How to Create a Standout Maintenance Technician Resume

Those seeking work as a maintenance technician will face competition, so it’s important to be able to stand out. Knowing how to create an outstanding resume is key to landing a position in this field. In this article, we’ll show you how to do that.

We’ll show you how to create a digital resume that you can easily share online with employers and print out for interviews. If you follow the instructions in this article, you’ll end up with something like the one in the previous link.

Having a clean, digital resume that clearly highlights your unique skills and traits will help you get hired sooner than later, by a company you actually want to work for. But before diving in, let’s take a look at the job market. This will give you an idea of the competition you face and the best companies to apply to from a compensation standpoint.

Job landscape for maintenance technicians

The number of jobs available for maintenance technicians is growing at an average rate, with industrial maintenance positions projected to grow about 7% from 2016 to 2026. Industrial settings tend to hire the largest numbers of maintenance workers. For instance, employment estimates for machinery maintenance workers totaled to over 83,000 in 2017, with the highest levels of employment occurring in the following industries:

• Plastics product manufacturing
• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
• Local governments

The highest hourly wages are offered by motor vehicle manufacturers and electric power generation, both of which average out to well over $60,000 per year.

Components of a strong resume for maintenance technicians

Before going through the following exercises, sign up for a VisualCV account. This platform makes it easy to create a digital resume.

Inventory your qualifications

Begin by taking stock of your skills and qualifications, including work experience, education, training, certifications, and achievements within the industry. In addition, take stock of your “soft skills.” These are general skills that will enable you to carry out day-to-day tasks. For a maintenance technician, these skills might include:

• Attention to detail
• Effective communication skills
• Problem solving and critical thinking
• Organizational and prioritization skills

Let’s look at an example. Suppose Chris is looking for work in a food production plant. He might list the following qualifications:

• Two-year apprenticeship at Tulkoff Food Products, Inc.
• CMRT Certified
• High School Diploma
• High grades in math and science
• Four years working as a maintenance mechanic at Northeast Foods Inc
• Three years at Wonder Burger during high school

Chris would list these qualifications along with the soft skills described above. Together, they’ll form the core of the resume.

List relevant applications of experience

Once you have your experience listed out, you need to outline how it’s relevant to the maintenance position you’re seeking. This may seem fairly straightforward, especially if your work history is highly maintenance-centric, but you do need to be specific. You want to show what you did in that job or program that showcases your abilities.

For instance, Chris might describe his duties at Northeast Foods as follows:

• Upheld compliance with safety standards by conducting regular checks and properly disposing of materials
• Preserved system reliability through diagnostic testing and preventive maintenance
• Installed and tested new equipment
• Fostered communication through written repair logs
• Inspected and operated auxiliary mobile equipment

One key item to keep in mind when writing these is to lead out with strong verbs. “Upholding compliance,” “Preserved,” and “Fostered” help show employers what you can contribute to their workplace. Where possible, try to choose verbs that point to results rather than simply fulfilling obligations (i.e. leading with “Fostered communication” rather than simply “Wrote repair logs.”)

Ideally, job experience should be as relevant as possible to maintenance work. As such, Chris’s three years at Wonder Burger may not be worth listing here unless it offered relevant skills (such as the ability to work in a fast-paced environment).

Use good formatting

Once you have your past employment and its relevance spelled out, it’s time to start putting your resume together. A general format would look something like this:

• Header: Your name in large font with your job title and contact information.
• Summary: A quick description of your skills, certifications, and experience.
• Work experience: Relevant job experience, including position, location, and skills used.
• Education: Most maintenance positions only require a high-school diploma, but if you have additional educational experience (such as Chris’s apprenticeship), that’s definitely worth listing.
• Skills/core competencies: These are skills that are vital to performing maintenance work.

When formatting your resume, you want it to look professional, but interesting. Make good use of the space on the page (blank spaces aren’t as attractive), but don’t pack it so full that it looks cluttered.

Final pointers

Going a little further than your competition can help you stand out. These final pointers may give you the edge you need to land a position:

• Keep it to one page.
• Proofread for grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Be professional—odd humor probably isn’t going to fly
• Keep formatting consistent and avoid overuse of italics, bold font, and underlining

These tips are key to creating a standout resume for any position, including that of a maintenance technician.