How to create a resume for blue-collar jobs

You recently saw a great job vacancy. And you think you are the right candidate for the given opportunity. You want to contact the company’s Human Resource manager to showcase your potential. But the fear of uploading a resume is making you anxious to move forward in the application. This worry needs to be thought about. Because earlier, grey and blue-collar workers i.e manual workers at manufacturing units and or outside in fields, never used to create resumes to get work. Everything used to happen through networks and word of mouth. Now in the state of unemployment and high digitization, recruiters are preferring candidates who present resumes first. There are plenty of samples and examples of resumes available for white-collar workers but limited for blue-collar workers.

This article will help blue-collar workers to create resumes for their job applications.

Select the format

Before writing a resume, you need to decide on the format for your resume. Formatting creates a clean and understandable structure to a resume. There are mainly three types of resume formats that are commonly accepted by employers and recruiting managers. The Following are the three formats-

●Chronological resume format: It is the most popular resume format. It is ideal for candidates who have past experiences in the field relevant to the position they are interested in. It emphasizes the work experience. So the candidate needs to write about their work history in reverse order i.e current experiences first and the oldest at the last. And later follows up by educational qualification, skills and achievements.

●Functional resume format: It focuses on the professional skills of the candidate in detail rather than work experience. This format de-emphasis over work experience. It is ideal for candidates who are fresher and hold no specific professional experience. The resume can begin with a small resume summary, followed up by a detailed skill and strength section, a brief about work experience (if any) or simply just mention education qualification and your interest at the end.

●Combination resume format: It is a hybrid format of both the above given formats. It emphasizes both work experience and professional skills. This can showcase your complete profile. Although this format is rarely preferred by recruiters. It is used in a few rare situations like- when a candidate wants to switch careers, there are few employment gap history or the candidate is at senior level with a diverse range of skills and experiences.

Most important things at the top

It is said that employers or recruiters do not spend more than 6 seconds on one resume/CV. It is important that you mention the most important things at the top of your resume. Name, contact details and resume headline (optional).

●Your name is the first thing you should write at the top of your resume. Make sure you write your full name which is used across all your official documents. Write in a standard format – First Name, Last Name.

●Contact details: Mention your phone number, email address and your location. Write these in separate lines. You can also share your social media account if it adds any value to your profile.

●The resume headline highlights your value as a candidate. It should be written below your name and contact details. It should be one brief phrase, not even a sentence. Use keywords that portray your skills and experience related to the job description.

For example:** Skilled **fitter with 3 years of experience; Certified ITI Machinist/ Turner pass out; Expert in configuring the equipment, operating and optimizing the machines. It helps the recruiter to quickly see what your resume is all about.

Summary or objective (optional)

Resume summary or objectives are different from resume headlines. It is a more elaborate and comprehensive section to express your skills and experience.

●If you want to write an objective, then be clear about what you want to achieve. State what career you are seeking, and what experience and skills you hold that makes you eligible for the same.

●A resume summary is more like a small paragraph that describes your qualification that explains your eligibility to the given job vacancy.

●Here you can highlight your relevant skills. Go through the job description carefully and look at what employers are seeking and accordingly include matching skills and other credentials.

For example, You can include your trade or profession; certification; licenses; permits; years of experience; industry keywords; equipment and machinery you can operate; any accomplishments you have made in a similar career; etc.

●However, if you are not sure about your objective or description to express about. then it is better you skip it. A vague and unclear objective will never help you to stand out. Instead, it will put off your recruiter to read your resume further.

Work experience

It is one of the most important sections if you are not a fresher.

The format to list your work experience is –

• Job title – like computer technician, welder, fitter, machine operator etc.​
• The name of the company comes below the job title.​
• Duration of employment. Like from 2015 to 2018, 2015 to the present (if you are still doing the job).​
• Then comes the main body where you explain the responsibilities and achievements in points. Points should be tight and to the point in simple language. One work experience should not have more than 6 points.

●Make sure you start listing your work experience with the latest job experience and move forward in reverse chronological order. Like what we discussed above in chronological resume format.

