by Managers hiring high school students at grocery stores, restaurants, camps, and shops check 3 things: when you can legally work, whether you'll show up, and whether you'll be pleasant with customers. A cover letter can prove all 3 without a single previous job.
Those employers hire a lot of young workers. In July 2026, 25% of employed 16- to 24-year-olds worked in leisure and hospitality and another 18% worked in retail, per BLS. The manager reading your letter has probably trained dozens of first-time employees, so they know what a good one looks like on paper: exact availability, a record of keeping commitments, and an adult who'll vouch for you.
What to include
| Element | What it looks like for a high school student |
|---|---|
| Grade, school, and age | "I'm a 16-year-old junior at Franklin High School" |
| The exact job | Position title and store location from the posting |
| Availability | Days and hours, matched to what's legal for your age |
| Work permit | "I have my work permit" if your state requires one |
| Transportation | How far you live, or how you'll get there |
| Reliability proof | Attendance record, years in a sport, band, or club |
| Responsibility proof | Babysitting, pet sitting, lawn mowing, sibling care |
| Useful skills | Math class, a second language, a POS or spreadsheet unit |
| Certifications | CPR, first aid, lifeguard, food handler card |
| Reference | A teacher, coach, or boss from volunteering, with a phone number |
Hours rules and work permits for workers under 18
Get your availability right before you write it. A manager can't schedule you for hours the law doesn't allow, and a letter that offers illegal shifts tells them you haven't checked.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 14 is the minimum age for most jobs outside agriculture. The rules for 14- and 15-year-olds are strict:
| Rule for ages 14 and 15 | Federal limit |
|---|---|
| School day (including Fridays) | 3 hours max |
| School week | 18 hours max |
| Non-school day | 8 hours max |
| Non-school week | 40 hours max |
| Time of day | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., outside school hours |
| Summer (June 1 to Labor Day) | Evening limit moves to 9 p.m. |
At 16 and 17, federal law puts no limit on hours. You still can't work in the jobs the Department of Labor lists as hazardous, such as operating most power-driven machinery. For 14- and 15-year-olds, the DOL lists cashiering, bagging groceries, stocking shelves, and office work as allowed jobs, with limits on cooking.
Your state can be stricter, and when it is, the stricter rule applies. That often means earlier cutoffs on school nights.
Federal law has no work permit requirement, so permits are a state matter. The DOL's state table shows Pennsylvania requiring an employment certificate for anyone under 18, issued through schools, while Illinois requires one for workers under 16. Ask your school counselor's office how it works where you live, and get the permit before you apply if you can. "I already have my work permit" is a strong line in a first paragraph.
How to structure it
Keep it to 4 short paragraphs. The whole letter should fit on half a page to one page.
Opening: who you are and when you can work
Name the job, your grade and school, and your availability in the first 3 sentences. Give real hours ("weekdays 4 to 9 p.m. and all day Saturday") and mention your permit and transportation. A manager filling evening and weekend shifts may decide to call you based on this paragraph alone.
Proof: school, sports, and responsibility
Replace job history with things you've kept doing. Attendance, practice schedules, and caring for younger kids all show the same trait a manager needs: you show up when people count on you.
Pick 2 or 3 examples and give each a number. "Missed 2 days of school in 3 years" and "4 years of varsity soccer with 6 a.m. summer practices" say more than "responsible and hardworking."
Fit: why this place
Give 1 honest reason you picked this employer. You shop there, your friend works there and likes the manager, you've been going to that camp since you were 8. Add any skill that matches the job, such as math for a cashier or Spanish for a store with Spanish-speaking customers.
Close: reference and interview times
Name an adult reference with a phone number, say when you're free to interview, and thank them. If you plan to drop the letter off in person, say you'd be glad to stop by.
High school student cover letter example
Tyler is 16 and applying for his first job, a part-time cashier position at a grocery store near his house.
Dear Mr. Kowalski,
I'm a 16-year-old junior at Franklin High School applying for the part-time cashier position at Value Fresh Market. This would be my first job. I have my work permit, I live 4 blocks from the store, and I can work weekdays from 4 to 9 p.m. and all day Saturday.
I don't have job history yet, so here's my record of showing up. I've missed 2 days of school in 3 years. I've played trumpet in the marching band since freshman year, which means 6 a.m. practices in August and staying through every Friday game, including the ones we lost 42 to 3. For the past 2 years I've watched my 8-year-old twin brothers every day after school until my mom gets home at 6. I've learned to stay calm when 2 people need different things loudly at the same time. I'm told cashier work involves less shouting.
I'm good with numbers (I'm taking pre-calculus and have a B+), and I learned our band's online uniform checkout system in 1 afternoon when the equipment manager asked for help. My family shops at Value Fresh every Sunday, so I already know where most things are when customers ask.
