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Carpenters are a very versatile role in the construction industry. Some of carpenters’ job duties and responsibilities include following blueprints and building plans; install structures and fixtures; measure, cut, and shape materials needed for construction.
The elegant furniture pieces and charming wood houses are born by the handiwork of carpenters. This multiskilled team consist of carpenters of different expertise such as carpenter foreman, journeyman carpenter, joinery carpenter, shuttering carpenter, framing carpenter, and carpenter helper or carpenter assistant.
No matter where in the woodworking journey you are, you need a polished, strong carpenter resume that highlights your carpentry skills, accomplishments, and relevant work experience to showcase your skills to potential employers.
Whether you are an experienced carpenter or a fresher looking for a carpenter apprentice, a well-written resume will be your ticket to land your next carpentry job. Below are the steps to building a strong carpenter resume. Worry not, for this guide covers steps to crafting both entry-level carpenter resumes and experienced carpenter resume.
A CV is a detailed record of someone’s professional experiences and education accomplishments. It is usually used during academic application, especially in the science related fields. The length of a carpenter CV might be over two pages and extends as it grows overtime.
Not including every detail of one’s professional life, a resume only highlights relevant information for a specific job position. Therefore, a resume is more commonly required during the job application process. The content of a professional carpenter resume should fit within two pages length, and the content should be frequently updated.
✍🏻 Quick tip: It is important to notice specific details that are required for the carpenter CV/resume before applying for the job.
Among 4 types of carpenter resume formats (reverse chronological, functional, hybrid, and targeted), the reverse chronological format is the most commonly used one. It does a great job in showing one’s carpentry experience from the latest to the earliest, which makes a strong experienced carpenter resume.
📝 Reminder: If you are looking to write an entry-level carpenter resume or even a self-employed carpenter resume with relatively less experience in carpentry, be confident to highlight your carpentry skills and career objectives by following the functional resume format, which is also known as a skill-based resume format.
Build your carpenter resume based on a well-structured carpenter resume template to kick start your job application game.
When looking through a pile of carpenter resume templates, pick the consistent sections from the references you collect. Analyze the “strong parts” as well as the “weak parts” from those examples to customize your own carpenter resume.
After picking the right template to build your carpenter resume on, come back to the job description to get some keywords regarding the required qualifications and tie them into your carpenter resume template. This way you can surely stand out among other candidates.
A well written carpenter cover letter sent along with your carpenter resume shows your high attitude and interest towards the job. Address sincerely your intention for applying to the job and highlight the qualification and key skills that you have to fulfill the job duties.
New to writing a cover letter? Check out Cake’s Blog for a step by step guide to write a carpenter cover letter.
No one wants to leave an unpleasant impression to potential employers or clients with word errors on their profile, so beware of spelling, grammar, alignment, and spacing in your work. The goal is to deliver an error-free and easy to read carpenter resume.
Cake provides the right carpenter resume templates & formats for carpenters to showcase their skills and experiences. Sign up to create the best carpenter resume Now!
This is the most basic section in any carpenter resume that should provide recruiters essential key information about the candidate. If done right, the recruiter will be intrigued to explore the rest of your carpenter resume, which hopefully will land you a chance to interview.
🔖 The Essential Information list:
❌ The Don’t-Bother-to-Include-it list:
A professional title below your name in your carpenter resume can let managers know instantly your carpentry expertise and professionalism.
Carpenter resume title examples:
A carpenter resume summary statement recaps one’s carpenter skills and experience while including relevant accomplishments that boost up your qualification as a top candidate. A good carpenter resume summary should give a quick insight to your entire woodworking journey within 6 seconds.
Examples for carpenter resume summary that gets recruiters’ attention:
If you rather have few woodworking experience, write a carpenter resume objective instead. You should be able to present to the recruiters the goal or purpose of your career, and thus convince recruiters how you will fit for the job.
Example of a nicely stated carpenter resume objective:
Highly motivated and results-oriented carpenter apprentice who is organized and able to work under extreme pressure, heavy workloads and deadlines. A proactive team player with strong communication skills who is also able to read and follow blueprints accurately.
📝 Note: A well-written carpenter resume objective can be 2-3 sentences or as a short paragraph.
Since carpentry is a skilled trade, the carpenter resume skills section could be the highlight of the whole resume. Be specific and remember to pick some action verbs when describing your experience. Also, soft skills are as crucial as hard skills as a carpenter.
Here is how to fill the carpenter resume skills section:
✔️ Hard skills:
✔️ Soft skills:
Only include relevant experience and accomplishments when filling your work history section to strengthen your qualification.
Example of work experiences on construction carpenter resume:
Journeyman Carpenter | Shaffold Construction, January 2019 - Present
For construction carpenters, apprenticeship and on-the-job training might be more common than formal college degrees.
Therefore, if you don’t have any college coursework, it is fine to include a high school diploma:
"High School Diploma, Columbus High School, Swanson, Columbus 2014"
Include any type of relevant carpentry certification or training in this section:
💡 Tip 1: Customize the carpenter resume for the job.
Comprehend the job requirements and match them to your skills and qualifications. Follow by making a list of your most-relevant accomplishments, and exclude irrelevant parts.
💡 Tip 2: Use Keywords (from Job Description) in your carpenter resume.
Remember the keywords you gained from the earlier job research process? Utilize it as much and as smart as possible to enhance the visibility of your carpenter resume to the employers.
💡 Tip 3: Quantify results on resumes.
Explain your points clearer by adopting numbers and statistics in your carpenter resume summary and work experience section.
💡 Tip 4: Choose an ATS-friendly carpenter resume format.
An ATS friendly format gets your carpenter resume through the scanning process and increases the chance to be seen by hiring managers.
💡 Tip 5: Adopt resume action words in telling your woodworking experience.
Pick the right action verbs for each description (here’s a list).
💡 Tip 6: Include other valuable related carpentry skills to your resume.
Work in the carpentry field might include diverse people. In some areas, it will be valuable if you are fluent with a common dialect. List your language ability below the “additional information” section.
Worry not for coming to the job search race without any experience. Writing a cover letter for a carpenter with no experience is definitely possible with the right structure.
Here’s the outline for a strong carpenter cover letter:
1. Contact details
This the first basic information to be put in any cover letter. Put your full name, email, and phone number.
2. Introduction
Start with a polite and personal greeting. Use the hiring manager’s name to address the letter.
3. Motivation
Briefly state the reasons why you are interested in joining the company. You can mention some company knowledge to support your intention.
4. Qualification
Upon altering your intention to apply for the job, you need to prove that you have the right qualification to do the job. You can pick 2-3 most important experiences or skills that prove relevance with the job requirements.
5. Closing
The last paragraph of your carpenter cover letter should sum up your qualification for the job. Most importantly, express your gratitude towards the recruiter for reviewing through your application, and tell them you look forward to a chance to discuss more about the job details.
6 Years Experienced CUTI Certified Journeyman Carpenter
(+1)000-1718
[email protected]
linkedin.com/marshallwood
cakeresume.com/marshallwood
Conscientious and detail-oriented CUTI certified carpenter skilled with all areas of residential, commercial, and industrial woodworking. Mastered project construction, repair, and maintenance of various scales within 6 years of experience. A creative problem solver who is obsessed with high quality craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail.
Shaffold Construction
Journeyman Carpenter
January 2019–Present
Cornerstone Construction
Accounts Receivable ClerkCarpenter Apprentice
December 2014 - December 2018
2014, High School Diploma
Columbus High School, Swanson, Columbus
--- Originally written by Elonike Verina ---
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