Lifeguard Resume: Free Sample & Top Tips

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As a Lifeguard, you need to have the necessary skills and experience to be able to save anyone from danger in the water. Has it been difficult preparing your resume for the deep end? Use our tailored resume template and get your resume to stand out to job recruiters.

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You’re prepared to enter the job market and find your next role as a lifeguard. Before you dive headfirst into it, though, you must first learn how to write a lifeguard resume that stands out from the crowd.

A career as a lifeguard prioritizes safety and vigilance, and you must be able to show how committed you are about your duty. Fortunately, your sharp eye and attention to detail should prove useful when it comes to crafting your own lifeguard resume.

This guide goes through each aspect of your lifeguard resume and includes samples, templates and useful hints to help you understand how to:

• Analyze a sample lifeguard resume and use it as a reference point
• Tailor your lifeguard resume to match a company’s job description
• List your soft and hard skills on a lifeguard resume the right way
• Differentiate between the right and wrong examples on a lifeguard resume
• Let your personality shine through in your lifeguard resume

Take a look at this lifeguard resume sample so that you get an idea of what a strong, compelling resume looks like. You can always use it as a point of reference when going through the rest of this guide.

Resume Example

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[Zac Bolton]

[Lifeguard]

[24 Cherry Ridge, Baywatch Beach, CA 93657  |   614-577-2487   |   boltonzac@gmail.com]

Summary

ARC- and ALA-certified lifeguard with over 5 years experience ensuring that all visitors to the pool have a pleasant and safe swimming experience in all environments. Dedicated to maintaining swimmer safety protocol, enforcing facility regulations, and understanding the significance of this role. In possession of additional certifications in CPR, AED and BLS.

Experience

Lifeguard

Stockley Park Club

2018 – 2022

• Supervised heavy-traffic pool five days a week while providing rule enforcement and rescue services to swimmers of all ages.
• Enforced both facility swimming and safety rules for guests in both adult and children pools.
• Performed routine checks and maintenance on swimming equipment to ensure safety and hygiene standards were maintained.
• Communicated emerging safety issues to club management while coordinating further resolution.

Swimming Instructor

Stockley Park Club Pool

2016 – 2018

• Conducted and coordinated weekly swimming lessons for children ages 6-18.
• Monitored swimming areas to ensure safety protocols and other pool rules were followed.
• Developed a swimming lesson rewards program to incentivize regular attendance and motivate children to learn more about water safety.

Education 

BS in Sports Science

Lakefield Community College, CA

2016 – 2019

• Honors: Graduated magna cum laude with a 3.65 GPA
• Swim Team Captain, 2017-19
• Provided lifeguarding to primary schoolers
• Relevant Coursework: Sports Science, Sports Psychology

Skills

• Soft skills: Alertness, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Physical Fitness, Adaptability, Communication
• Hard skills: Strong Swimming Ability, Swimmer Identification and Rescue, Weather Forecasting, Risk Assessment, First Aid, CPR/AED/BLS Certified

Certifications

• Pool Lifeguard Certification, American Lifeguard Association (2018)
• Beach Lifeguard License, American Red Cross (2018)

Additional Activities

• Placed 7th in Swimathon Cross Country Marathon (2017)
• Participated in annual 30-mile swim by APL (2014-2017)

The first thing you’ll want to do is lay everything out in an organized manner before actually putting anything down on your resume. 

This includes a few basic rules of thumb that will make up the general blueprint of your lifeguard resume.

For example, a one-page resume length is the industry standard, so this is something you’ll want to stick to. 

Here are a few other essential things you should include in your lifeguard resume that any prospective employer will want to know about you:

• Personal and contact information like phone number, email and address
• A resume summary or a resume objective
• Your experience, certifications and qualifications 
• Your skill set – both soft and hard skills
• Any extra information that shows why you’re a good fit for the role

Another gold standard of resume-making is the reverse-chronological format. What this means is that for each section in your resume, you will list out your most recent experience, achievement or qualification, followed by your next most recent one, and so on.

For example, if you worked at Company A from 2016 to 2018, and then worked at Company B from 2018 to 2020, you’ll want to list your experience at Company B first.

This makes structuring your lifeguard resume simple, organized and easy to navigate for the reader.

Here are a few more things to take note of when drafting your lifeguard resume:

• Fonts: 
  • Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana and Georgia are some great fonts you can use for your lifeguard resume. These fonts perform the function of the ideal resume font – clean, professional and easy to read. Of course, you can personalize your resume with a font so that your personality comes through a little bit, but it should never take away from the main purpose of your resume.

• Margins: 
  • For your lifeguard resume, a standard 1” margin is enough. It’s not too much nor too little and still keeps your resume clean and accessible.

• Line spacing: 
  • If you’re an entry-level applicant without much experience, you can opt for double line spacing if your content isn’t filling the page out enough. Apart from this, a standard single line spacing is appropriate for most cases.

• Images: 
  • As a lifeguard, a simple, professional image of yourself in one of the top corners of your resume should be enough. Even then, it’s generally advisable to not include any pictures of any sort on your resume, as this can take up valuable space for other information that is more important to include.

• File type: 
  • Once you’re happy with your lifeguard resume, save it as a PDF file. This is the file format you’ll be sending your resume in, unless the employer has asked for anything else. The PDF format helps maintain consistency across the board and helps the reader view your resume exactly how you intended them to.

Before you read on, be sure to check out our amazing resume templates which are easy to use while also being easy on the eye. Any of these templates can be used to make the perfect lifeguard resume!

