Plumber Resume Example to Download [+ Guide & Tips]

As a Plumber, you might have an easier time fixing a sink than fixing your resume. You can handle the housing repairs, while we handle the resume repairs. Let us help you make a brand new and expertly written resume using our resume templates.

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Lauren Hamer
Reviewed by
Lauren Hamer
Career Expert
Updated on June 15, 2023
Written by
ResumeGiants Team
Resume and Cover Letter Experts

Who do you call when you have a leaky faucet?

Who do you need when you want to install a new bathtub or shower?

A plumber that’s who!

If you’re plumber, you know how in-demand your skills are. However, there’s lots of competition out there.

Your plumber resume must be up to the task or you’ll go nowhere.

How you display your skills, list your experience, and format your resume is usually the difference between impressing a potential employer and getting an automatic rejection email. 

To fix your soggy resume and ensure nothing slips through the cracks, use an online resume builder to construct a well-written resume. 

Of course, catching the hiring manager’s attention requires knowing what to include and what to leave out of your resume.

Our guide below explains:

  • How to perfectly format a resume for a plumber job
  • How to write a plumber resume objective and summary (with tips and examples)
  • What work experience you should prioritize
  • What plumber resume skills get noticed most

We’ll also show you how everything should look on our specially prepared plumber sample resume.

Keep reading to find out all the tips and tricks to make your plumber resume sparkle.

Plumbing Resume Sample

The question with creating any resume is always, where do I start?

Before starting to create your own resume, study a few resume examples to find some inspiration

Take a look over our professional plumber resume sample below to get an idea of what your final draft should look like.

Resume Example
Copied!

[Terry Hammond]

[Journeyman Plumber]

[St Louis, MO 65711 | 406-135-2224 | thammond23@gmail.com]

Summary

Licensed plumber with 5+ years of professional residential and commercial plumbing experience. A strong record of troubleshooting complex pipe system and water pump problems. Maintains a customer satisfaction rating of 95%.

Experience

Plumber

EZ Plumbing | St Louis, MO

2019 – 2023

  • Responded to 20-35 client calls per week
  • Installed bespoke plumbing systems in 15+ premium homes and condominiums
  • Performed routine inspections, identifying potential problems and saving customers from costly future repairs
  • Maintained a 95% customer satisfaction rating on Google and Facebook
  • Complied with OSHA safety standards

Journeyman Plumber

John Savis and Co | St Louis, MO

2017 – 2018

  • Maintained and installed residential and commercial plumbing systems and units.
  • Responded to callouts for leaks, clogs, and major repairs.
  • Installed new pipes and waste systems.
  • Earned leadership recognition for completing work 20% faster than the company average.

Education

Plumbing Apprenticeship

Oakbridge Community College | St Louis, MO

2017 – 2020

  • Areas of focus: installation, diagnostics and repairs, OSHA standards, pipe materials, drainage systems.
  • Shadowed two master plumbers during work placements.

Licenses

Journeyman license #56503023, St Louis Department of Maintenance

Skills

  • Installation
  • Copper
  • PEX and galvanized steel
  • Physical fitness
  • Attention to detail
  • Pressure tests
  • Sewage lines

Languages

Spanish – Intermediate

Hobbies and Interests

  • Fishing
  • Hiking
  • Lacrosse

What’s the Best Plumber Resume Format

So you’re ready to put together your own resume.

First, decide how you want to organize your skills, work history, and more.

To determine which resume format you should use, you’ll need to consider your experience

If you have more than two years of professional plumbing experience, the best choice is a reverse-chronological format.

This works well because it focuses on your most recent experience—recruiters want to see hands-on expertise from candidates above all else.

If you’re writing a plumber apprentice resume or your first professional resume, you might want to choose another type of format.

Functional or combination resumes work best if you have less experience.

These put more emphasis on skills but still touch on experience.

Ultimately, your resume should quickly communicate your best features so you keep the interest of hiring managers and get better results.

How to Write a Plumber Resume Summary or Resume Objective

The recruiter picks up your plumber’s resume.

The first thing they’ll see is your resume objective or summary. This is your chance to really grab a hiring manager’s full attention by highlighting your qualifications. 

Creating a plumber resume objective or summary will depend on your prior experience or lack thereof. 

💡 Top Tip

Use the job advertisement to focus your resume summary on what the employer wants.

Both resume summaries and objectives are your tools to get attention on your application immediately.

Recruiters don’t have a lot of time to review thousands of candidate resumes, so your summary or objective is a great way to snag a few extra seconds of their attention.

With around three sentences you can quickly win over the potenial employer with some juicy tidbits about your professional history or goals for the position.

What does this look like in practice?

In the section below, we look over two plumber resume examples.

From this, you can see the right way and the wrong way to create one.

Plumber Resume Summary Example

The resume summary can be your gateway to the job.

A resume summary should highlight your experience and show some data that proves you were successful.

