On this page
- Resume guide for a 16 year old resume
- How to write a 16 year old resume
- Choosing the best resume format for a 16 year old resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same 16 year old summary, twice
- Outline your experience
- The four things a manager checks before hiring a 16 year old
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- 16 year old job market and outlook
- What pay you can expect at 16
- Key takeaways for a 16 year old resume
- Related student resume examples
- FAQ
A 16 year old resume is a one page document that answers a question your age makes unavoidable: can this person be relied on, when nobody has paid them to be reliable yet.
That is the whole problem, and it is solvable. You are not being compared to an adult with ten years behind them. You are being compared to the other sixteen year olds who dropped off applications this week, most of which say nothing but a name, a number and the word "hardworking". A page with real evidence on it, even unpaid evidence, gets the interview.
Resume guide for a 16 year old resume
This guide and the corresponding 16 year old resume example will cover:
- How to write a 16 year old resume when you have never had a paid job
- The four things a manager checks before hiring someone your age
- Three adaptable summaries: first application, after one season, and returning
- What the US Department of Labor says you can and cannot be scheduled for at 16
- Where the jobs are, what sets your pay, and what your state may ask you for
How to write a 16 year old resume
Five sections: contact header, summary, availability, experience and activities, and education and skills. One page, and not a full one the first time; nobody is surprised by that. Put availability high, because it is what the manager reads first and what most applications leave out.
SectionThe question it answersWhere it goes
- Contact headerHow do I reach this person today?Top, four lines
- SummaryWhat am I getting and when can they start?Directly under the header
- AvailabilityWhich shifts can I actually put them on?Third, in its own block
- Experience and activitiesHas this person shown up for anything repeatedly?Middle, with dates
- Education and skillsWhat have they been trained to do already?Bottom, short
Save it as a PDF named after yourself, not as Resume final FINAL2.docx.
Run the finished file through the ATS resume checker before you send it. Large chains put applications into a system before a person reads them, and the parts of the page that get lost are usually the ones you spent longest on.
Choosing the best resume format for a 16 year old resume
Reverse chronological, one page, one column. Most recent thing first, whether or not anyone paid you for it.
You will read advice telling you to use a functional or skills-based layout because you have no work history. Ignore it. At sixteen nobody expects a work history, so hiding the absence creates a problem that was not there. List what you have done with dates on it and let the dates be short. No second page, no photograph, no skills bar, no colored sidebar.
Include your contact information
Make a plain email address that is your name. Give the city, not the street address; a stranger does not need it. Use a number you will answer, say so if it is a shared family phone, and record a normal voicemail greeting before you send anything out.
You do not have to put your age on the page. Many people do, because it tells a manager which scheduling rules apply. Either choice works, as long as your availability block is specific enough that the manager is not guessing at two things at once.
Make use of a summary
Three or four lines, written for the manager rather than about yourself: what you are applying for, when you can work, and one specific thing you have already done that took turning up.
First application adaptable resume summary example
After one season adaptable resume summary example
Returning for a second year adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same 16 year old summary, twice
The left column can be scheduled and checked. The right column is what almost every other application in the stack says.
Outline your experience
Everything that took showing up on a schedule counts, and it does not have to have been paid. Put each one in the same shape as a job: what it was, where, the dates, then two or three lines with a number in them.
- Instead of
Volunteered at a community center
UseRan the snack table for 30 children two afternoons a week for a full school year, 96 sessions
- Instead of
Babysitting
UseCared for two children under six on Friday evenings for 14 months for the same family, including the bedtime routine
- Instead of
Helped at a school fundraiser
UseSold tickets at the concession window for 6 home games and counted the float at the end of each one
- Instead of
Good with money
UseClosed a cash drawer 40 times over one season with no shortage over $2
- Instead of
Member of the yearbook club
UsePhotographed 11 school events for the yearbook and met every submission deadline
The right column is not inflating anything. It is counting. Ninety six sessions is a number off a calendar, and it says what "reliable" cannot.
Adaptable resume experience and activities example
Volunteer Program Assistant, Rosewater Community Center, Lafayette, LA, September 2025 to Present
Set up the room and run the snack table for roughly 30 children in the after-school program, every Tuesday and Thursday during term.
Attended 50 of 50 sessions between September 2025 and March 2026, and gave two weeks of notice for the one week I could not cover.
Keep the supply cupboard stocked and tell the coordinator when something is running out before it runs out.
Concession Volunteer, Marrow Creek High School Athletics, Lafayette, LA, August 2025 to November 2025
Sold tickets and concessions at 6 home games, handling the float at open and the count at close each time.
If you genuinely have nothing yet, the fix is not better wording. Take on one thing with a schedule attached and give it six weeks. That will do more for this page than any amount of rewriting.
