Shipping Clerk Resume Example

This comprehensive guide will give you all the tools you need to craft a shipping clerk resume that positions you strongly against other candidates. 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. Continue reading to find the best shipping clerk resume tips from careers experts at Jobseeker.

Key sections for a shipping clerk resume

The key sections to include in a shipping clerk resume are similar to those for any role or profession. A resume for candidates with little or no work experience may focus less on the work experience section, and bring sections to the fore that emphasize their skills, such as hobbies and interests, volunteer work, education, projects and 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:

Header and Personal Information

In your shipping clerk resume header, list your name, email address, phone number and address or location. You can also add your LinkedIn, if you have one, to help employers better understand your work history and skills. While in some countries, you might include additional personal information or a photo, these aren't necessary. 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 Objective

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. 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 strong resume summary focuses on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for shipping clerk roles in a clear, quantifiable way. It also gives an insight into your personal qualities, to help the reader understand why you're a suitable candidate. See below for some great examples of how to approach your shipping clerk resume.

Conversely, an ineffective resume summary would include generic, unspecific information on your skills and experience, while failing to provide any useful information on what makes you a unique and interesting candidate. The graphic above shows some of the pitfalls to avoid when creating your resume summary.

Skills

The skills section of a shipping clerk resume is a chance to list any skills you have that match those of the job description. You could include MS Office suite, organizational skills or any other skills that show you're a suitable candidate. Again, refer to the shipping clerk job description for an indication of the types of skills the employer is looking for, and make sure your skills section reflects these.

How to include hard skills on your shipping clerk resume

For your hard skills list, include any technical abilities or specific industry knowledge that's essential to working as a shipping clerk. These could be skills gained through work experience or qualifications. Furthermore, it's important to show these skills in a shipping clerk resume as they provide a strong indication of your experience in the sector. 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.

If you want to make a strong impression with your hard skills list, focus on hard skills that align with your specific industry expertise, and that reflect the job description. For inspiration on the right type of hard skills for a shipping clerk resume, see below.

Showcasing your best soft skills

In your list of soft skills, add any personal strengths, qualities or transferable skills that make you a good fit for the job. Soft skills are often less specific to different industries, but that doesn't make them any less important. Indeed, without soft skills, you may struggle to adapt to shipping clerk 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 shipping clerk 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

In this section list any educational qualifications or degrees that are relevant to shipping clerk roles.

It's not usually necessary to have a degree for jobs as a shipping clerk. Nevertheless, it's still crucial to list your highest or most relevant educational achievements. These might include Forklift Operator Certification, and other certifications or courses that highlight your MS Office suite or barcode scanning technology.

Enter the name and level of the qualification, the institution you studied at, its location and your dates of study or graduation. You could also add one or two bullet points to draw attention to your grades if they were particularly good, as well as any specialist subjects you studied. This will help the hiring manager understand your knowledge and special skills better.

If you were a member of any clubs or societies, or volunteered for any causes while studying, you could also mention these in your education section.

Certifications and Training

Your certifications section is the place to mention any relevant professional shipping clerk certifications, licenses or qualifications. These could be official licenses required for the job or certifications that improve your employability. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.

Below you can find several examples of certifications for a shipping clerk resume:

Employment History

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

For each job listed in this section, add some bullet points so the employer can understand the skills you developed, and your achievements. Focus on showcasing the impact you made on the organization, and show evidence of how you made a difference.

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. Take a look at the examples below for some guidance on what works best for your work experience section.

See above for some of the pitfalls to avoid with your resume work experience section. A poor resume work experience section would typically use vague descriptions of activities in previous jobs, while focusing too much on responsibilities rather than achievements. Failing to focus on the skills and experience that match the job description is likely to harm your chances of success.

Optional Resume Sections

To provide further information on your suitability for the role, you could add some optional sections to a shipping clerk 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. Consider listing hobbies and interests to help your resume stand out, or to provide the employer with some insight into your personality and wider interests. They're perfect for candidates who might lack genuine work experience as a shipping clerk. If you're thinking about adding hobbies and interests, just make sure they add something unique to your application, and showcase your personality and interests in unique and interesting ways.

Volunteer Experience

This section can be valuable for a shipping clerk resume, if you've done any voluntary work that showcases your 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 shipping clerk resume, but they are required occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Before adding any referees to your resume, ask them for their assistance and prepare them for contact by the employer.

Best strong verbs for your a shipping clerk resume

Action words can help illustrate to the hiring manager the difference you made in each of your previous jobs. Choose verbs from the suggestions below that highlight your key skills or those mentioned in the job description.

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 shipping clerk resume

The shipping clerk resume example below incorporates all the information from above into a full-designed resume template, so you can see how a final resume will look:

How to make an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are increasingly taking responsibility for the management and processing of job applications, helping hiring practices to become more efficient. This can include screening resumes by scanning and ranking each application according to how closely it matches the job description. When writing your shipping clerk resume, a few simple tips can help you pass the ATS stage with a higher-ranking resume, giving you a better chance of success with your applications.

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

• Adopt a traditional structure for your resume, such as a reverse-chronological format or a functional format. These are likely to be the easiest layouts for ATS software to scan.
• Add keywords throughout your resume that help ATS software match your application to the job description. A higher match means your application is more likely to proceed to be reviewed by human eyes.
• Using clear, simple headings makes it easier for an ATS application to scan your resume, as it can easily identify what's in each section of your document.
• Use design elements that help make your resume more readable. These might include white space, clear, professional fonts and subtle color accents to help certain elements stand out.
• Adopt simple, professional language to keep your resume as concise as possible. This tends to make your document more readable, and easier for ATS software to scan.

Takeaways for a winning shipping clerk resume

An effective resume is a concise, professional summary of your relevant skills and career achievements, showcased through a chronology of your career history. 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.

Use Jobseeker's resume templates, other tools and resources to create an application that impresses employers. Sign up today to access a wealth of valuable resume and cover letter resources. Jobseeker's expert-designed cover letter generator can help your applications make a strong first impression on hiring managers. Find detailed cover letter examples to complement your resume and get your application noticed.

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