Ensure your CV format is structured to best highlight your unique experience and life situation.
Lifeguard CV template (text format)
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Reliable Lifeguard with 3+ years of experience, a strong swimming ability, and a passion for ensuring water safety. Skilled in pool surveillance, emergency response, and providing excellent customer service to swimmers of all ages and abilities. Team-oriented with well-developed interpersonal skills and a flexible approach to working in a fast-paced leisure environment. Seeking to join Eastwood Leisure Centre as a Lifeguard, bringing a strong commitment to safety and customer experience.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Forest Hill Leisure Centre, London
Lifeguard, December 20XX–present
- Supervise pool areas to ensure safety of 100+ guests per day
- Perform rescues and administer first aid/CPR when required
- Engage with customers, ensuring a safe and welcoming environment
- Enforce pool regulations and educate visitors on water safety
- Support the wider leisure centre team with operational tasks
Everyone Active, Maidenhead
Assistant Lifeguard, May 20XX–November 20XX
- Assisted lifeguards in monitoring swimmers and maintaining a safe environment
- Provided customer service and responded to guest queries
- Helped maintain cleanliness and organisation of the pool area
- Completed in-house training on emergency procedures and water safety
EDUCATION
National Pool Lifeguard Qualification – Certified: 20XX
Royal Life Saving Society UK
First Aid at Work Certification – Certified: 20XX
St John Ambulance
KEY SKILLS
- Water safety and rescue procedures
- Strong swimmer
- First aid
- Customer service
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
- Freediving and scuba diving
- Cross country
How to write a lifeguard CV
Lifeguarding is a rewarding yet demanding job that requires more than just physical fitness. Quick decision making, constant vigilance, and first aid skills are key requirements for most roles.
If you want to land a great lifeguard job, these tips can help you write a CV that highlights your relevant qualifications and skills.
1. Write a strong personal statement
The most critical details in a lifeguard’s personal statement are any required certifications (e.g., the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification), and any key achievement that demonstrates your most relevant skills in action.
This example statement by an experienced lifeguard does a great job of highlighting both details:
NPLQ-certified lifeguard with 3 years’ experience ensuring pool safety and enforcing regulations. Skilled in incident prevention, emergency response, and customer service. Successfully reduced poolside incidents by 30% at Thornwarpe Leisure Centre through proactive monitoring. Dedicated to maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for all swimmers.
Don’t worry about highlighting soft skills like vigilance, quick decision-making, or strong communication at this point on your application. While these are important traits, it’s better to demonstrate them in your work experience section or when you write your cover letter.
If you don’t have any experience yet, briefly outline why you’re applying for the position. Motivation statements personalise your CV, emphasising your enthusiasm for the specific job opportunity. Here’s a good example of a personal statement from a CV with no direct work experience:
NPLQ-certified lifeguard with strong swimming ability and a keen eye for safety. Developed teamwork and communication skills in a fast-paced retail environment at JD Sports. Passionate about pool safety and keen to start a career in lifeguarding, combining my training with my ability to stay calm under pressure.
2. Identify the right skills for your lifeguard CV
Keep your skills section to a concise, bulleted list, ideally 5–7 relevant skills.
Each skill should be short and specific—there’s no need for full sentences or explanations, as the work experience section can provide context.
The most effective skills to include are core lifeguarding competencies that hiring managers look for:
- Surveillance & hazard awareness
- Emergency response
- CPR & first aid
- Strong swimming ability
- Communication & teamwork
- Conflict resolution
Remember to keep it focused and descriptive so employers can skim your skills list for key details.
3. Write a results-focused work experience section
Describe each job in your work experience section in 3–5 bullet points, the first of which should briefly summarise your role.
You should keep this bullet point concise. Focus on specific duties without repeating anything too obvious (e.g., ‘watched over swimmers to ensure safety’).
Use the remaining bullet points to focus on noteworthy achievements. Here are a few examples most leisure centre employers will be interested in:
- Safety enforcement – How you maintained a secure environment (e.g., “Consistently enforced pool safety rules, reducing incidents by X%”).
- Emergency response – Any real-life incidents where you had to act fast (e.g., “Performed CPR on a swimmer, stabilising them until paramedics arrived”).
- Training & leadership – If you trained junior lifeguards or led safety drills.
- Customer service – Any experience handling complaints or helping guests.
- Efficiency improvements – Anything that made pool operations smoother, like streamlining safety checks.
And here are a few examples taken from a lifeguard CV work experience section. Notice how the applicant has included strong action verbs, clear results, and in one case, a quantifiable impact:
- Performed daily pool surveillance, enforcing safety regulations and reducing rule violations by 30%
- Responded to 10+ emergency situations, applying CPR and first aid to ensure swimmer safety
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