Field guide
How ATS screens skilled trades and manufacturing resumes
Trades and manufacturing hiring screens on licenses, certifications and equipment. A journeyman license, CDL or welding certification is often required, and recruiters look for the machines and safety standards you work with.
What recruiters filter and search on
- Licenses and certifications: journeyman or master license, CDL class, AWS welding, EPA 608, OSHA cards
- Equipment and processes: CNC, PLCs, MIG and TIG welding, forklifts, blueprint reading
- Safety and quality: OSHA compliance, lockout tagout, ISO 9001, lean practices
Name things the way the posting does
- List each license with its class and state: "CDL Class A, Illinois, with Hazmat endorsement"
- Name the machines and controls you ran, not only "operated equipment"
- Include apprenticeship hours and safety record if the posting asks
What trips up parsers in this field
- No Certifications section, so required cards and licenses are missed
- Skills kept only in a paragraph instead of a list
- Missing dates, which hides years of experience
How PassMyResume scores this field
Keywords 40%, credentials 30%, formatting 15%, content alignment 15%. Credentials only count when the posting requires one; otherwise that weight moves to keywords. The full formula.
The scanner knows 194 terms specific to this field, such as AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, Bluebeam Revu, Procore, and credentials like Journeyman Electrician License, Master Electrician License, Journeyman Plumber License.
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