Summer Job Resume Example

A summer job resume has to be ready by March, because pools, camps, parks departments and warehouses hire seasonal staff months before the season starts. It needs your certifications with expiration dates, the exact weeks you can work, and proof that you lasted a whole season somewhere before.

The Sample resume below belongs to a high school senior in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who has two summers of lifeguarding and one as a junior camp counselor, and is applying for a head guard or senior counselor position for the coming summer. Seasonal employers want to know whether you will quit in July, so the page says plainly that he finished every season he started, and it puts his lifeguard, CPR and first aid certifications where a hiring manager finds them in seconds.

The same structure works for a college student applying to a warehouse, a landscaping crew or a resort. Change the certifications and the skills, keep the dates line. If the job is a camp, the camp counselor example goes deeper on group sizes and parent communication. For year-round student work see the part-time job example, and for the broader picture the high school student example. The Launch template puts certifications in a visible band at the top.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample resume are fictional.

Summer Job sample resume

Caleb Vandenberg

Certified Lifeguard (ARC, exp. 2027) | Two Full Seasons at a Public Pool | Available June 8 to August 21

Grand Rapids, MIcaleb.vandenberg@example.com(616) 555-0132

Summary

High school senior (graduating June 2027) with two complete seasons as a lifeguard at a 600-swimmer municipal pool and one as a junior counselor at a day camp of 120 children. Current American Red Cross Lifeguarding, CPR/AED and First Aid certifications, zero missed shifts across three summers. Seeking a head guard or senior counselor role for summer 2027, available full time from June 8 through August 21.

Experience

Lifeguard, Reeds Lake Aquatic Center

–

East Grand Rapids, MI

  • Guarded a 50-meter outdoor pool and a splash pad with daily attendance of 400 to 600 swimmers, rotating stations every 30 minutes with a team of nine.
  • Performed two in-water rescues and 14 first aid responses over the season, each documented on an incident report within the hour.
  • Tested and logged chlorine and pH levels every two hours and alerted the manager twice when readings fell outside the safe range.
  • Taught the 10 a.m. beginner swim lessons for children ages five to seven, with 11 of 12 students passing the level test.
Lifeguard, Reeds Lake Aquatic Center

–

East Grand Rapids, MI

  • Completed a first full season with no missed or late shifts, and picked up 12 open shifts when other guards left early in August.
  • Passed the monthly skills audit (spinal injury backboarding, active drowning rescue, CPR) on every attempt.
  • Ran the front gate on rain days, checking passes and processing $300 to $500 in daily admissions.
Junior Counselor, Thornapple Valley Day Camp

–

Caledonia, MI

  • Assisted two lead counselors with a group of 16 eight- and nine-year-olds for nine weeks, leading games, crafts and the daily swim walk.
  • Wrote the short daily note to parents for the group and handled pickup for the 14 children who stayed through aftercare.

Education

High School Diploma (expected June 2027)

Plaster Creek High School, Grand Rapids, MI

GPA 3.7. Varsity swim team, four seasons, team captain senior year. National Honor Society. Planning to study kinesiology in college.

Skills

  • Lifeguarding and water rescue
  • CPR/AED and First Aid
  • Pool chemistry testing and logging
  • Swim instruction (beginner levels)
  • Incident reports
  • Group supervision of children
  • Parent communication
  • Cash admissions and pass checks
  • Opening and closing a facility
  • Radio communication

Certifications

  • Lifeguarding with CPR/AED and First Aid, American Red Cross,
  • Water Safety Instructor, American Red Cross,
  • Michigan Work Permit for Minors (on file), Grand Rapids Public Schools,

Start yours from this example

Opens this sample in the editor, in one of the templates below. Swap in your details, then tailor it to each posting in about two minutes.

Use this example

Templates for the summer job resume

All templates

How the resume changes with experience

The same summer job resume, written at three levels: a summary and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first role in the title

Rising high school junior seeking a first summer job as a camp aide or pool attendant. Babysitting for three neighborhood families and a swim team record show comfort with children and water, and a Red Cross course is scheduled for May.

  • Babysat for three families over two years, often two siblings at once for five-hour evenings.
  • Four seasons on a club swim team, with the discipline of 6 a.m. practices four days a week.
  • Enrolled in the May lifeguard certification course so the card is in hand before the pool opens.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

High school senior with three summers of seasonal work, two as a certified lifeguard, applying for a head guard or senior counselor position with full availability from early June to late August.