The four things a manager checks before hiring a 16 year old
Once you know what is being checked, you can answer all four on one page.
A manager filling a weekend shift is not evaluating your potential. They are pricing a risk: training someone who quits in three weeks, who cannot get to the store, or whose paperwork is not in order. Each of those has an answer you can put on the page.
| What they are checking | What convinces them | Where it goes on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Will this person actually turn up | A commitment you kept, counted, over months | Experience, with the number of sessions and the date you started |
| Can they get here and get home | The route, named, and the latest hour it runs | Contact header or availability block |
| Is the paperwork going to be a problem | Whether you have or can get what your state requires | One line in education and certifications |
| Is there an adult who will vouch for them | One reference who is not related to you | Foot of the page, with permission asked first |
The last one deserves its own paragraph, because it is the one that gets done badly.
Your first reference should not be a relative. A manager discounts a relative entirely, and it is an awkward thing to have to discount. Ask an adult who has seen you do something on a schedule: a volunteer coordinator, a teacher who ran a club, a coach, a librarian, a neighbor whose children you have cared for regularly. Ask first, and say what you are applying for so the call is not a surprise.
Adaptable resume reference and availability example
Availability: Monday to Friday after 3:30 p.m. until 9 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cannot work Tuesday or Thursday afternoons until the after-school program ends in May. Reachable by bus route 4, which runs until 9:20 p.m., or by a ride.
Reference: Ms. Angeline Dartez, Program Coordinator, Rosewater Community Center, (337) 555-1153, angeline.dartez@example.com. Has supervised my volunteer shifts since September 2025 and has agreed to be contacted.
Ask permission, then give the reference something to say
Ask for one specific thing as well as the yes: "If they call, could you say how often I turned up and what I did with the snack table?"
That is the difference between a reference who says "she was great" and one who says "she was here twice a week for a whole school year and she set the room up before I got there". The second is the reason you get hired. Message them afterward either way; you will want them again.
Build a snapshot of your key skills
Eight to twelve entries in two or three groups. Keep them concrete and keep them things you could be asked to demonstrate.
Adaptable resume skills example
Customer and counter: Cash handling and float counting, Point of sale tablets, Taking orders under a queue, Stocking and rotating a display, Answering a phone politely
Reliability and organization: Opening and closing routines, Time keeping around a school timetable, Written handover notes, Restocking before things run out
Training and certificates: Louisiana food handler card, First aid and CPR, Basic Spanish, Google Docs and Sheets
Leave off anything you cannot back up if asked. "Microsoft Excel" usually means one class project, and a blank look at the follow-up question discounts the rest of the page with it. "Google Sheets, used to keep the club's equipment list" is smaller and worth more.
List your education and certifications
School name, city, expected graduation year, and then anything you have been certified in. Grade point average only if it is strong and only if the posting asks; at sixteen most managers do not care, and a mediocre one printed on the page invites a question you would rather not have.
Adaptable resume education and certifications example
Marrow Creek High School, Lafayette, LA. Expected graduation May 2028. Coursework includes Algebra II, Biology and Introduction to Business.
Louisiana food handler card, issued March 2026.
First aid and CPR, American Red Cross, January 2026.
Employment certificate: I have the paperwork my school issues and can bring it to the interview.
That last line is worth more than it looks. Many states require a minor to hold an employment certificate, sometimes called working papers or an age certificate, usually issued by your school or your state labor department. Federal law does not require one, but many states do, and the stricter rule applies (US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #43, revised December 2016). Check your own state's labor department site and get the paperwork before you are asked for it.
Choose the right layout and design
One column, one page, black text on white, 11 or 12 point in a plain typeface. Headings in bold. No photograph, no icons, no colored bars, no two column template.
Half of these applications go through a portal that turns the page into a text record before a person opens it, and the other half get printed in a back office and clipped to a schedule. Both destroy decorative layouts.
Do
- Put your availability in the top third, written as days and hours.
- Say how you will get to work and by when you have to leave.
- Count things: sessions, games, months, customers.
- Ask one adult who is not a relative to be your reference, and ask before you list them.
- Name the certificate you hold and the one you can get.
- Save it as a PDF with your name in the file name.
Don’t
- Do not write "flexible availability" when you mean "after school and weekends"; the manager cannot build a schedule from it.
- Do not list a relative as a reference.
- Do not invent a job or stretch two weeks into a summer, because it is checked and it ends the application.
- Do not put your home address, your school schedule in full, or your social media on the page.
- Do not apply for work your age bars you from and hope nobody notices; it puts the employer in breach, not you.
