Machine Operator Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Machine Operator resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
As a machine operator, you’ll be responsible for helping your company make and ship products. You’ll work directly with machinery to set up, run, and maintain production lines. Machine operators often work in factories or warehouses, where they use their hands to load, unload, assemble, or package materials.
Because machine operators are usually part of a larger team, it’s important to have strong communication skills to coordinate effectively with coworkers. You also need to be able to follow instructions carefully and pay close attention to detail. And because machine operators tend to work on repetitive tasks, it’s important to be able to stay focused and motivated over long periods of time.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write a machine operator resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Machine Operator Resume
Here’s how to write a machine operator resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will read. And if they’re boring or vague, they’ll be the only thing anyone reads. So it’s crucial that you use them to your advantage by including specific details about what you did and the results of your work.
For example, rather than saying you “operated machines,” you could say you “operated CNC lathe to produce precision parts for aerospace applications, contributing to 100% on-time delivery rate for first quarter of 2019.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did and the results of your work. And that level of detail will make a much bigger impact on a recruiter reading your resume.
Related: What Is a Machine Operator? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a machine operator, your resume is likely to go through an applicant tracking system (ATS). This program will scan your resume for certain keywords related to the job opening. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, the ATS might not forward it to a recruiter.
Because this varies from one job to the next, it’s important to read through each job posting carefully and take note of the keywords that are used most frequently. Then, you can try to include those same terms on your resume. Here are some common machine operator keywords:
- Manufacturing
- Continuous Improvement
- 5S
- Forklift Operation
- Kaizen
- Lean Manufacturing
- Machine Operations
- Quality Control
- Warehouse Operations
- Operations Management
- Machine Safety
- SAP Products
- Warehouse Management Systems
- Supply Chain Management
- Machine Maintenance
- Metal Fabrication
- Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
- Lean Six Sigma
- Industrial Engineering
- Metalworking
- Production Planning
- Pneumatics
- Hydraulics
- Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
- Supervisory Skills
- Manufacturing Operations
- Hydraulic Systems
- Mining
- Team Leadership
- Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Related: How Much Does a Machine Operator Make?
Remember The Basics
As you write your resume, it’s important to keep a few basic rules in mind.
Make Your Resume Easy to Scan
There are a few things you can do to make your resume more readable and easy to scan. First, use left-aligned text and a standard font type and size. You should also keep your bullets to 2 lines or less, and use digits for numbers. Finally, leave some white space on the page to make the document less overwhelming.
Be Concise
There is no set rule for how long a resume should be, but a one-page resume is most likely to be read through in its entirety. If you have more than 10 years of experience, you may want to use a two-page resume to detail all of your qualifications and work history. However, be selective about the information included, and make sure that the most important details are on the first page.
Check Your Work
Proofreading your resume is important to making sure it looks its best. Spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes can all be easily corrected with a careful eye. Having someone else proofread your resume is also helpful, as they can catch mistakes that you may have missed.
Use a Summary
A resume summary statement can be a great way to introduce yourself to a potential employer and highlight the skills that make you the perfect candidate for the job. It should be brief and to the point, no more than a couple of sentences, and should focus on your skills and experience rather than on your work history. When writing your summary, be sure to play up your relevant skills, mention your most highly transferable experiences, and clearly state your intentions.
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