Home Inspector Resume Example

After reading this guide, you'll know what it takes to create a resume that really stands out from other home inspector applicants. You'll learn how to show employers you've got the relevant qualities, skills and experience for the job, all presented in a format that employers prefer to see. The article also includes tips for formatting your resume according to your experience and strengths. Read on to learn how to write a perfect home inspector resume, from the advice of careers experts at Jobseeker.

Main sections of a home inspector resume

The key sections to include in a home inspector resume are similar to those for any role or profession. If you're an entry-level candidate without much work experience, that section may be less prominent in your resume. You may focus instead on sections that showcase your skill set, such as education, projects, hobbies and hard and soft skills lists.

How you choose to present your resume is up to you. There are plenty of options for a professional resume layout and format, but every application should include the following:

Header and Personal Information

A home inspector resume header contains your name and contact information. Add your first and last name, your phone number and your email address. Include your address or location, but avoid adding any other personal information. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can add the URL to your header so the hiring manager can get a better understanding of your work history and experience. Be aware of the amount of space your resume header takes up. You don't want your contact details to take space away from the main content of your resume, so keep this section as brief as possible.

Use an email address that's professional and appropriate for professional communication. Typically this would be an email address based on your first and last name, or your initials. If necessary, you could include your profession or another unique identifier. Avoid using old email addresses that could be considered unprofessional or inappropriate. Additionally, always check your contact details before sending your resume to ensure they're up-to-date.

Resume Summary

Your resume personal profile is a short, concise paragraph to highlight two or three key skills and achievements in home inspector roles. You may also see this section named as 'resume summary' or 'resume objective'. Resume summaries tend to focus on your career experience, while resume objectives cover your ambitions and plans for the future. However, make sure you keep your resume summary short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description.

Alternatively, you could use this section to reference your objectives and ambitions, and how this role would fit into your career journey.

A good resume summary is short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description, with evidence to back it up. It will also help the reader to form their first impressions of you by providing an insight into your personality and unique qualities. You can see some positive examples of a resume summary for home inspector jobs below.

Alternatively, a poor resume summary would include bland, generic information that does little to prove your suitability for the role, while failing to provide any useful insights on you as a person or as a candidate. The visual above includes some examples of what not to do with your home inspector resume summary

Skills

In your skills section, list any skills you've acquired or developed that are relevant to home inspector positions. Consider adding electrical systems inspection, attention to detail or any other necessary skills for the job. Again, include any skills that match those listed in the job description. Focus particularly on technical skills required for home inspector jobs and transferable skills that show your qualities as a home inspector.

Listing hard skills on your home inspector resume

Hard skills are specific skills related to the job you're applying for. They include particular abilities, technical skills and industry knowledge that relate directly to jobs as a home inspector. Furthermore, your list of hard skills provides a strong indication to the reader of your expertise in home inspector roles, and how well you'll fit into the position. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

For an effective resume hard skills section, focus on the technical skills that are most essential in the job description, and that match your specific expertise. Some examples of the best hard skills for a home inspector resume are listed below.

Showcasing your best soft skills

In your soft skills list, include any personal characteristics that make you a good fit for a home inspector job. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, but they're no less important. Indeed, as the nature of work changes, soft skills are growing in importance, so make sure you include them in your resume. It's best to aim for four or five soft skills that match the job description and reflect your strongest personal qualities.

An effective home inspector resume soft skills section should be targeted to include skills that reflect your personality and unique characteristics, while also matching the job description. The graphic below includes some examples of good resume soft skills.

Educational Achievements

Under education, add details of any degrees or professional qualifications relevant to home inspector roles.

Opportunities as a home inspector and similar roles in the sector usually require a specialist degree. If you have a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management degree, be sure to mention this in your resume. You might also want to list any qualifications that highlight your radon level testing or structural integrity assessment.

Include any qualifications relevant to the role. For each, add the name and level of the award, the institution name, its location and your dates of study. You can also add some bullet points outlining any high grades, awards you won or specialist subjects you studied. Adding this information will show the employer your dedication to learning and your areas of specialist knowledge.

Additionally, mentioning any leadership roles or any societies and clubs you participated in while studying shows proactivity and initiative.

Certifications and Training

Under certifications and licenses, add any further qualifications that show you're a good fit for the job. These could be professional accreditations and licenses, or certifications that improve your level of suitability for the position. Therefore, add any professional licenses or certifications, along with valid dates that show they're still valid.

