Landscaping Resume Example

After reading this article, you'll feel confident creating a landscaping resume that effectively showcases your relevant skills and experience. The guide will show you practical examples of how to structure your resume to show off your best and most relevant skills and career achievements. It will also show you how to tailor your resume according to the job description and your unique skill set. Read on to access expert insights from Jobseeker that will help you create a winning landscaping resume.

Core sections to include in a landscaper resume

The key sections to include in a landscaping 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.

You will have some choice over your resume layout and structure, but be sure to include these sections as the core of your document:

Resume Header

Your landscaping resume header is the place to add your contact details. Start by adding your full name and underneath, include your email address, phone number and location. Adding your LinkedIn profile, if you have one, can help the employer get a better insight into your skills and industry expertise. You don't need to include any additional personal information or a photo. Make sure your resume header is as brief as possible and doesn't take up too much valuable space. Choose a clear, professional design that sets the tone for your application.

Make sure the email address you list in your header is professional-looking and doesn't contain any inappropriate content such as nicknames or unsuitable language. Opt for an email address based on your name or profession, or a combination of both. Finally, check your contact details before sending your resume, to ensure everything's up-to-date.

Resume Summary

Following your resume header, write a resume summary to introduce yourself and showcase some of your key skills and achievements. Alternative names for this section are 'resume objective' and 'personal profile'. While a resume summary focuses on your career experience, a resume objective covers your ambitions and career plans. Always make sure your summary reflects the job description and highlights some of the key skills required for landscaper roles.

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

A great resume summary should highlight why you're an ideal candidate for landscaper roles by showing key skills and qualities that reflect the job description and provide evidence to support them. It should also introduce your personality and unique qualities to the reader, to help them start to form an opinion about you as a candidate. See below for some great examples of how to approach your landscaping resume.

Conversely, a bad resume summary might be too generic, lacking focus on the specifics of the job description. It will also fail to provide any useful insights on what makes you a unique candidate. See above for some examples of things to avoid when writing your landscaping resume summary.

Skills

In your skills section, list any skills you've acquired or developed that are relevant to landscaper positions. Consider adding landscape design software, 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 landscaper jobs and transferable skills that show your qualities as a landscaper.

Highlighting your hard skills

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 landscaper. Furthermore, these skills are essential for a landscaping resume as they showcase your expertise in the field. It's best to aim for four or five key hard skills that match the job description. These can really showcase your suitability for the job.

You'll make more impact with your resume hard skills list if you focus on technical skills that reflect your unique expertise and specialism, and that match the key requirements in the job description. See the graphic below for some tips on hard skills for a landscaping resume.

Adding soft skills to your landscaping resume

Your soft skills are the core qualities and personal characteristics that make you a good employee. They tend to apply to multiple professions and jobs, though the soft skills you'll require may change as you move from junior to senior positions. Indeed, without soft skills, you may struggle to adapt to landscaper roles or meet the standards expected of you. So make sure you include several key soft skills on your resume. In this section, add four of five transferable skills that match the job description.

An effective landscaping 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.

Education and Qualifications

In your education section, include details of your most relevant landscaper qualifications and educational achievements.

Typically, working as a landscaper requires a university or college degree, which you'll need to list on your resume. If you're working in this sector, it's usually a good idea to highlight your Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture degree or other relevant qualifications. Focus on qualifications that showcase your plant identification skills or irrigation system installation.

Enter the name and level of the qualification, the institution you studied at, its location and your dates of study or graduation. Include bullet points to show any specialist modules you studied, awards or exceptional grades and achievements that can set you apart from other candidates. These will all contribute to creating a positive impression on employers.

Membership or leadership of any societies, clubs or causes while studying can also make a positive impression on hiring managers. Consider adding these to your education section for more insight into how you used your time as a student.

Relevant Certifications and Licenses

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

Review the list below for some suitable certifications for a landscaping resume:

Employment History

In the next section, list your employment history focusing on the most relevant previous roles and achievements that showcase your landscaper skills. For each entry, list the job title, the name of the employer, its location and the dates you worked there. Add each job in reverse-chronological order, starting with your current or most recent role.

In addition, include a few bullet points under each job, highlighting your key achievements so the hiring manager can see how they led to successful outcomes. Back up each point with evidence to show how you meet the job description.

An effective resume work experience section is one that constantly echoes the skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you used your skills to positive effect in each job. Each bullet point should be carefully crafted to showcase a particular skill or achievement relevant to landscaper jobs, with evidence to show the value you added. See below for some good examples of what to include in your resume work experience section.

The example above can give you some idea of what not to include in your resume work experience section. Less effective resume work experience sections might take a more vague, descriptive approach to previous jobs. They focus on responsibilities and everyday duties rather than referencing career achievements and the value you've added for previous employers.

Optional Sections

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

Hobbies

Add any hobbies and interests that reinforce your credentials for the position. These are particularly useful for your resume if you're short of work experience and need to showcase a particular skill or experience. Only include hobbies and interests that showcase your personality and personal qualities, and add something different to your application.

Volunteering

If you're lacking relevant landscaper work experience, volunteer work can help to show you still have the relevant skills. Include the title of your volunteer role, who you volunteered for, as well as the dates you carried out the work. Provide brief details of your responsibilities and the impact you made.

References

It's not typical to include references in a landscaping resume, but some employers might ask for them. Don't add references unless requested by the employer. 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 landscaping resume

Action words can help illustrate to the hiring manager the difference you made in each of your previous jobs. Add strong verbs from the list below to create a greater impact with your work experience section.

Jobseeker's resume templates were created by careers experts to help you produce a professional resume in minutes. You can also find cover letter templates to complete an eye-catching job application that gets you noticed.

Example of a landscaping resume

Now that you know everything that needs to go into your landscaping resume, let's review an example resume that you can use as a guide when creating your own:

How to make your resume ATS compliant

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is just one of the tools employers and recruiters can use to streamline their hiring practices. This typically includes screening candidates by scanning and ranking their resumes based on their likely suitability for any vacancy. If you follow a few simple tips when writing your landscaping resume, you'll give yourself a better chance of ranking highly in the ATS screening and progressing to the next stage.

Create an ATS-optimized resume by following these quick tips:

• Use a traditional resume format, such as reverse-chronological or functional. These will give your resume a structure that's easier for ATS systems to scan.
• Use of job description keywords throughout your resume will help it rank higher in the ATS scanning stage, as it will more closely match the requirements laid out in the job description.
• 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.
• Adopt a clean, unfussy design that gives your content enough white space to breathe. Use professional, readable fonts and subtle use of color and other design elements.
• Use concise language to keep the length of your resume to between one and two pages. This will make it easier to scan for ATS applications.

Key points for your landscaping 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. Select a resume format that suits your experience levels and the job you're applying for, and make sure you tailor your resume for each application.

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. Whether you're a junior or senior candidate, a professional cover letter can help to grab the attention of the employer. Jobseeker's cover letter examples were created by careers experts to provide useful tips and ideas for your cover letter.

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