Blue Collar Resume: 5 Examples for Trades and Labor Jobs
By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published · Updated
7 min read
A resume for a blue collar worker works when the first half page answers a foreman's four questions: what can you run, what tickets and licenses do you hold, are you safe, and will you show up. The one constraint: the person reading is usually a supervisor or site manager between jobs, not an office recruiter, so one page, plain words and the equipment list near the top beat a long summary every time. O*NET describes construction laborers as workers who "Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites." Below are five complete examples, tagged by level and trade, plus the section order that works. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.
You can run a skid steer, read a set of plans and get a crew through a concrete pour before the weather turns. The resume template wants a "career objective" about "leveraging synergies." Leave it. Nobody on a job site has ever leveraged a synergy.
Blue collar resume example for a general laborer
Entry level and general labor resumes win on availability, physical work you have done and any safety card.
Entry level: general laborer moving from landscaping to construction (116 words)
CARLOS MENDEZ Houston, TX | (713) 555-0124 | carlos.mendez@email.com
SUMMARY General laborer with three years of outdoor physical work in landscaping. OSHA 10 card. Own transportation, steel toe boots and available for early starts and Saturdays.
TICKETS AND LICENSES OSHA 10-Hour Construction card Valid Texas driver's license
EQUIPMENT Walk-behind mowers, trimmers, blowers Plate compactor Wheelbarrows, hand tools, post hole digger Trailer hookup and loading
EXPERIENCE Landscape Crew Member, residential landscaping company, 2022 to present Install sod, mulch and pavers on a four person crew, five to six days a week Dig and backfill for drainage and irrigation lines Load and unload equipment and materials at each site Kept a clean safety record
EDUCATION High school diploma
Put the OSHA card near the top, in its own block. A site manager looking for it should not have to read the summary to find it.
What a foreman reads first
Blue collar job descriptions repeat the same work. O*NET's laborer tasks include "Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities" and "Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards." For warehouse and general labor, O*NET's material movers profile describes workers who "Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor."
The section order that works:
- Header with phone first. Supervisors call.
- Summary, two or three lines: trade, years, best ticket, availability.
- Tickets and licenses: OSHA cards, forklift certification, CDL, trade license, first aid.
- Equipment: what you can operate without supervision.
- Experience: crew size, type of job, what you did, safety.
- Education and training: diploma, apprenticeship, trade school.
On safety cards, OSHA says that through its Outreach Training Program "Students receive an OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour course completion card at the end of the training." Write the card name exactly, and the industry (construction or general industry).
Blue collar resume example for a warehouse worker
Warehouse resumes show equipment, the type of operation and accuracy.
Mid level: warehouse associate with forklift certification (136 words)
TASHA WILLIAMS Memphis, TN | (901) 555-0139 | tasha.williams@email.com
SUMMARY Warehouse associate with five years in a distribution center. Forklift and reach truck certified. Picks, packs and loads to scanner, works nights and overtime in peak season.
TICKETS AND LICENSES Forklift certification (sit-down counterbalance, reach truck), employer issued OSHA 10-Hour General Industry card
EQUIPMENT Sit-down forklift, reach truck, electric pallet jack RF scanners and warehouse management system Stretch wrap machine
EXPERIENCE Warehouse Associate, third party distribution center, 2020 to present Pick, pack and load outbound orders on the night shift for retail customers Move pallets between receiving, racking and shipping by forklift and reach truck Count inventory in cycle counts and flag variances to the lead Train new hires on scanner use during peak season
Stocker, grocery store, 2018 to 2020
EDUCATION High school diploma
Blue collar resume example for a skilled trade
Licensed trades lead with the license number, the type of work and the code you work to.
Senior: journeyman electrician moving to a commercial contractor (137 words)
MICHAEL O'BRIEN Cleveland, OH | (216) 555-0158 | michael.obrien@email.com
SUMMARY Journeyman electrician with nine years in residential and light commercial work. Runs a two person crew on service upgrades, tenant fit-outs and troubleshooting. Seeking commercial work with a union or merit shop.
