Maintenance Resume—Examples, Skills, and 25+ Writing Tips

A poorly maintained resume can do to your career what vapor lock will do to a pipeline—

Or a dead short to a power supply. 

Stop it dead in its tracks.

Get it up and running again by overhauling your existing resume—

Or building a new one from scratch.

Look after your maintenance resume, and it’ll look after you.

In this guide:

• A maintenance resume sample better than most.
• How to create the perfect maintenance job description for resumes.
• How to write a resume for maintenance jobs that stands out.
• Expert tips and examples to boost your chances of landing a maintenance job.

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Looking for a related guide? Maybe you’re just getting started, thinking outside the box or changing careers? Check out some of our guides:

• Electrician Resume
• Construction Resume
• Mechanic Resume
• Military to Civilian Resume
• Construction Project Manager Resume
• Engineering Student Resume
• Delivery Driver Resume
• Technical Support Resume
• Supervisor Resume
• Internship Resume
• High School Graduate Resume
• Recent College Graduate Resume
• Career Change Resume
• Welder Resume
• Best Resumes for Every Job

Maintenance Resume Example

Now here’s how to write a maintenance resume they’ll love:

1. Choose the Right Maintenance Resume Format

Look, there’s your maintenance resume in the hiring manager’s hands.

He’s getting ready for a meeting, gathering a shortlist of resumes—

But wait—

Yours is left sitting in a tray marked “recycle” as he leaves the room.

What happened?

Your resume was about as organized as a junk drawer and as enticing as stripping out old caulk from a restroom.

So—

Make your resume format clean, clear, and a pleasure to read. Here’s how:

Maintenance Resume Format

• Use the chronological resume layout to show your most recent stuff first.
• Go with a low-key, good resume font like Arial or Calibri in 11–12 pt.
• Leave your resume margins at one inch and spread out to use the whole page.
• Watch your resume length. How many pages should a resume be? For most maintenance resumes, the answer is one page. Go for a two-page resume only if you’ve got many years of experience across several industries and/or specializations.
• Include at least these sections: Resume header, Profile, Experience, Education, and Skills.

As for the file format, PDF is better for preserving your resume layout than *.docx files are.

But—

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be the best tool for the job.

Why?

Some companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) that don’t handle PDF too well.

So:

Always check the job ad for preferred file formats. If the ad doesn’t mention it, stick with a PDF. 

2. Start With an Attention-Grabbing Maintenance Resume Objective or Summary

Confident handshake or looking away and mumbling—

How do you introduce yourself on site?

It’s the same with your maintenance resume:

Start confidently, write clearly, inspire confidence.

Use your resume profile to show you know what you want—

And have what it takes.

Got a year or more of experience in maintenance?

Use a resume summary. It’ll help you get the most out of that experience.

Use:

1. One adjective (efficient, reliable, hard-working)
2. Job title (Maintenance Worker, Maintenance Technician)
3. Years of experience (4+, 5+)
4. What you’ll do to help (reduce upkeep costs through proactive maintenance)
5. Two or three of your most impressive achievements (painted a total of over 3000 sq. ft., saved $2,000 per year when ordering materials and supplies)

These maintenance resume summary examples show how:

Maintenance Job Resume Examples—Summary

See that?

The first example puts accomplishments front and center, and it does this by basically putting numbers to duties.

Don’t have enough maintenance experience to pull this off?

Write a resume objective instead. It’ll help you shift the focus onto relevant achievements from other jobs.

Take a look at these resume objective examples: 

Maintenance Resume Objective—Examples

The first example includes quantified accomplishments in place of duties—

It’s also focused on what the candidate can do for the company, not the other way around (never a good look).

Stuck and not sure how to get moving?

Write your resume profile (summary or objective) last of all.

It’s that simple, and it never fails.

3. Create the Perfect Maintenance Resume Job Description and Skills Sections

Short of a live demo, what’s the best way to show you have what it takes?

By giving concrete examples of times you’ve done it all before.

Make your resume work experience section into a rapid-fire series of professional achievements.

How to write a job description for maintenance workers and technicians:

1. Re-read the job ad.
2. Mark the maintenance skills and duties in it.
3. Think of times you’ve used those skills to blow employers’ socks off.
4. Write resume bullet points that describe and quantify those times.

These maintenance resume examples show how:

Maintenance Job Description for a Resume

Slight changes, huge difference.

The first example makes it clear that you’ve got what it takes—

Nothing convinces like hard facts and actual numbers.

Use relevant accomplishments from non-maintenance jobs if you don’t have enough maintenance experience.

One more thing:

You’ll need skills to put on a resume.

But—

Less is more:

Cover what the job ad mentions and don’t go too far beyond that.

Here are some examples to show you what’s possible:

Maintenance Resume Skills

Hard skills

• Troubleshooting
• Reading and sketching schematics
• Basic mathematics
• Diagnostics
• Testing
• Scheduling
• Estimating repair duration
• Soldering
• Welding
• Working with asbestos

Soft skills

• Team player
• Analytical thinking
• Critical thinking
• Deductive reasoning
• Creative thinking
• Punctuality
• Reliability
• Communication
• Organization
• Time management
• Interpersonal skills

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4. Turn Blah Education Into a Reason to Hire You

Maintenance is a field so broad you can get into it with all kinds of education—

Whatever your educational background, do it justice in your maintenance resume.

For college degrees:

List your degrees (with majors), school names, and years attended.

For high school:

List the school name, location, and years attended. Only list your high school if you have no higher education or you’re still in the process of obtaining a degree. 

Then:

Add bullets that point to key maintenance skills.

This maintenance resume example shows how:

Maintenance Resume Example—Education Section

Low on maintenance experience?

Extend your resume education section with projects, classes, and accomplishments that show maintenance skills like troubleshooting and analytical thinking.

5. Bolster Your Maintenance Resume With Added Sections

Here’s the thing:

Maintenance work requires more than sections like work experience, education, and skills can capture.

Fix that by adding one or two extra sections that fill in the blanks:

• Additional Activities
• Foreign Languages
• Classes Taken
• Awards
• Hobbies and Interests
• Volunteering
• Certifications
• Professional References

These two maintenance resume examples show yes vs no:

Maintenance Resume Examples—Extra Sections

Duct tape, meet spot welding.

The first of those maintenance resume samples is all about relevant skills.

Hobbies aren’t a bad thing at all—

They just have to obey the one golden rule:

Everything you include in your resume has to be obviously relevant to the job ad.

One more rung and you’re there—

You just need a cover letter to go with your maintenance resume.

Unless you’ve been told not to include one, write a cover letter that explains why you want the job and why you’re the perfect fit for the role. 

Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.

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Key Points

For a maintenance resume that gets interviews:

• Use the maintenance resume template up top. It’s as clean, organized, and complete as the ideal toolbox.
• Put maintenance achievementsin your resume profile, work experience, and education sections to show you’ve got what it takes.
• Include only the right maintenance resume skills. The job ad will tell what they are, don’t improvise too much beyond that.
• Write a maintenance cover letter. Use it to show your passion for the work while you wow them with achievement after achievement.

Still not sure how to go about writing your maintenance job resume? Don’t hesitate to drop us a line down below. We’d love to hear from you and will be sure to reply.