The application says "attach your resume," and you have never had a job. Now you are staring at a blank document, cursor blinking, wondering what on earth you are supposed to put in there.
This is the situation for almost every teenager applying for their first job. And it is fixable. If you are not sure you are even old enough yet, start with the working-age rules for your province and come back here once you know.
Hiring managers at places that hire teens are used to a blank work history. What they are looking for is someone who took the time to put a page together and seems reliable enough to arrive on time and learn the job. Honest and readable is the actual bar, and you can clear it.
What Actually Goes on a First Resume
One page. Always. One clean page signals that you know what you are doing. If someone opens your resume and sees two pages, they assume you padded it. You probably did.
Five things belong on that page.
Your name and contact information. Your full name goes at the top, then a phone number and an email address. That email address matters more than you might think. If yours is something like xX_gamerlord_Xx@hotmail.com, make a new one before you apply anywhere. A simple first-name-last-name combination works. Your street address can stay off; city and province are enough. Add the days and hours you can work, and whether that changes around exams, because a manager building a shift schedule is going to ask. And never put your Social Insurance Number (SIN) on a resume. A legitimate employer will not ask for it at this stage.
Education. The name of your high school and your expected graduation year, plus the grade you are in now. Add your grade point average only if it is strong.
Skills. This is where most teens undersell themselves badly. A skill is anything you can do well, whether or not anyone has ever paid you to do it. Quick typing is a skill. Driving is a skill. Speaking a second language is a skill. If you have been running a social media account, managing a team in an online game, fixing bikes in your garage, or building things from scratch, those are real skills worth listing. Every one of them is something you were handed and have been looking after, paid or unpaid. That is what stewardship means, and a resume is the first place anyone asks you to account for it.
Experience, informal counts. You have probably done more than you realize. Babysitting counts. Shovelling driveways for neighbours counts. Helping at your church or a community event counts. A paper route counts. Helping a family member run a small business counts. Frame each one the same way you would a paid job, using the bullet-point formula further down this page.
Volunteer and extracurricular activities. Sports teams, clubs, school council, youth groups, volunteering at events. These show that you can commit to something and work alongside other people. Both things matter to an employer.
My own first job was at a Second Cup. The resume I handed in ran to volunteer experience, first aid training and a few extracurriculars, since paid work was still ahead of me. I put them there to show that I could work on a team and give myself to something. They also said I was coachable, which is the thing a first resume most needs to say.
What Order the Sections Go In
A simple structure that works for a first resume:
- Name and contact info
- Education
- Skills
- Experience (paid or unpaid, most recent first)
- Volunteer and extracurricular activities
References stay off the resume. Keep two or three names on a separate sheet, with a phone number or email for each, and hand it over when an employer asks for it. (Some people add "References available on request" as a last line. Job Bank, the Government of Canada's job site, says to skip it, and it is right.) A teacher or a coach works, and so does a neighbour you helped regularly. Ask them first, and ask plainly: "I'm applying for my first job. Would you be willing to be a reference if they call?" Then tell them when you have handed the resume in.
How to Write a Bullet Point That Actually Means Something
The hardest part of a first resume is describing what you have done in a way that communicates something real. Most first-timers write something vague and passive.
Weak: "Helped with stuff at the church."
Better: "Helped set up and break down event equipment for weekly youth group of approximately 40 people."
The formula is simple: what you did, for what or for whom, at what scale or frequency. One well-written bullet point beats a vague paragraph every time. If you babysat regularly for one family, you might write: "Provided regular childcare for two children ages 4 and 7, managing daily routines including meals, homework help, and bedtime."
That sounds like someone who was trusted with real responsibility.
Because you were.
Most teens talk about their informal work as if it barely counts. Describe it clearly and it will read as the real work it was.
Mistakes That Get a First Resume Ignored
Do not lie. Do not claim experience you do not have. Proverbs 12:22 puts it without softening: "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy." Employers ask about specific things in interviews, especially anything on your resume. If you made something up, it becomes obvious fast. Beyond the practical risk, you are starting your working life, which means you are starting to build a reputation. Start it with the truth.
Messy formatting. Pick something clean. White background, black text, a standard readable font like Arial or Calibri, sized at 11 or 12 points. Job Bank has a free Resume Builder with two plain templates once you make an account, and Google Docs and Microsoft Word both have simple resume templates too. Start from one of those.
Spelling errors. Read your resume out loud before you send it. Then have someone else read it. A single typo in your email address means an employer cannot contact you even if they want to.
Two pages. You do not have enough material for two pages, and the person reading it knows that. One page.
Putting your SIN anywhere on the document. Worth repeating, because it still happens. Your SIN is private. Keep it that way until a job is actually offered and accepted.
When They Ask for a Cover Letter Too
Some applications ask for a cover letter. Keep it short. Three paragraphs is the right length.
The first paragraph says who you are and which job you are applying for, with a line on why it interests you. The second gives one or two specific reasons you would be a good fit, even without formal experience. The third thanks them for their time and says you would welcome the chance to talk about the role.
Address it to the hiring manager by name if you can find one on the job posting or the company website. "Dear Hiring Manager" is fine when you cannot.
You are a teenager applying for your first job. Write it professionally and honestly. Whoever reads it can already see that this is a first application, and they chose to read it anyway.
One Bullet Point Gets You Started
Write one bullet point.
Pick something you have done, anything at all, and describe it using the formula: what you did, for what or for whom, at what scale or frequency. One sentence. That is your starting point.
The rest of the resume gets easier once you have something on the page.
A resume that exists is always better than a perfect resume still sitting in your head.