  • Guarded a pool of up to 600 daily swimmers with a nine-person team and taught the beginner lesson block.
  • Two in-water rescues and 14 first aid responses in one season, every one documented the same day.
  • Stayed through the last week of August both seasons when half the staff had left for college.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programs

College sophomore and former head lifeguard with four seasons at the same aquatic center, now seeking an assistant aquatics manager role for the summer before a kinesiology internship.

  • Supervised a team of twelve guards as head lifeguard, writing the weekly rotation and running Friday in-service drills.
  • Cut the number of pool closures for chemistry problems from six to one in a season by moving tests to a fixed schedule.
  • Recommended the pool hire two extra guards for July weekends after tracking a month of attendance data, and management agreed.

Skills to put on the summer job resume

Hard skills

Certifications with dates
A pool cannot schedule a guard whose card has lapsed, so list the issuer and expiration and the manager can confirm you are legal to work on day one.
A full season completed
Seasonal managers care most about who will still be there in August, and each finished summer is proof.
Cash and admissions
Gate, snack bar and rental counters all handle money, and showing you have done it moves you to the top of the list for those shifts.
Group supervision
Camps and parks programs ask for a ratio you have managed, so name the group size and the age range.
Safety logs and incident reports
Writing things down the same day is what protects the employer, and a candidate who already does it is a smaller liability.
Physical readiness
Landscaping, warehouse and lifeguard jobs all have a fitness bar, and a varsity sport or a passed swim test clears it.

Soft skills

Showing up in the heat
Seasonal work is outdoors and repetitive, and a zero-missed-shift line answers the manager's biggest worry.
Staying calm in an emergency
Rescues, lost children and injuries happen every summer, and a described response matters more than a claimed trait.
Taking direction from a young supervisor
The head guard or lead counselor may be only two years older, and seasonal teams fall apart when that is a problem.
Working with the public
Patrons argue about pass rules and parents ask hard questions at pickup, and both take patience.

Mistakes that cost summer job interviews

  1. Applying in May

    Most pools and camps finish hiring by April and hold training in May. Send the resume in February or March, even if your certification course is still scheduled, and say on the page when the card will be in hand.

  2. Vague availability

    Write the first and last day you can work and any week you will be away. A manager would rather know about your family trip in July now than in July.

  3. Certifications without expiration dates

    Lifeguard, CPR and first aid cards expire every two years. Listing the year earned and the year they lapse saves the manager a phone call and shows you track your own paperwork.

  4. Dropping last summer because it was unrelated

    A summer at a car wash or a corn stand still shows you held a seasonal job to the end. Keep it with one or two bullets and let the newer job carry the detail.

  5. Burying certifications under education

    For a lifeguard, counselor or forklift position, the certification is the qualification. Put it in the headline and in its own section near the top, not as the last line on the page.

Questions about the summer job resume

When should I start applying for summer jobs?

January through March for pools, camps and parks departments, which often hold group interviews in April. Retail, warehouse and landscaping jobs post later, usually April and May, but still fill before school ends.

What goes on a summer job resume if this is my first job?

Your availability dates, any certification you hold or have scheduled, babysitting or yard work with how often you did it, a sport or activity that shows commitment, and your school with graduation year. One page, with a two-sentence summary at the top saying what you are applying for.

Do I need a work permit on my resume?

If you are under 18 in a state that requires one, mention that your permit is on file or ready to be issued. Michigan and many other states require it before the first shift, and a manager who sees it already handled will move faster.

How do I list the same summer job two years in a row?

Either as two entries with their own dates and bullets, as the Sample does, or as one entry with a date range of Summers 2025 and 2026. Two entries let you show growth from the first season to the second.

Should a college student use a different summer job resume than a high school student?

The structure is the same. A college student adds the major and expected graduation, drops most high school items, and leans on prior summers plus any campus job. If the summer job is related to your major, lead with that connection in the summary.

Is it worth listing a sport on a summer job resume?

Yes, briefly, in the education entry or a one-line activities section. A varsity season proves early mornings, coaching and physical work, which is most of what a seasonal manager wants to know.

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