LICENSES AND TRAINING Journeyman electrician license, state of Ohio OSHA 30-Hour Construction card Four year apprenticeship completed, 2016
EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS Conduit bending (EMT, rigid), wire pulling Panel and service upgrades to 400 amps Multimeters, megohmmeter, thermal camera Scissor lifts and boom lifts
EXPERIENCE Journeyman Electrician, electrical contractor, 2016 to present Lead a two person crew on service upgrades and tenant fit-outs Troubleshoot faults in lighting, receptacle and motor circuits Read prints and build material lists for the foreman Pass inspections on first visit on most jobs
Apprentice Electrician, same contractor, 2012 to 2016
Blue collar resume example for a delivery or truck driver
Drivers lead with the license class, endorsements and the clean record.
Mid level: CDL Class A driver moving from regional to local routes (122 words)
JAMES CARTER Indianapolis, IN | (317) 555-0191 | james.carter@email.com
SUMMARY CDL Class A driver with seven years of regional dry van and flatbed work. Clean driving record. Looking for a local route with home time every night.
LICENSES CDL Class A, tanker and doubles endorsements DOT medical card, current
EQUIPMENT 53 foot dry van, flatbed with straps and tarps Electronic logging devices Pre-trip and post-trip inspections
EXPERIENCE Regional Driver, truckload carrier, 2019 to present Haul dry van and flatbed loads across five states Secure flatbed loads and complete inspections before every trip Keep hours of service records on an electronic logging device
Local Delivery Driver, building supply company, 2017 to 2019 Delivered lumber and drywall to job sites with a boom truck
Blue collar resume example for a career changer into the trades
Career changers into the trades show physical work, tools they already use and the training they have started.
Career changer: retail stock lead starting a plumbing apprenticeship (106 words)
KEVIN NGUYEN Sacramento, CA | (916) 555-0167 | kevin.nguyen@email.com
SUMMARY Retail stock lead with six years of early morning freight work, now applying for a plumbing apprenticeship. Completed a pre-apprenticeship course and OSHA 10. Comfortable with hand and power tools.
TRAINING Pre-apprenticeship construction course, community college, 2025 OSHA 10-Hour Construction card
TOOLS Hand and power tools, pipe cutters and wrenches (course) Pallet jacks, box cutters, ladders
EXPERIENCE Stock Lead, home improvement store, 2019 to present Unload two trucks a week and stock the plumbing and hardware aisles Help customers choose fittings and fixtures Lead a crew of four on early freight shifts
EDUCATION High school diploma
How to write each section of a blue collar resume
Summary. Trade, years, the ticket that matters most, and your availability. Two or three lines.
Tickets and equipment. Only what you hold and what you can run alone. "Operated" means alone; "assisted with" means you watched.
Experience. One line on the job type and crew, then three to five bullets. Numbers where you have them: crew size, trucks unloaded, square feet, routes.
Safety. If your record is clean, say so in one line. Supervisors read it.
For trade by trade layouts see our construction worker resume, general laborer resume and forklift operator resume. For warehouse jobs, read the warehouse resume guide; for a construction layout, see the construction resume template; and if you are choosing a trade, look at well paid trades. Cleaning and custodial jobs follow the same rules; see cleaning skills for a resume.
Mistakes on a blue collar resume
- A long objective at the top instead of tickets and equipment.
- Listing machines you have only seen run.
- Leaving off your license class, endorsements or card names.
- No phone number at the top.
- Three pages. One page covers almost every trade career.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a resume for a blue collar job?
Keep it to one page. Start with your phone number, a two or three line summary, then your tickets and licenses, the equipment you can run alone and your experience with crew size and job type. Add availability, transportation and a clean safety record if you have one. Skip long objectives.
What skills should a blue collar resume include?
List equipment you operate alone, the tools of your trade, safety training such as OSHA cards, reading plans or work orders, and practical skills like loading, measuring or inspections. Add work habits a supervisor checks, such as early starts, overtime and reliability, and prove each in your experience bullets.
Should I put my OSHA card on my resume?
Yes. Put it in a tickets and licenses block near the top, with the exact name, such as OSHA 10-Hour Construction or OSHA 30-Hour General Industry. Many site managers screen for it. OSHA describes these cards as course completion cards from its Outreach Training Program.
Does a blue collar worker need a resume?
Many hires happen by phone, walk in or referral, but larger contractors, warehouses and unions often ask for a resume or an online application. A one page resume with your tickets and equipment saves you retyping the same details and gives a foreman something to keep after the call.
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