●Explain your job responsibilities and achievements. Rather than just describing your past job role, explain what you accomplished. A job title is self-explanatory to a recruiter to know what you must have done. It is your achievement that makes you stand out among the crowd.

●In the blue and grey collar field, it is difficult to explain your achievements or accomplishments. But your skills in specific trade is nothing to be taken for granted. It takes years of learning and practice to master the skills of your trade.

You can include achievements like your skill has helped your employer boost sales; saved expenses of your company with your repairing skills; delivered your works with zero damage and defects; improved productivity; took extra initiative to train new staff; etc.

●Employers love candidates who have benefited prior bosses. So, list your achievements accordingly.

Professional and Technical Skills

Here, mention all your relevant skills. The goal is to sell your skill in a way that employers remain with no question and can consider you as the right candidate for the position.

●Freshers who don’t hold any prior work experience can skip the work experience section and directly start with the professional skill section. However, you can elaborate on each skill with some achievement or project work you did where your skill helped you.

●So, first, go through the job description, look at the mentioned keywords. List down all the skills relevant to the asked eligibility.

●You can include skills like-

• Mechanical and technical skills: You can understand the equipment and can take potential steps to improve and maintain its efficiency.
• Physical skills: like you have been performing physically heavy toiling works within the given time. You have good hand and eye coordination to perform fine fabric work.​
• Problem-solving skills: being a blue-collar worker, you work in a factory and manufacturing unit, where every other day the company faces issues but workers have to complete customer orders. So, problem-solving skills add value to a blue-collar worker who can find alternate ways to solve uncertain issues.​
• Computer Skills: With the change in technology and workforce, companies need highly skilled workers who have good computer knowledge and can operate computerized equipment. So, if you have computer skills, you should mention them on your resume. It holds great value in the blue-collar field now.

Education and Training

List all your school education and vocational training you have completed till now. Mention that in the same reverse chronological order.

●The most relevant qualification should be mentioned above in the list and the rest can be followed in the backward time frame.

• Mention the name of the class/degree/certificate​
• The name of the board/university/institute from where you completed your course.​
• Also mention the year you attained and completed each of the courses/training.

●Along with this, add all your licenses, permits and certifications. ●The information should be easy to read and understand, so that employers can easily glance over your formal and hands-on training.

Resume layout

Your resume should look neat and easy to read. Pay attention to your resume how it looks. Keep in mind a few points:

●There should be appropriate margins on all four sides of your resume. You can keep them below 1.5 inches.

●Select a professional and readable font. It is also helpful in the Application Tracking System (ATS), which most of the recruiters use these days to filter out irrelevant applications. Go for fonts like Calibri, Arial, Cambria etc.

●Font size should be 10 to 12 points. Smaller would create a strain on a reader. And the bigger fonts look a bit childish and unprofessional.

●Use bold and a bit bigger fonts for section headers to grab more attention.

●Use bullet points under the section header to elaborate on it. But it should be crisp and to the point.

●The resume should not exceed 2 pages. For a fresher 1 page is enough to present their qualification. Cut down all irrelevant experience and skills.

All of this looking extremely tricky and complex? No need to worry. You can also try video resumes.

Video resume

There is another option to express your qualification and interest if you find the paper resume technical and tricky to make. Video resumes are a trend in the job market, where the candidate doesn’t have to write about themselves on a sheet of paper, instead have to speak all of it on a video. It is a great option for people who find it difficult to read and write. In a country like India, it can be an amazing medium to include all sections of people, particularly in the blue- collar field, who aren’t capable enough to write resumes. It is beneficial to all, as it saves time for both recruiters and candidates. Easy and fast medium to upload your resume.

ShramIN Jobs provides a video resume option for job applicants. They can simply record themselves talking about their skills and experiences and apply for the job within a few minutes. It is a platform dedicated to blue-collar workers, where candidates can do free job searches in multiple job sectors in India and internationally. There are various other features that can help you find new job opportunities. Download the ShramIN Jobs app now .You can also visit our website at www.shramin.com