Read on to see some relevant example certifications for a home inspector resume:

Work Experience

Next, list your relevant employment history and any key achievements that show you're suitable for a home inspector position. Add each previous employment in reverse-chronological order. This means starting from your current or most recent role and working back in time from there. Include your job title, the company name, the location of the job and your dates of employment.

Add some bullet points under each job entry, explaining your achievements in the role, so the reader can see how you contributed towards success for the company. Provide evidence of your impact and make sure each point addresses a requirement listed in the job description.

The best resume work experience sections focus only on the most relevant previous jobs, and link each bullet point back to a skill or experience listed in the job description. It's also critical to provide evidence that shows the value you added to each role in a quantifiable way, such as project outcomes, key performance indicators or feedback from customers, colleagues or managers. See the examples below for some ideas of what a great resume work experience looks like.

In the graphic above, you'll see some examples of less effective resume work experience sections. A bad resume work experience section might fail to address skills and achievements that relate directly to the job description. Falling back on clichés, vague descriptions and basic responsibilities, rather than showing the impact you made, is likely to disengage the reader.

Optional Resume Sections

To provide further information on your suitability for the role, you could add some optional sections to a home inspector resume. Choose optional sections from the list below, if they help to showcase your relevant skills and experience.

Hobbies and Interests

Listing your hobbies and interests can reveal key qualities that some employers may value. Your hobbies and interests are useful for a home inspector resume if you want to show a different side to your personality, or to stand out among other candidates. They can also be valuable if you're a junior candidate without much relevant work experience. Think about adding hobbies and interests to your resume if they add some insight into your personality that you can't express elsewhere in your application.

Voluntary Work

Listing volunteer work is another useful way to prove your relevant experience for home inspector roles. List your volunteer job title, the organization you volunteered for, its location and the dates of your involvement, alongside a brief explanation of your responsibilities in the role.

References

References aren't a standard home inspector resume section, but employers do sometimes ask for them. Check the job advert and only include them if requested. Before adding any referees to your resume, ask them for their assistance and prepare them for contact by the employer.

Best words to use in a home inspector resume

Start each bullet point in your work experience section with a strong verb to show actions you took. Choose from the list of words below to increase the impact of your work experience section.

If you want to create a resume that stands out from the crowd, use Jobseeker's expert-designed resume templates. You can also find cover letter templates that work to get you noticed by employers.

Example of a home inspector resume

The home inspector resume example below includes all the sections above, so you can see how a completed resume looks:

Making an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters and employers to streamline their hiring process. They can store and process data, including applications and applicant data, quickly and efficiently. One of the jobs ATS applications are increasingly responsible for is initial candidate screening. The systems can quickly scan and rank resumes based on how closely they match the job description. There are several things you can do when writing your home inspector resume, to give yourself the strongest chance of ranking highly in the ATS stage and progressing through the recruitment process.

Follow these guidelines to create the best ATS-friendly resume:

• Choose a resume structure that matches the traditional, reverse-chronological layout or alternatively, the functional resume structure. This should make your resume more readable for ATS applications.
• Add keywords that match the job description throughout your resume, as ATS applications scan for these and well-placed, considered use can help your resume rank more highly.
• Include clear headings that make it easy to identify each section of your resume. This will help any ATS software navigate your resume during the scanning process.
• Utilize a clean, clear resume design that helps make your content more readable. Use simple fonts and subtle color accents and design elements that don't detract from the written content.
• Make sure your resume is as concise as possible, so ATS applications can easily scan and identify the required details.

Takeaways for a winning home inspector resume

Writing a strong, impactful resume is about using your experience to demonstrate your relevant skills and achievements. You can do this through your work history or other resume sections. Choose a resume structure that makes the most of your relevant experience, whether through work or other activities, and be sure to tailor your resume to match the job description.

HR-approved resume templates and other tools by Jobseeker are the easiest way to create a winning job application. Sign up and follow the simple instructions to complete a resume that stands out from the crowd. To make the best possible impression with your applications, write a cover letter with the help of Jobseeker. You can also find plenty of expert-designed cover letter examples for inspiration.

Sources:

(1) Writing a Resume, California Department of Human Resources: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/resume-tips.aspx

(2) Resumes, Cover Letters and Job Applications, New York State Department of Labor: https://dol.ny.gov/resumes-cover-letters-and-job-applications