What to put in a cover letter as a high schooler: your name and a reachable email, the job title, why that store or cafe, two proof points from school, sports, volunteering, or informal work, and the hours you can actually work. Keep it to one page. Do not invent a job history.
Adult templates fail here because they assume internships and software lists. This page is US first-job and part-time hiring — what goes in the letter, not whether to write one. For whether to bother attaching a file at all, see when a letter is worth attaching . For resume sections, see what to put on a first resume .
Key Takeaways
- Three paragraphs: hook, proof, availability + close
- School, sports, volunteering, and babysitting count if you describe them honestly
- Name weekend and after-school hours you can keep
- Federal hour limits for 14- and 15-year-olds are real; states can be stricter
- Never invent a past employer
- Skip the essay when the apply is a five-field form with no letter slot
What to put in a cover letter as a high schooler: the three blocks
Yale’s cover-letter format still maps: opening, middle proof, close. Shrink it. A teen letter does not need a research agenda.
Put contact lines in the body: full name, a phone you answer, and an email that is not a joke. City and state are enough. Skip a full street address on a public PDF.
- Header: name, phone, email. Optional: “Lincoln High, Class of 2027.” Do not add a photo, a QR code, or a TikTok handle unless they asked.
- Opening (3–4 sentences): who you are (grade, school), the exact job title, and one specific reason you want this location — a store you already shop, a camp you attended, a neighbor who works there. Decision: if you cannot name the location without looking it up, you are sending a template.
- Proof (1 short paragraph): two facts with numbers you can defend — volunteer hours, shifts babysitting, fundraiser totals, years on a team. Map each to something the posting asked for (cash, customers, showing up, lifting, teamwork).
- Close (2–3 sentences): days and times you can work during school vs summer, that you can provide working papers if your state requires them, and a thank-you.
- Cut pass: search for another store’s name, “hardworking,” “team player,” and “available whenever.” Replace each with a fact or delete it.
- Export: one-page PDF, 11- or 12-point type. If the portal has no letter field, stop — do not email a careers inbox you found on Google.
Failure mode: a parent pastes an adult “I am writing to express my interest” opener and the schedule is missing. Another miss: copying a sibling’s letter and leaving their sport in paragraph two. Read it out loud. If it does not sound like you, rewrite the sentence.
Key Takeaway: availability is the line adult letters forget and managers actually need.
What hours and papers should I mention?
Federal child-labor rules are not a vibe. DOL Fact Sheet 43 limits 14- and 15-year-olds in most non-farm jobs to 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 40 hours in a non-school week, and they may not work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). At 16, those federal hour caps drop for non-hazardous jobs, but DOL still warns that the stricter of state or federal rules applies.
In the letter, write the hours you can keep, not the legal maximum. “Weekdays after 4 p.m. and Saturdays 9–5 during the school year” is usable. “I can work whenever” is not. If your state issues work permits or age certificates, say you can bring them to orientation — do not guess the form name.
Split school year and summer when they differ. One usable close: “During the school year I can work Saturday 10–6 and Sunday 12–5. After June 10 I can add weekday afternoons.”
Sports and theater are the usual collision. Name the end date if a season blocks a night: “I cannot work Tuesday or Thursday until soccer ends November 8; after that I can do those evenings.” Hiding the conflict gets you hired and then fired in week two. If you are 14 or 15, do not volunteer for a 10 p.m. close the store cannot legally give you.
Homeschool, dual enrollment, and night school: write the hours you are free, not a legal essay. Transfer students: name the school you attend now. If a parent must drive you, say the latest you can start on weekdays.
Key Takeaway: quote the schedule you can keep; look up your state’s permit rules instead of inventing them in the letter.
Illustrative before and after (retail)
The example below is illustrative — not a real student and not a real store. Copy the structure, not the sentences.
| Weak (do not send) | Stronger (still one page) |
|---|---|
| I am a hardworking student looking for any job. I would be a great fit because I am a team player and I learn fast. I am available whenever you need me. | I am a junior at Lincoln High applying for the Saturday cashier role at the Oak Street location — I already shop there after practice. Last year I ran the concession window at home games (about 12 Friday nights) and handled cash with a teacher present. I can work Saturdays 10–6 and weekdays after 4:30 during the school year. |
Notice what moved: a real location, a named duty, a number, and a schedule. That is the whole job of the letter. Put clubs and GPA on the resume unless the posting asked for them.
