delete any section you don’t need.
How to fill in each section
Contact info
Name, city and state, phone number and email. You don’t need your full street address.
Objective
One or two sentences about what job you want and when you can work. It’s optional for adults, but helpful for teens, because availability is the first thing a manager hiring teens wants to know.
Education
Your school, your expected graduation date, and your GPA if it’s strong. You can add honor roll or relevant classes, like a foods class if you’re applying to a restaurant.
Experience
Put your most relevant experience first. For each one, write two or three bullet points starting with an action word:
- Instead of “babysat kids,” try “Cared for two kids, ages 4 and 7, three afternoons a week.”
- Instead of “volunteered at food bank,” try “Sorted and packed donations for 50+ families every month.”
- Instead of “on the soccer team,” try “Attended practice four days a week for three seasons.”
Numbers make anything sound more real. How many kids, how many hours, how many months.
Skills
Only list skills you actually have and could show. Good ones for teens: a second language, CPR or first aid certification, cash handling, typing, specific apps, cooking, customer service. Skip vague ones like “hard worker,” and show that in your experience instead.
References
“Available on request” is enough on the page. But line up two people before you apply: a teacher, coach, volunteer coordinator or family you’ve babysat for. Not relatives. Ask them first, so they’re not surprised by a call.
Teen resume mistakes to avoid
- Going over one page. For a first job, one page is plenty.
- Typos. Read it out loud, then have someone else read it too.
- Fancy design. Fun fonts and colors can make it hard to read. Keep it simple.
- Making things up. Managers often ask about what’s on your resume in the interview.
- A selfie. U.S. resumes don’t include photos.
- Sending a Word file that looks different on their screen. Save it as a PDF named “Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf.”
Where to use it
Bring a few printed copies when you apply in person, attach the PDF to online applications and scholarship applications, and send it to families you babysit for. Still figuring out what you’d like to do long-term? Try our career quiz. Not sure what to apply for? See jobs for 14-year-olds, jobs for 15-year-olds and jobs for 16-year-olds, or look at online jobs for teens that aren’t scams.