Wrong ❌

Professional plumber with strong experience in maintenance and installation in homes and businesses. Dedicated approach and long history of customer satisfaction.

This won’t cut it. It’s way too generic.

While the previous summary example does talk about some plumbing duties for a resume it doesn’t tell us much about them.

Detail is the key thing missing here.

Every resume you send to a job vacancy needs to be tweaked and tailored to suit the specific profile the employer wants.

This means adding in some choice achievements and data from your career, to add a personal touch to your resume.

Let’s see what a more optimized example might look like with this in mind.

Right ✅

Licensed plumber with 5+ years of professional residential and commerical plumbing experience. A strong record of troubleshooting complex problems with pipe systems and water pumps. Maintains a customer satisfaction rating of 95%.

Give that person a plunger and wrench, we have our candidate!

This is much more likely to give you a shot at an interview for a few reasons.

Firstly, we’ve got specific figures.

A “customer satisfaction rating of 95%”, “5 years professional experience”, actual data the recruiter can use!

This gives them a much clearer idea of what you can do from the start.

Not only that, it talks more about specific tasks you have done on the job rather than just generic responsibilities that nine out of ten plumbers can do.

This focused and individualized approach gives you a much greater shot at getting on the shortlist.

Plumber Resume Objective Examples

f you are a plumbing specialist with little to no professional experience, a resume objective is the way to go.

In your objective, you should:

  • Mention your career targets and aspirations
  • Highlight your relevant skills 

Let’s look at how not to write your objective.

Wrong ❌

Highly skilled plumber with organizational skills and a fantastic record of punctuality. Interested in improving and learning in a new position. 

This statement is really generic, short, and vague. We can do better.

Right ✅

Certified plumber looking for an apprenticeship opportunity to demonstrate my strong repair skills and knowledge. Offers significant construction/laborer expertise, including home and bathroom plumbing modifications.

Now, this will knock a hiring manager’s socks off. By writing your resume objective like this, you’ll hit all the points that a job recruiter wants to see.

How to Describe Your Plumbing Experience on Your Resume

So far, so good.

You’ve written a stellar plumbing resume summary or objective.

Now is the time to build on that momentum with an equally strong experience section.

This is where you can list all the most eye-catching plumber duties and responsibilities on the resume.

💡 Top Tip

Don’t repeat tasks you did in multiple job entries. Introduce core skills early and use more recent jobs to highlight skills you learned.

If using a reverse-chronological format, list your present position first and track back through your work history.

Give each job its own entry, detailing key information about the position such as:

  • Job title
  • Name of your employer
  • Dates you worked there
  • 4-6 bullet points describing your responsibilities

Each job you include needs to help sell you for the specific role that you’re targeting.

Like the resume summary, you’ll need to optimize it for each position you formally apply for.

Let’s see this in action.

Plumber Resume Examples: Experience

There are plenty of ways to include plumbing experience on your resume.

However, ensuring you get the right information for the position you’re focusing on is most important.

Something that the example below fails to do entirely.

Wrong ❌

Plumber
EZ Plumbing | St Louis, MO
2019 – 2020

  • Installed plumbing systems.
  • Responded to callouts promptly.
  • Inspected work to ensure effective quality.
  • Maintained effective safety standards.

The description doesn’t make the candidate stand out whatsoever. A recruiter could receive a thousand resumes like this and be unable to tell them apart.

It’s time for a different approach…with specifics.

As you might imagine, a commercial plumber resume and a master residential plumber resume won’t be the same.

An industrial plumbing or pipe fitting resume will not look a journeyman plumber resume example either.

Modify your resume to what the employer needs beyond anything else.

Here’s how to do this better:

Right ✅

Plumber
EZ Plumbing | St Louis, MO
2019 – 2020

  • Responded to 20-35 client calls per week.
  • Installed bespoke plumbing systems in 15+ premium homes and condominiums.
  • Performed routine inspections, identifying potential problems and saving customers from costly future repairs.
  • Maintained a 97% customer satisfaction rating on Google and Facebook..
  • Complied with OSHA safety standards

Now, this is more like it!

Firstly, this lists plumber duties that will make you a hit with recruiters in an easy-read, scannable format.

Plus, the candidate qualified their duties by including relevant achievements he could also accomplish in a similar role with a different company

This makes placing you as a good fit for the role much easier.

Is Your Education Section Causing a Blockage? It Might Be

Whether you’re writing an apprentice plumber resume or a master plumber resume, your education section needs some punch to it.

You won’t need a Ph.D. in plumbing to be a top contender.

However, a well-prepared education section will give your resume and your chances a huge boost.

💡 Top Tip

Don’t overload your education section. A few points that show the specifics of your qualification should be enough to see you through.

So, what does a plumber resume need to succeed in this context?

Your licenses and apprenticeship, or vocational qualifications, are key.

Add this and then highlight some areas of focus or specialties that fit with the open position.