A second retail miss: “I have always wanted to work at your company because you are a leader in the industry.” Name the station on the flyer — cashier, bagger, stock — and the hours you can cover. If you know a coworker, one line is enough: “My neighbor Priya works weekends there.” That is a referral, not a brand essay.
Key Takeaway: one honest number plus a schedule beats a page of adjectives.
Food-service vs retail proof
Same three blocks. Different proof. Managers at cafes and kitchens care whether you can stand a rush, follow a ticket, and show up for the shift you claimed. The example below is illustrative — not a real student or restaurant.
Weak: “I love food and I am a people person. I would love to work in your kitchen.” Stronger: “I am a sophomore at Westfield High applying for the dishwasher / prep opening on Maple. I already eat there after school. I packed meals for the Saturday community kitchen (about 8 a.m.–12 p.m., 10 Saturdays) and I can work Friday 4–9 and Sunday 10–4 during the school year.” Same structure as retail: location, one duty with a number, a schedule you can keep.
Internships and hospital volunteer posts sometimes want a counselor named as a reference. Retail and food usually do not. If the flyer says “ask for Maya at the counter,” address Maya. If it is a corporate teen site with no letter box, skip the essay and fill the availability fields honestly.
Do not copy an adult “passion for hospitality” opener. Name the station the posting listed. If you cannot work Friday nights because of a game, say so now — a surprise call-out in week two is how first jobs end.
Host and cashier letters need one proof you can talk to strangers. “I sold 40 raffle tickets at the fall carnival” maps better than “I am outgoing.” Do not claim kitchen experience you do not have.
If you already have a resume, run HireFlow’s ATS checker so the letter is not carrying facts the resume never states.
Key Takeaway: food-service letters still fit on one page; the proof is reliability and a shift you will actually work.
Babysitting, lawns, and other unpaid proof
Informal work belongs in the letter when you can name the duty, who it helped, and a number. It does not belong as a fake W-2. The example below is illustrative — not a real student or family.
| Weak (do not send) | Stronger (still one page) |
|---|---|
| I babysit a lot and I am great with kids. I also do yard work. Please hire me for any position you have open. | I am a sophomore at Roosevelt High applying for the weekday bagger role at the Ridge Road store. I babysit two neighbors after school (Monday–Thursday, about 8 hours a week since March) and I mow three lawns on Saturdays. I can work Friday 5–9 and Saturday 10–4. I do not have a paid retail job yet. |
Tutoring, lawn routes, and pet sitting work the same way. “I tutored two freshmen in algebra twice a week this spring” is a letter line. “Assistant Manager, Smith Family Enterprises” is a lie if that company is your garage.
Camp CIT, concession, and fundraiser cash map to retail. If the only number you have is “most weekends,” that is still better than “responsible.” Two proofs belong in the letter; the rest stays on the resume. If English is not the language you write most easily, draft first, then ask a parent or counselor to check spelling — not to rewrite you as a brand manager.
Key Takeaway: unpaid work counts when you can describe it; invented job titles do not.
Workday and Greenhouse: when a teen should upload a letter
Corporate grocery, pharmacy, and big-box teen hiring often runs through Workday. Some specialty retail brands and internships use Greenhouse. Both store a PDF if a cover-letter slot exists. Neither scores a teen letter the way a resume parse works. The file is for a human who might open it after the form is complete.
If Workday shows “Cover Letter (optional)” next to the resume upload, attach a one-page PDF only when it adds something the form does not already capture: a named store, one proof, and hours that match the availability calendar. If those facts are already in the drop-downs, skip the upload. An optional generic file is worse than an empty slot.
Greenhouse is the same rule with a different skin. If there is a paste box, it may truncate — paste the three short paragraphs, not a two-page parent draft. If a warehouse or HQ internship asked for a letter, treat that as required even if the software lets you submit without a file.