Your resume summary or resume objective is like the temperature of the water when you first dip your toes in: it immediately gives you an idea of what you’re in for, and it could make or break your experience.

As a result, regardless of whichever you end up writing, your lifeguard resume summary or objective should glow on the page. A resume summary or resume objective provides an overview of both you as an individual and your resume.

A resume summary is more suited to those who have a few years of experience under their belt along with a fair few certifications and achievements. 

A resume objective is ideal for entry-level candidates because it focuses on your skillset and shows prospective recruiters how those skills can help them.

Lifeguard Resume Summary Example

A resume summary serves as your resume’s elevator pitch. It tells the viewer what they can expect from the resume itself, but also what they can expect from you.

The more specific details and examples you can list, the better. Of course, you don’t want to let things become too cluttered, so focus on what matters the most.

We’ve prepared some lifeguard resume summary examples that are both weak and strong to demonstrate how real examples of your accomplishments could create a great final result.

Take note of how the right example seems more detailed and gives the impression that the applicant knows what they’re doing. The poor example, on the other hand, seems lacking and is likely to leave a recruiter wanting to know more.

How to Write an Entry-Level Lifeguard Resume Objective

As an entry-level applicant, it’s unlikely that you have years of experience or a plethora of achievements under your belt. This is why a resume objective may be the best option for you.

A resume objective on your lifeguard resume looks to provide value to an employer as it will emphasize the skills you can offer which coincide with what they’re looking for.

In order to write a compelling lifeguard resume objective, it’s important to focus on the role’s requirements in the job description. 

For example, if the company is looking for a lifeguard who can watch over children in smaller pools, and you happen to have this skill, then it’s important for you to emphasize that and cater to that specific job requirement despite lacking tons of experience.

When looking for jobs, carefully read the job description to see what the role requires and whether it’s a position that suits you. If you have the skills that match the job description, you already have a head start.

Entry-Level Lifeguard Resume Objectives

Here are a couple of examples of entry-level lifeguard resume objectives. As you can see, the weaker example gives a basic overview of the applicant’s experience and qualifications, but doesn’t go into much detail.

The right example, on the other hand, is well-worded and considered while still giving plenty of information to a recruiter about how the applicant ticks all of the boxes for the role.

The experience section on a lifeguard resume is extremely important. This is the section where you can show your experience and achievements.

You’ll want to describe your experiences in a way that improves your chances of progressing to the interview round, so make sure you emphasize your best accomplishments.

Lifeguard Resume Examples: Experience

Take a look at two examples of experience sections on a lifeguard resume.

As you can see, the first example is lacking in detail. The latter provides a more in-depth profile of your experience and comes across as more professional.

Entry-Level Lifeguard Resume: Experience Section

Here are another two examples of entry-level experience sections for a lifeguard resume that demonstrate it’s totally possible to create a stellar lifeguard resume with no experience.

This part may very well be the simplest section for you to put together on your lifeguard resume. It is a straightforward listing of any degrees and diplomas you might have. If you haven’t graduated high school yet, just write down your school’s name and the expected date of graduation.

A lifeguard certification or license is required in most states. Different kinds of lifeguards should also receive specialized training.

Be sure to include all information of certifications in CPR, AED, BLS and first aid as part of your training program in your lifeguard resume’s education area.

Here’s a list of necessary traits and requirements needed by the American Pool Lifeguards, including daily responsibilities, closing duties and lots of other things you should know. It’s quite informative.

Lifeguard Resume Education Section

Study these examples so that you know how to list your resume’s education section.

This is one of the most important sections on your lifeguard resume. You’ll need to include two sets of skills – soft skills and hard skills. 

Soft skills are skills that are more generic and suit a wide range of jobs, while hard skills are more specific to your role as lifeguard and are skills that are usually picked up on the job.

Some examples of lifeguard skills for resume building are listed below:

While a good lifeguard resume includes all the sections we’ve just covered, the best lifeguard resume is usually one that goes above and beyond.

That means creating a mixologist resume with “Other” sections, or additional sections that add more details to your resume.

Lifeguard Resume Sample “Other” Sections

As an aspiring lifeguard, adding “Other” sections serve as a bonus for any job recruiter and show that you are willing to go out your way to add value – a key quality that is sure to be noticed.

Here’s a brief example of an “Other” section that you can add to your lifeguard resume.

Here are some other things you can list out in your “Other” section, apart from Certifications and Additional Activities:

• Volunteering
• Licenses
• Awards or honors
• Hobbies
• Memberships
• Exercise

In this guide, we’ve discussed all you need to know to craft the best job application as possible for a lifeguard position, including: 

• A lifeguard resume should include important sections like education, experience, skills and other sections. A lifeguard resume template can aid in organizing and structuring these sections.
• A lifeguard resume should start off with a resume summary or resume objective, depending on the applicant’s level of experience and expertise.
• Add specialized lifeguard resume skills like CPR, AED, BLS and first aid to your application. This helps you ensure you show you have both the qualifications and required training necessary for a lifeguard on a resume.
• The structure of your resume matters. Keep it organized, professional and clean, and don’t forget to use tidy fonts and a reverse-chronological format.
• Customize your language for each specific job according to the lifeguard resume job description to increase your chances of landing an interview.

If you need more help with that last point, we’ve got you covered! Head over to our easy-to-use resume builder and you’ll have the perfect lifeguard resume in just a matter of minutes.