Electrician Skills for a Resume
Contractors and employers hire electricians who work safely, to code, and get it right the first time. Show the kind of work you do, your license, the systems you install and the jobs you have completed.
Updated
13 skills at a glance
Hard skills
Hard skills
What the work takes, how a hiring manager judges each skill, and a bullet point that shows it.
Residential, commercial or industrial wiring
Name the settings you work in and the size of the jobs.
Example bullet pointWired office fit-outs of up to 40,000 square feet, from rough-in to final inspection.
Conduit bending
Name the types of conduit you bend and the quality inspectors see.
Example bullet pointBent and ran EMT and rigid conduit for a warehouse expansion that passed inspection the first time.
Panel and service installation
Give the sizes of the services and panels you install.
Example bullet pointInstalled and upgraded 200-amp residential services and subpanels for EV chargers.
Troubleshooting with meters and testers
Show a fault you found and fixed quickly.
Example bullet pointTraced an intermittent fault in a restaurant's kitchen circuits to a loose neutral and fixed it in one visit.
Blueprint reading
Show that you plan and lay out work from drawings.
Example bullet pointLaid out outlets, lighting and panels from electrical drawings for a 30-unit apartment building.
National Electrical Code
Show that your work passes inspection and that you know the current code.
Example bullet pointKept every job I led within the current NEC, passing all inspections first time last year.
Motor controls and PLC basics
Name the equipment and the work you do on it.
Example bullet pointWired and troubleshot motor starters and variable-frequency drives on a packaging line.
Low-voltage and fire alarm systems
Name the systems and any certification you hold.
Example bullet pointInstalled fire alarm devices and data cabling in a new school building.
Soft skills
Shown through what you did, never claimed as adjectives.
Safety focus
Show your safety record and the procedures you follow, such as lockout/tagout.
Example bullet pointFollowed lockout/tagout on every job and finished three years with no recordable injuries.
Problem solving
Describe a hard fault or a design problem you solved on site.
Example bullet pointReworked a panel layout on site when the drawings did not fit the space, keeping the job on schedule.
Reliability
Show attendance and the trust of supervisors and customers.
Example bullet pointWas trusted to run small jobs on my own from my second year.
Teamwork on site
Show how you coordinate with the other trades.
Example bullet pointCoordinated with plumbers and HVAC crews to avoid clashes in tight ceiling spaces.
Attention to detail
Show neat, correct work that passes inspection and is easy to service.
Example bullet pointLabeled every circuit and panel clearly, which made later service calls faster.
Licenses and certifications
Give them a section of their own, with who issued each one and the year or expiry date.
- State journeyman or master electrician license
- OSHA 10 or 30-Hour Construction
- NFPA 70E electrical safety training
- First aid and CPR
Keywords from electrician job postings
Use the ones that are true for you, in your bullet points as well as your skills list.
- commercial
- inspection
- conduit
- switchgear
- blueprints
- crews
- service upgrades
- troubleshot
- panels
Each posting has its own words. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description shows how to find them and where to put them.
Where to put your skills
- In a skills section: a short list of the hard skills the posting names, in its words.
- In your bullet points: every skill that matters should show up in something you did, with a result. That is where a hiring manager believes it.
- In your summary: two or three of the skills the job asks for most.
More on choosing them in how to choose and prove the skills on your resume.
Questions
What skills should an electrician put on a resume?
The kinds of wiring you do, conduit, panels and services, troubleshooting, blueprint reading, the electrical code, motor controls and low-voltage systems, plus safety and attention to detail.
Where should my license go?
Near the top, in a licenses section, with the level (apprentice, journeyman or master) and the state.
How do I show my experience as an apprentice?
List your hours, the kinds of jobs you worked on and the tasks you can do on your own.
Put them to work
Start from an electrician resume that already uses these skills, for an invented person, and make it yours in the builder.