Some recruiters may also want to see evidence you’ve got a high school diploma; however, this isn’t usually a requirement.

Plumber Resume Education Section

Now that we’ve discussed how a plumber education section works in theory, let’s see how it’s done in practice.

In the case of the sample plumber resume section below, we can see that it doesn’t quite get things right.

Wrong ❌

Plumbing Apprenticeship
Oakbridge Community College | St Louis, MO
2017 – 2020

Successfully completed the course.
Achieved plumbing license.

Unfortunately, it’s kind of ‘meh’ for an education section.

We can read that the candidate has completed a plumbing course but that’s it.

There’s nothing else to it other than that.

A bit of extra detail is needed here to spark interest.

This optimized example below is better.

Right ✅

Plumbing Apprenticeship
Oakbridge Community College | St Louis, MO
2017 – 2020

  • Areas of focus: installation, diagnostics and repairs, OSHA standards, pipe materials, drainage systems.
  • Shadowed to master plumbers during work placements.

License

  • Journeyman license #123456, P-I (Plumbing -Class I) Contractor | St Louis Department of Maintenance

Now, this is a plumber resume sample education section to be proud of.

It not only details the key points about the course the candidate studied.

Plus, states and cities require plumbers to be licensed and certified. Therefore, you must also include your certifications in your education section.

Just that small amount of extra detail can give you the edge over other candidates.

In the end, your education section doesn’t need to be all that long, especially if you’ve got a few years of experience under your belt.

The Best Plumbing Skills for Your Resume

You’re a plumber; you know you’ve got skills.

But what skills make an impact?

Well, this depends on the job you’re targeting.

Once again, let the individual job description guide you on what to prioritize.

Generally speaking, most employers will look for a few specific abilitiess.

These include your knowledge of pipe materials, whether you have industrial, commercial or residential expertise and similar professional technical knowledge.

However, don’t forget that soft skills count as well.

Personal intrinsic skills like your ability to spot issues to resolve, friendly persona, or stamina will also work well in your favor.

The best plumbing skills for your resume include:

Soft Skills

  • Problem-solving
  • Communication
  • Physical fitness
  • Teamwork
  • Flexibility
  • Attention-to-detail
  • Customer service
  • Stamina
  • Focus
  • Precision

Hard Skills

  • Copper
  • PEX
  • PVC
  • Installation
  • Piping systems
  • Heating systems
  • OSHA certification
  • Repair and inspection
  • Pressure tests
  • Sewage lines

How to Add Other Sections for an Effective Resume

So now you’ve aced the summary, experience, skills, and education sections.

That’s your plumbing resume done, right?

Not quite.

More can fit on the page, depending on the plumber job description for your resume.

💡 Top Tip

Only add extra sections if there’s enough space to do so and you have something relevant to show.

If the job profile requires it or you have extra skills to showcase, you can add more information, like:

  • Languages you’ve learned
  • Certificates you’ve earned
  • Awards you’ve won
  • Relevant interests and hobbies

However, less is more. Make sure you only include skills relevant and important to the position. 

A resume for a plumber template can only fit so many features before it becomes cluttered.

Plumbing Resume “Other” Sections

If you want to put together the best plumber resume, add an extra section or two to highlight some other career features employers will respond positively to.

Things can go terribly wrong if you veer into unprofessional territory, much like our example candidate below.

Wrong ❌

Hobbies and Interests

  • Piercings
  • Chainsaw juggling
  • Monster trucks

Nope, this won’t do the trick.

These interests are not bad hobbies but they don’t relate to the plumbing industry.

They’re not relevant and the recruiter won’t really be able to do much with this information.

They might even be put off calling you in for an interview altogether. Instead, focus on things relevant to the job.

Let’s see how a more accomplished version of the other sections can look below.

Right ✅

Languages

  • Spanish – Intermediate

Hobbies and Interests

  • Fishing
  • Hiking
  • Lacrosse

The example candidate has introduced more relevant skills, like their ability to speak spanish.

Plumbing is a customer service job, and speaking another language can be valuable in this context.

Like the other example, they’ve also added a short and sweet hobbies and interests section. But this time, they kept it focused on activities that show they have an active life.

Physical strength and stamina are important in plumbing and this extra evidence of your dedication to those could help move things forward.

A resume for a plumber won’t need too many extra sections, but choosing the right ones can make a big difference.

Key Takeaway

Whether you create a bespoke plumber resume using a professional resume builder or construct a plumber resume sample in word, there are a few key points to remember.

When creating your plumbers resume you should always:

  • Use the specifically advertised job description to optimize your resume.
  • Grab the employer’s attention with a well-tuned resume summary or objective.
  • Tweak the experience you mention so it’s relevant to the specific job on offer.
  • List your educations and certifications.
  • Add a few extra sections (when relevan) to showcase other important qualities and achievements

You can easily include all the points in this guide using a free online resume template. Craft an impressive resume now.

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