First Year Resume Guide

For most first-year students, a one-page resume is appropriate. You do not need to include every high school activity or experience.

To reduce content, consider the following:

• Remove older or short-term experiences.
• Prioritize long-term, meaningful volunteer work over one-time or occasional activities.
• If you participated in many clubs, include only those where you held a leadership role or made significant contributions.
• Focus on activities with sustained involvement. For example, a sport or activity pursued for several years is generally more relevant than one completed for a single season.

You can also adjust formatting to save space:

• Set margins to Narrow (Layout > Margins > Narrow).
• Reduce paragraph spacing by setting Before and After spacing to 0 and using single line spacing.
• Use a font size as small as 11 pt for resume content. Your name should remain larger (approximately 14 pt).

No. High School is not listed on a resume once you get to college.

Describe your work experience by writing actions statements. You should not be using First Person.

Incorrect: “I served guests menu items in a fast-paced 50 seat restaurant.”
Correct: “Served guests menu items in a fast-paced 50 seat restaurant.”

Write in complete detailed statements.

Incorrect: “Mowed Lawns.”
Correct: “Mowed lawns while following pre-determined landscaping plans set by owner.”

Incorrect: “Scooped Ice Cream”
Correct: “Served ice cream to patrons in a fast and friendly manner.”

Check for grammatical errors.

Your resume must be free of grammatical, formatting, or spelling errors. Edit your resume thoroughly before applying to a job.

You can list volunteer work, community service and other unpaid experience in your Experience section.

• Answer customers’ questions, and provide information on procedures or policies.
• Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints.
• Assist with duties in other areas of the store, such as monitoring fitting rooms or bagging and carrying out customers’ items.
• Bag, box, wrap, or gift-wrap merchandise, and prepare packages for shipment.
• Calculate total payments received during a time period, and reconcile this with total sales.
• Cash checks for customers.
• Compile and maintain non-monetary reports and records.
• Compute and record totals of transactions.
• Count money in cash drawers at the beginning of shifts to ensure that amounts are correct and that there is adequate change.
• Establish or identify prices of goods, services or admission, and tabulate bills using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners.
• Greet customers entering establishments.
• Issue receipts, refunds, credits or change due to customers.
• Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas and complete other general cleaning duties, such as mopping floors and emptying trash cans.
• Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately.
• Offer customers carry-out service at the completion of transactions.
• Process merchandise returns and exchanges.
• Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
• Stock shelves, and mark prices on shelves and items.

• Organize and participate in recreational activities and outings, such as games and field trips.
• Organize and store toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas.
• Communicate with children’s parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
• Recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.
• Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.
• Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
• Observe and monitor children’s play activities.
• Operate in-house-day-care centers within businesses.
• Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls.
• Perform general personnel functions, such as supervision, training, and scheduling.
• Read to children and teach them simple painting, drawing, handicrafts, and songs.
• Regulate children’s rest periods.
• Sanitize toys and play equipment.
• Support children’s emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.

• Greet new arrivals to activities, introducing them to other participants, explaining facility rules, and encouraging participation.
• Manage the daily operation of recreational facilities.
• Meet and collaborate with agency personnel, community organizations, and other professional personnel to plan balances recreational programs for participants.
• Meet with staff to discuss rules, regulations, and work-related problems.
• Organize, lead, and promote interest in recreational activities such as arts, crafts, sports, games, camping, and hobbies.
• Administer first aid according to prescribed procedures, and notify emergency medical personnel when necessary.
• Ascertain and interpret group interests, evaluate equipment and facilities, and adapt activities to meet participant needs.
• Complete and maintain time and attendance forms and inventory lists.
• Confer with management to discuss and resolve participant complaints.
• Direct special activities or events such as aquatics, gymnastics, or performing arts.
• Encourage participants to develop their own activities and leadership skills through group discussions.
• Enforce rules and regulations of recreational facilities to maintain discipline and ensure safety.
• Explain principles, techniques, and safety procedures to participants in recreational activities, and demonstrate use of materials and equipment.
• Provide for entertainment and set up related decorations and equipment.

• Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals and take action to correct any problems.
• Write patrons’ food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
• Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
• Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
• Check patrons’ identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
• Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
• Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
• Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.
• Roll silverware, set up food stations or set up dining areas to prepare for the next shift or for large parties.
• Inform customers of daily specials.
• Explain how various menu items are prepared, describing ingredients and cooking methods.
• Prepare tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
• Stock service areas with supplies such as coffee, food, tableware, and linens.
• Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, take them to kitchen for cleaning.
• Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
• Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.
• Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.
• Perform food preparation duties such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
• Fill salt, pepper, sugar, cream, condiment, and napkin containers.
• Garnish and decorate dishes in preparation for serving.
• Describe and recommend wines to customers.
• Provide guests with information about local areas, including giving directions.

• Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
• Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
• Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
• Maintain records related to sales.
• Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
• Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items. Help customers try on or fit merchandise.
• Bag or package purchases, and wrap gifts.
• Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
• Compute sales prices, total purchases and receive and process cash or credit payment.
• Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
• Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
• Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
• Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
• Ticket, arrange and display merchandise to promote sales.
• Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts, and know how to prevent or handle these.

• Conduct demonstrations to teach such skills as sports, dancing and handicrafts.
• Discuss assigned duties with classroom teachers to coordinate instructional efforts.
• Enforce administration policies and rules governing students.
• Grade homework and tests, and compute and record results, using answer sheets or electronic marking devices.
• Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
• Maintain computers in classrooms and laboratories and assist students with hardware and software use.
• Observe students’ performance, and record relevant data to assess progress.
• Organize and label materials and display students’ work in a manner appropriate for their eye levels and perceptual skills.
• Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development.
• Plan, prepare, and develop various teaching aids such as bibliographies, charts and graphs.
• Prepare lesson materials, bulletin board displays, exhibits, equipment, and demonstrations.
• Prepare lesson outlines and plans in assigned subject areas and submit outlines to teachers for review.
• Present subject matter to students under the direction and guidance of teachers, using lectures, discussions, or supervised role-playing methods.
• Provide disabled students with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities such as restrooms.
• Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards and gymnasiums, or on field trips.
• Take class attendance and maintain attendance records.
• Tutor and assist children individually or in small groups to help them master assignments and to reinforce learning concepts presented by teachers.

• Complete and maintain records of weather and beach conditions, emergency medical treatments performed, and other relevant incident information.
• Contact emergency medical personnel in case of serious injury.
• Examine injured persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
• Inspect recreational equipment, such as rope tows, T-bars, J-bars, and chair lifts, for safety hazards and damage or wear.
• Inspect recreational facilities for cleanliness.
• Instruct participants in skiing, swimming or other recreational activities and provide safety precaution information.
• Maintain quality of pool water by testing chemical levels.
• Observe activities in assigned areas, using binoculars, to detect hazards, disturbances, or safety infractions.
• Operate underwater recovery units.
• Participate in recreational demonstrations to entertain resort guests.
• Patrol or monitor recreational areas such as trails, slopes, and swimming areas, on foot, in vehicles or from towers.
• Provide assistance in the safe use of equipment, such as ski lifts.
• Rescue distressed persons, using rescue techniques and equipment.
• Warn recreational participants of inclement weather, unsafe areas, or illegal conduct.