Summer job CV: example and tips

What employers look for in summer staff

Summer jobs exist in many industries: shops, cafes, warehouses, hotels, customer service, parks and local councils, and health and care services. The employer needs to cover the holidays of the permanent staff, and wants people who turn up, learn quickly and take responsibility from day one. Job ads often use words such as “reliable”, “flexible”, “service minded”, “eager to learn” and “able to work the whole summer”.

Large employers use applicant tracking systems for summer jobs too. Use the same words as the ad where they match what you have done. If the ad says “customer service”, write about the time you served customers in the kiosk at your sports club, not just “sociable”. Selja finds the words in the ad and places them where they fit. Our guide to an ATS-friendly CV explains how these systems read your CV. Most ads in Norway are in Norwegian, so it helps to know terms such as sommerjobb (summer job), sommervikar (summer temp) and kundeservice (customer service). These words come up again and again in summer job ads:

• Reliable, responsible and punctual.
• Service minded and good at working with others.
• Eager to learn and solution oriented.
• Flexible, able to work evenings and weekends.
• Available for a specific period, for example weeks 26 to 33.
• Category B driving licence, if the job involves driving.
• Norwegian and English, and other languages.

Rules for young people: age, working hours and employment contract

If you are under 18, special rules in the Working Environment Act apply, and the employer needs to know your age to follow them. So include your year of birth or age in your CV if you are under 18. According to Arbeidstilsynet, you can do light work from the age of 13, for example delivering newspapers or simple office and shop work. If you are under 15 or still at lower secondary school, you need written consent from your parents or guardians.

Working hours are also limited. If you are under 15 or at lower secondary school, you can work at most 7 hours a day and 35 hours a week during school holidays of at least one week. If you are between 15 and 18 and have finished lower secondary school, the limit is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, for all jobs combined. Under 18 you cannot work overtime, and night work is generally not allowed. Some jobs have a higher age limit: for example, you must be 18 to sell alcohol or tobacco.

Everyone must have a written employment contract, including for short summer jobs. If the job lasts less than a month, the contract must be ready before you start. Some jobs require a police certificate, for example in a kindergarten, where everyone who is employed must show one before starting, even for short temporary jobs (udir.no). And remember your tax card: according to Skatteetaten, the limit for a tax exemption card is 100,000 kroner in 2026, and if you earn more you must order a tax card to avoid 50 percent being deducted from the amount above the limit.

Example of a summary for a summer job CV

The summary is two to four sentences at the top of your CV. When you have little experience, this is where you say who you are, what you are good at and what you are looking for. Here is a made up example you can use as a pattern:

Example: “Second year upper secondary student, 17, looking for a summer job in a shop or customer service. Has two years of experience in the kiosk at my football club, where I was responsible for the till and ordering stock on match days, and babysits regularly for two families. Reliable and cheerful, and has never missed a shift in the kiosk. Available for the whole period from week 26 to week 32, including evenings and weekends.”

Replace the details with your own, and only write what you can say more about in an interview. You will find more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points from school and free time: weak versus strong

You do not need work experience to write strong bullet points. Experience from school, sport, positions of responsibility, volunteering and odd jobs counts, as long as you say what you did and what it achieved. Start with a verb and include a number or a sense of scale: how often, how many, how long.

• Weak: “Have worked in a kiosk.” Strong: “Ran the kiosk at 15 home matches during the season, responsible for the till and cashing up after the match.”
• Weak: “Babysitter.” Strong: “Have been a regular babysitter for two families for three years, responsible for pick ups, dinner and bedtime.”
• Weak: “Coach.” Strong: “Coach a handball team of 14 girls aged 10 twice a week, together with another coach.”
• Weak: “Paper round.” Strong: “Delivered newspapers to 120 households every morning before school for two years, without complaints.”
• Weak: “Student council.” Strong: “Sat on the student council and planned a fundraiser that raised 18,000 kroner for a local organisation.”
• Weak: “Summer job last year.” Strong: “Worked six weeks in a warehouse for a building supplies chain, and was offered the chance to come back the next summer.”

What to include in a summer job CV

When your experience is short, the other parts of the CV become more important. Keep it to one page, and include the following:

• Contact details: name, phone number, a sensible email address and where you live.
• A short summary of what you are looking for and when you can work.
• Education: school, programme and year, and subjects or projects that fit the job.
• Experience: part time jobs, previous summer jobs, odd jobs, positions of responsibility and volunteering.
• Courses and certificates: first aid, driving licence, forklift training or other courses.
• Skills and languages: for example Excel, social media, till systems, Norwegian and English.
• References: a coach, teacher or former boss who can speak about you, or “available on request”.

Your first summer job, or you have had several

If you are applying for your first summer job, it is completely normal for the experience section to be short. Call the section “Experience” rather than “Work experience”, so that the kiosk, voluntary work, coaching and babysitting all fit in. Apply for many jobs, and apply early: many employers advertise summer jobs early in the year. Our guide to a CV for recent graduates has more advice on a CV with little experience, and our guide to internship vs summer job helps you choose.

If you have had summer jobs before, they are your best cards. Say what you learnt and what responsibility you were given, and mention it if you were asked to come back. If you are a student, a summer job can be a step towards the job you want after your studies. Choose jobs that resemble what you want to do, and read our guide on relevant work experience as a student. If you are applying to shops, our shop assistant CV guide has more examples.

Common mistakes in a summer job CV

Most mistakes in a summer job CV are easy to fix. Ask an adult or a friend to read it before you send it, and look out for these in particular:

• No information about when you can work.
• An informal email address or a missing phone number.
• Qualities without examples, such as “cheerful, conscientious and sociable”.
• Spelling mistakes, which give a careless impression.
• The same CV and cover letter for every job, even though a cafe and a warehouse look for different things.
• A CV that is too long. One page is enough.

Apply for more summer jobs in less time with Selja

It pays to apply for many summer jobs, but tailoring your CV and cover letter to each ad takes time. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have. In under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job, with the words from the ad where they match what you have done. If you do not have a CV yet, make a first version using the layout above, and let Selja tailor it to each job.

Selja never adds experience you do not have. If the ad asks for something your CV does not show, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. In the app you can also see open positions from arbeidsplassen.no and apply directly. It is free to start: check your CV for free, or take a free ATS check against the ad. Pro costs 249 kroner for one month, and you can cancel whenever you like. See pricing.

The application and next steps

Many summer jobs only require a CV and a short cover letter, often in an online form. Say why you want to work there, what you can contribute and which weeks you can work. Five to ten sentences is enough. See our example of a job application for a template you can build on.

If you are invited to an interview, prepare a couple of examples: a time you took responsibility, and a time you helped someone. Practise with the interview questions, and read preparing for a job interview. If you are wondering what you should be paid, the free pay check shows figures from Statistics Norway (SSB), and the hourly pay calculator converts between hourly and monthly pay.