Many teen applies are not Workday or Greenhouse at all. They are a five-field web form: name, email, phone, age, availability. There is no letter field. Do not hunt for a careers@ address and send an essay. Fill the fields honestly. Walk-in clipboards and QR codes at the service desk work the same way: three lines for “why this job,” not a printed packet.
If the same flow has a short “tell us about yourself” box, paste the proof paragraph plus hours. Do not paste the header block or a parent-written page. The box is the letter, compressed — not a second document.
Failure mode: uploading a decorated letter the portal stores as an image — export a text PDF. Another miss: writing “open anytime” after you checked only Saturday on the form. Screeners compare the two. LinkedIn Easy Apply and some chain Quick Apply buttons hide the letter on purpose. That is a skip, not a prompt to message the district manager.
Key Takeaway: upload a one-page PDF in Workday or Greenhouse only when a letter field exists and you have new facts; skip the five-field form.
What should I leave out?
| Leave out | Why |
|---|---|
| Salary demands | Hourly jobs post the rate; arguing it in paragraph one stalls the hire |
| Jokes, slang, emoji | The letter is a writing sample even for a stockroom job |
| Invented job titles | A manager will ask; lying ends the interview |
| Social handles unless they asked | Unrelated feeds are a risk, not a credential |
| Complaints about school or a last job | You are asking them to trust you with a till or a customer |
| IEP or medical detail they did not ask for | Schedule limits belong as hours you can work, not a diagnosis |
Also leave out a photo, your Social Security number, and a parent’s argument about why you “deserve a chance.” List your number first if a parent phone is backup. Age belongs only when the form asks, or when you are 14–15 and will bring working papers.
Key Takeaway: if you would not say it to the manager in person, delete it.
Limits of a teen letter
This will not work when the employer only takes walk-in applications or a QR-code form with no file upload. It also fails if you copy a template and leave another store’s name in the first line — that happens more than teens expect.
Paper applications at a mall kiosk still happen. If they hand you a clipboard with three lines for “why you want this job,” write the same facts as the letter: location, one proof, hours. Do not attach a printed two-page essay to a walk-in form. If they ask you to email a manager after the clipboard, send the one-page version, not a new longer draft.
Keep the letter on one page; extra pages are for other audiences. See when a second page is actually allowed . A letter will not fix a Friday-night lie, a fake employer, or a resume the portal cannot parse.
Ask a counselor or a parent to proofread when English is not your first language or when the job is at a hospital, camp, or anywhere that runs background checks. Do not pay an “expert” to write a letter in a voice that is not yours.
When the resume that travels with the letter is ready, build a plain one-page file in HireFlow’s free builder rather than a decorated template that will not paste into Workday or Greenhouse.
Key Takeaway: a short honest letter plus a real schedule beats a parent-written executive essay.
Frequently asked questions
Only if the form has a field or the manager asked for one. If there is a box, use it for availability and one proof of reliability. Skip when the only option is a five-field web form.
One page, usually 200 to 300 words. Three short paragraphs is enough: why this shop, two proof points, availability and a polite close. Hiring managers for teen roles are not reading a memoir.
Use school, sports, clubs, volunteering, babysitting, lawn care, or tutoring. Name what you did, who it helped, and one number you can defend. Do not invent an employer.
Only if the posting asks, or if it is strong and the role is tutoring, office help, or library work. Otherwise put GPA on the resume and use the letter for reliability and schedule. A 4.0 does not prove you can bag groceries on a Saturday.
Parents can proofread. The voice has to sound like you. Write a draft, then ask an adult to check spelling — not to rewrite it as a press release.
“Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear [Store Name] Team” is fine. Calling the location to ask who hires is optional extra credit for local shops. Avoid “To Whom It May Concern.”
Federal rules differ by age. The US Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet 43 limits 14- and 15-year-olds (outside agriculture) to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, among other clocks. At 16, federal hour limits drop for non-hazardous jobs, but state rules can still be stricter. Check both.
Only if the portal shows a letter field and you can add hours plus one proof that the form does not already capture. Workday and Greenhouse store the PDF; they do not score teen letters. Skip the upload when the apply is a five-field web form with no letter slot.
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