First Job Resume: Applying With No Work History

Anything with a schedule, a supervisor or a customer counts. Employers hiring at entry level read for reliability signals:

• School and clubs – attendance, team projects, student council, band, athletics with practice hours.
• Volunteering – food bank sorting, park cleanups, tutoring, church or community events, with hours per week.
• Informal work – babysitting, lawn mowing, dog walking, snow shoveling, reselling. Give the number of clients and the schedule you kept.
• Skills – cash handling, customer service, Spanish or another language, spreadsheets, social media, food handling certificate.

Put a short profile line at the top stating what you are applying for, then a section called Experience or Activities. Never invent a job, because a background check and a reference call will find it.

Federal child labor rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act set the floor, and states add their own limits, so check your state department of labor or school counseling office before you apply:

• Work permit – many states require a permit or age certificate issued through the school or the state workforce agency; the employer usually keeps it on file.
• Hour limits – restrictions on hours per day and week during school weeks, and later start times on school nights.
• Prohibited tasks – rules exclude certain equipment and hazardous work for workers under 18.
• Minimum age – many employers hire at 14 or 16 for specific roles, so confirm before applying.

Say on the resume that you can obtain a permit if one is required, and bring the paperwork to the interview instead of waiting to be asked.

• Available Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Played varsity soccer in fall, so weekday availability starts at 6 p.m. from August to November.
• Open to holidays and school breaks, with winter break and summer full time.

Give a real schedule, then honour it. Managers at grocery stores, restaurants and retail shops build schedules a week ahead, and a new hire who cannot work the shifts they promised is replaced quickly. If your availability changes with a sport season, say so in one line, because the honesty is worth more than a wide-open claim you cannot keep.

One page, single column, Letter paper, PDF or a clean printout. No photo, no date of birth, no Social Security number, no marital status. List two or three references with name, role, relationship and a phone number, after asking each person first: a coach, a teacher, a volunteer lead or a neighbor you worked for. Apply online where the employer requires it, and follow up in person at small businesses with a printed copy. Expect Form I-9 documentation at hire, so bring a passport or a driver license plus a Social Security card. Dress plainly for the interview, arrive ten minutes early, and prepare two questions about the schedule and the training.