My band director, Mr. Ruiz, has agreed to be a reference and will confirm the showing-up part. You can reach him at (555) 204-8871. I'm available for an interview any weekday after 3:30 p.m. Thank you for considering me.
Sincerely,
Tyler Nguyen
(555) 882-4471 | tyler.nguyen@email.com
Why this example works
- The first paragraph answers the scheduling questions. Permit, a 4-block commute, and exact hours that cover the evening and Saturday shifts stores hire teens for. Because Tyler is 16, those hours are legal under federal law.
- Every proof point has a number: 2 missed days in 3 years, 6 a.m. practices, 2 years of daily sibling care. A manager can picture each one.
- The joke about shouting is short and comes after the proof, so it reads as personality, and the letter still sounds like a teenager wrote it.
- "I already know where most things are" turns being a regular customer into a job skill a manager can use on day 1.
- The reference has a name, a role, and a phone number. The manager can check it in 3 minutes.
Adjusting for your situation
You're 14 or 15
Your hours are limited by federal law, so offer the exact hours you can work and nothing more. Retail and food service managers who hire 14- and 15-year-olds know the rules and will respect that you do too. Summer is your best season, since the evening limit moves to 9 p.m. and you can work up to 40 hours a week.
I'm 15 and a freshman at Oakdale High School. During the school year I can work up to 3 hours on weekday afternoons, until 7 p.m., and up to 8 hours on Saturdays or Sundays. From June through August I can work up to 40 hours a week and stay until 9 p.m. My school has already issued my work permit.
Summer camp, pool, or rec program
Put your experience with kids first and list certifications by name. Camps and pools often need them before your first shift. The American Red Cross lets you take its lifeguarding course if you'll be 15 by the last day of class and can pass a swim test that starts with 300 yards of continuous swimming.
I'm 16 and hold American Red Cross Lifeguarding, CPR/AED, and First Aid certifications, earned in April. For 3 summers I've volunteered as a junior counselor at Pine Hollow Day Camp, where I helped run a group of 12 six-year-olds, handled sign-out at pickup, and taught the beginner swim group with the head counselor watching.
Internship or office job
Raise the formality a little. Swap the babysitting story for coursework or a school project you led, and name any software you've used. Internship coordinators want to see that you can finish a task without reminders.
I'm a senior taking AP Computer Science Principles and a business applications class where I built a budget spreadsheet in Excel with formulas for 14 expense categories. As treasurer of our 40-member Key Club, I track dues and fundraiser money in Google Sheets and report the balance at each monthly meeting.
If you're aiming at a tech internship later, our software developer intern interview questions show what those interviews cover.
Volunteer and sports experience only
Treat volunteer shifts as work. Give the organization, how long, how often, and what you did. For sports, give the practice schedule, since it shows you already plan your week around fixed hours.
I've volunteered at the Eastside Food Pantry every other Saturday for 18 months, sorting donations and restocking shelves during 4-hour shifts. I also play JV basketball, which means practice 5 days a week from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., so I'm used to planning homework around a fixed schedule.
Mistakes to avoid
- Apologizing for being young. "Although I don't have any experience…" starts the letter on your weakest point. Lead with your availability and proof.
- Writing "flexible" for availability. A student with school, homework, and a sport can't be fully flexible, and managers know it. Give hours.
- Offering hours you can't legally work. A 15-year-old who offers to close at 10 p.m. on school nights signals that nobody checked the rules.
- Copying adult templates. "Per my enclosed curriculum vitae" from a 16-year-old applying to scoop ice cream sounds strange. Write like a polite version of yourself.
- Letting a parent write it. Managers can tell. A slightly imperfect letter that's clearly yours reads better than a polished one that clearly isn't.
- Skipping the reference. A teacher, coach, or volunteer supervisor who'll take a call replaces work history. Ask first; most say yes.
- Using an email address you picked in 7th grade. Make a plain one with your name.
Before you send it
- Manager's name spelled right (ask the store if the posting doesn't say)
- Job title and store location matched to the posting
- Availability written as days and hours, checked against the rules for your age
- Work permit in hand or in progress, if your state requires one
- 2 or 3 proof points, each with a number
- Reference name, role, and phone number, with their permission
- Plain email address and a phone number you'll answer
- Read aloud once to catch typos
If you can, deliver it in person on a weekday afternoon, dressed a little nicer than the job requires, and ask for the manager by name. For the conversation that follows, practice with our fast food interview questions or retail interview questions. Coffee shop applicants can compare notes with our Starbucks barista cover letter, and more samples are in our cover letter examples.