16 year old job market and outlook
Summer is the season and it is a large one. The number of employed people aged 16 to 24 rose by 1.8 million between April and July 2026, reaching 21.3 million in July (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Unemployment Among Youth, Summer 2026, published 20 August 2026).
| Measure, July 2026 | Value |
|---|---|
| Employed, aged 16 to 24 | 21.3 million |
| Increase since April 2026 | 1.8 million |
| Labor force participation rate, 16 to 24 | 59.1% |
| Employment-population ratio, 16 to 24 | 53.8% |
| Unemployment rate, 16 to 24 | 9.1% |
| Unemployment rate, 16 to 24, July 2025 | 10.8% |
At 16 the hour limits come off, and 17 job categories stay closed
Federal child labor law changes shape on your sixteenth birthday. The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division states that "Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may be employed for unlimited hours in any occupation other than those declared hazardous" (Fact Sheet #43, Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations, revised December 2016).
There are currently 17 hazardous occupations orders that the Secretary of Labor has declared off limits to anyone under 18, and they stay closed to you at 16 and at 17. Driving is one of them: under Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2, no employee under 17 may drive a motor vehicle on public roads as part of the job, and a 17 year old may do so only when the driving is occasional and incidental and a list of further conditions is met (DOL Fact Sheet #34, revised July 2008).
Two more things worth knowing. Federal law does not require working papers, but many states do, and where a state rule is stricter than the federal one, the stricter rule is the one that applies (Fact Sheet #43). This is not legal advice and it is not the whole picture: look up your own state on the Department of Labor's YouthRules pages and on your state labor department's site before you accept a shift.
For the resume this is narrow but useful. The unlimited hours rule is why "after school and weekends" is a real offer rather than a request for an exception. The hazardous occupations rule is why a driving delivery job at sixteen is not one to apply for, and why an employer who offers you one is making a mistake that costs them, not you.
What pay you can expect at 16
There is no published median wage for a sixteen year old, because BLS publishes wages by occupation, not by age. What is published is the floor.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, effective 24 July 2009 (US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, retrieved 17 September 2026). Many states set a higher minimum, and where state law provides greater protection employers must comply with both, so you are paid the higher of the two. Your state labor department publishes the current rate.
Three things move pay in a first job, and two of them sit on the resume: the shifts you can cover, since weekend and evening availability is where coverage is short; a certificate you already hold, such as a food handler card, which can mean starting next week instead of after a training cycle; and coming back for a second season, which is where hourly rates actually move.
Where a job has tips, ask the manager how they are handled before you accept rather than asking the other staff.
Key takeaways for a 16 year old resume
- One page, one column, reverse chronological, saved as a PDF named after you.
- Availability in the top third, written as days and hours, not as the word "flexible".
- Count what you have done: sessions, games, months, customers, dollars.
- Unpaid work is work. Write volunteering, caring and club roles in the same shape as a job.
- Line up one reference who is not a relative, and ask them before you list them.
- Say how you will get to and from the shift, and by when.
- Get your state's employment certificate before you are asked for it, and check your state's rules on the Department of Labor's pages.
Related student resume examples
- Teen resume
- High school student resume
- Student resume
- Summer job resume
- Part time job resume
- Entry level resume
- Volunteer resume
- College student resume
- Internship resume
- Camp counselor resume
- Lifeguard resume
- Cashier resume
16 year old resume questions, answered
What do I put on a resume at 16 if I have never had a job?
Everything that ran on a schedule: volunteering, caring for children regularly, a club role, a school team, a fundraiser you worked more than once. Write each with a start date and a count, and put availability above it. A page with 96 volunteer sessions and a bus route on it beats one with the word "motivated" on it.
Should I put my age on my resume?
You can, and many people do, because it saves the manager working out which scheduling rules apply. It is not required. If you leave it off, keep your availability block and expected graduation year clear.
Do I need working papers to start a job at 16?
It depends on your state. Federal law does not require working papers or a work permit, but many states do, and where both apply the stricter rule governs (US Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #43, revised December 2016). Your school office or state labor department will tell you what is required. Getting it early removes a delay from the employer's side.
What jobs can I not do at 16?
Any occupation the Secretary of Labor has declared hazardous. There are currently 17 such orders and they apply until you turn 18 (US Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #43, revised December 2016). Driving on public roads as part of the job is one of them and is closed to you entirely at 16 (DOL Fact Sheet #34, revised July 2008). Your state may close more. Check the Department of Labor's YouthRules pages and your state labor department rather than relying on what an employer tells you.
Who should I ask to be my reference?
An adult who has seen you do something on a schedule and is not related to you: a volunteer coordinator, a teacher who ran a club, a coach, a librarian, or a family you have babysat for regularly. Ask permission first and give them one concrete thing they could say. One good reference beats three names with no context.
How long should a 16 year old resume be?
One page, and usually not a full one. Half a page of dated, countable things reads better than a full page padded with adjectives.