When Should You Include Your High School on Your Resume?

So you are wondering whether to include your high school on your resume.

Or maybe wondering how to include it?

Don’t worry.

In any case, we got you covered.

Keep reading and you will find out:

• When should you list your high school and when it’s better to leave it out;
• Should you include high school if you didn’t attend college;
• How do you list high school on your resume

And, as a bonus, you will see an awesome high school resume sample.

If you are wondering how to build your resume, you should check out our Resume Builder. It will get you going in no time and you’ll be ready to apply for your dream job.

Let’s dive in.

Should You Include High School on a Resume?

If you want a short answer, we can give it to you right away:

Sometimes.

It’s confusing, but we will make it clear for you in no time.

When should you list your high school?

In order to answer this question, we should get to the answers to a few other questions.

The first thing you should ask yourself is:

• Is my resume too short?

Depending on the job description and your work experience (if any), your resume should be one or two pages long.

If your resume is too short the hiring manager won’t get an overview of your suitability for the position.

Most of the time, your resume is going to be one-page. It makes sense since you probably don’t have that much work experience. Though, you might still tell yourself to push for a two-page resume.

However, it’s not as effective as you think. In fact, a one-page resume is more powerful. It just depends on the approach you take and how you do it.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, it’s smarter to see what works.

So you can check out our Resume Examples page on Enhancv and search for an entry-level position resume, or you can stick around and see the awesome example we have for you.

• Is your education your strongest qualification?

Hiring managers are generally more interested in your work experience and your skills, rather than your education.

So, if you have some work experience, you should include it.

But if you are a high school student, college student, or fresh graduate, you will probably need to put yourself in the best possible light, using only your education.

• Is education a primary requirement?

Education is a crucial section that many headhunters expect to see in your resume, even if not asked for.

Besides, it won’t take much space on the page and can be read within seconds.

You’ve got nothing to lose!

So, all in all:

If you are a high school student, college student, fresh graduate with no work experience, or if your high school diploma is your highest education, you should definitely add your high school education to your resume.

When is your high school best left off? Or, when to stop listing it?

Including your high school in your resume makes up for the lack of work experience and gives you better chances for being called by the hiring manager.

But there are certain situations when it’s better to leave it off your resume.

If you were dismissed for a cause, better left unsaid, you should better leave your high school off your resume and transfer the focus to your skills and accomplishments section.

What is more, a few years after you finish high school, the hiring manager will start caring more about your more recent accomplishments.

Once you get to that point, you can safely delete your high school from your resume.

A clear sign that you can leave your high school out of your CV:

You have trouble fitting all your information on one page.

Should I put high school on my resume if I didn’t attend college?

If you didn’t attend college or only took a few courses, you should consider not including your high school details on your resume.

As you gain valid, relevant work experience, you have the option of leaving college and high school off your resume entirely.

There are lots of things you can put on your resume besides college and high school education.

You can often include relevant coursework, certifications, awards, volunteer positions, and even hobbies and clubs.

However, if you don’t have work or other relevant experience, you should definitely include your high school information on your resume.

How do you list high school on your resume?

In your education section, you should list the name of your high school, city and state, and the years you attended.

If you have any major achievements, such as being the president or founder of a club, you should list one or two of them.

Keep in mind that you should describe your work, rather than just mentioning it. For example, I planted 300 trees as part of the environmental club.

When describing the classes you took, you should tailor them to the position you’re applying for.

If you’re applying for a job in retail and have taken classes in Business and Math, it would be really relevant to put it on your resume. Language classes would also be relevant.

If and when you have a college education, list it above your high school details.

High School GPA on a Resume

If you’re currently a high school student or just graduated, you should consider including your GPA on your resume.

But not always.

You can include it with no regrets if your GPA is higher than 3.5.

You should think about leaving your GPA off your resume if:

• Your GPA is lower than 3.5
• You are a college or university student long enough to list that GPA instead
• You have a couple of years of relevant work experience

High school resume sample

So, as we promised, we give you an awesome high school resume sample.

Check it out.

So keep it in mind and use it to build your awesome high school resume.

If you need more help, you can always check out our Resume Examples, or build one from scratch with our Resume Builder.

Takeaways: High School on Resume

Your resume is probably the first impression that a potential employer would have of you.

Make sure that you present the most important information about you in a way that stands out to hiring managers.

Depending on your education and your work experience, putting your high school information on your resume might be a good idea.

When considering it, you should remember:

• Include your high school details only if it’s your highest level of education, or you are still in high school
• Include your GPA if it’s higher than 3.5. If it is lower, you might want to leave it off your resume.
• Include your high school details properly, depending on whether you graduated or not.

So now you are good to go.

Now you’re ready to write your resume and get your dream job.

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What are your thoughts? Did you list your high school details on your resume? Give us a shout-out in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!