Manufacturing Technician Resume Example

The aim of this article is to equip you with all the knowledge required to create a resume that positions you to succeed in your manufacturing technician applications. The article will take you through the key steps of creating a resume that presents your key skills, qualities and career achievements in a format that employers favor. It will also help you tailor your resume according to your unique skills and experience level. Continue reading to find expert tips and advice from Jobseeker that will help you with your manufacturing resume.

What to include in a manufacturing resume

A successful manufacturing resume will typically include each of the sections listed below, with some optional sections. If you're lacking relevant work experience, you might choose to add sections that showcase your skill set earlier than in a traditional resume layout. These sections might include projects, education, hobbies and interests, skills and other optional sections.

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

Your manufacturing resume header should contain your name and contact details. These include your email address and phone number. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can also add that, to give employers the chance to learn more about your skills and experience. It's not necessary to include a photo or any other personal information. 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.

Make sure your email address appears as professional as possible, and doesn't include anything like nicknames, inappropriate language or personal information. If it does, set up a new email account with an address based on your name or initials, and use that for your job applications. Always double-check your contact details are up-to-date before sending your resume.

Resume Summary

In your resume summary, write a short paragraph that highlights two or three of your key achievements and skills for manufacturing technician roles. You could also call this section 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. A resume summary covers your career experience to date, while a resume objective focuses more on your ambitions for the future. Furthermore, when writing your profile, focus on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for manufacturing technician roles.

Alternatively, focus on introducing your career ambitions, and why this role is a good fit, both for you and the organization.

A great resume summary should highlight why you're an ideal candidate for manufacturing technician 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 what to include in your manufacturing resume summary.

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. In the graphic above you can find some negative examples of how to write a resume summary.

Hard and Soft Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for manufacturing technician roles. Whether your skills include PLC programming knowledge, communication abilities or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Additionally, read the job description to make sure your skills match those required for manufacturing technician positions. You could also include some unique skills that help you stand out as a candidate.

Listing hard skills on your manufacturing resume

In your hard skills list, include any specific abilities related to the role you're applying for. These could be technical skills or industry knowledge that showcases your expertise in your chosen profession. Furthermore, your hard skills list helps to show employers how competent and experienced you are at key manufacturing technician duties and responsibilities. Include around four or five key hard skills that are listed in the job description. These skills will help to convince the hiring manager that you're a good fit for the position.

Your resume hard skills list should reflect your unique and specific industry expertise and experience, while also fulfilling the requirements listed in the job description. See the examples below for an idea of what an effective manufacturing resume hard skills list looks like.

Showcasing your best soft skills

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, transferable skills are growing in importance in the modern world of work, so make sure you include several of these in your resume. Think of your best soft skills and add up to five that match the requirements of the job description.

An effective manufacturing 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

Your resume's education section provides space for you to list your highest and most relevant qualifications for manufacturing technician roles.

Typically, working as a manufacturing technician 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 Manufacturing Engineering degree or other relevant qualifications. Focus on qualifications that showcase your cnc machine operation or PLC programming knowledge.

List every relevant qualification, including the name and level of the course, the name of the school, college or university, its location and your graduation date. You can enhance this section by adding bullet points that show any outstanding grades, awards or achievements and any specialist subjects you studied. These details can make you stand out from other candidates.

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

Certifications

Under this section, list any relevant certifications or licenses that are relevant to manufacturing technician jobs. You could list accreditations for certain professional roles or licenses for certain activities that help to make you a strong candidate. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.

See below for some suggestions of relevant certifications for a manufacturing resume:

Work Experience

In the next section, list your employment history focusing on the most relevant previous roles and achievements that showcase your manufacturing technician skills. 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.

A good work experience section pulls the reader in with clear examples of where you've put the skills necessary for the job into good use in your career to date. This typically includes evidence of how your skills and activities contributed to positive outcomes for the organization. There are some examples of strong resume work experience sections below.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. Ineffective work experience sections tend to focus too much on everyday responsibilities over skills and achievements. If you use vague descriptions of activities and fail to back up your achievements with evidence, you're likely to fail to make an impact on the reader.

Optional Information

To provide further information on your suitability for the role, you could add some optional sections to a manufacturing technician resume. Choose any optional sections that showcase essential or desirable skills or experience for manufacturing technician jobs.

Hobbies and Interests

Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. Hobbies can help you show different sides of your personality and make your resume more memorable to hiring managers. They're ideal to include if you're a junior candidate who might lack real world manufacturing technician experience. Just make sure any hobbies and interests you include in your resume add genuine insight into your personality, in ways other sections of the resume can't.

Volunteering

If you're lacking relevant manufacturing technician work experience, volunteer work can help to show you still have the relevant skills. 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

It's relatively unusual to include references in a standard manufacturing resume, but they are required occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Only include referees that you've had prior approval from, and notify them to expect contact from the employer.

Best words to use in a manufacturing resume

Add strong verbs to your work experience section to show the hiring manager the impact you made in your previous roles. Add strong verbs from the list below to create a greater impact with your work experience section.

If you need help creating a resume that impresses HR managers, take a look at Jobseeker's professional resume templates. You can also access beautiful cover letter templates that help your application stand out.

Example of a manufacturing resume

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

How to make an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters and employers to manage their hiring process. They can handle some of the more time-consuming and resource-intensive jobs, such as initial screening of resumes. Employers often receive hundreds of applications per vacancy, and ATS software can quickly and accurately scan and rank resumes based on their likely suitability for any role. When drafting your manufacturing resume, there are a few guidelines to follow to give you the best chance of passing the ATS screening stage and progressing with your application.

Here are a few quick tips for creating an ATS-friendly resume:

• 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.
• 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 in each section that match the traditional resume structure and format. This will make it easier for the ATS software to scan your resume.
• Adopt a resume design that uses clear, professional design principles and leaves white space for your content to breathe. Use the most readable fonts and incorporate subtle design elements to enhance the readability of your document.
• Make sure your resume is as concise as possible, so ATS applications can easily scan and identify the required details.

Key takeaways for your manufacturing resume

If you want to catch the eye of employers and recruiters, you need a professional resume that showcases your best skills and career achievements. Pick a resume format that matches your experience levels, and tailor the content of your resume to reflect the details of the job description.

Using the professional resume templates and resources of Jobseeker can help you create a great-looking resume that stands out from other applicants. Sign up today and follow the simple steps to get started. Whatever job you're applying for, a professional cover letter can make all the difference to your chances. Use Jobseeker's HR-approved tools and cover letter examples to inspire your applications.

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