Handyman Resume Sample [+Job Description and Skills]

With a Sawzall or a cat’s paw, nobody’s your equal. You can take two shims and a gum wrapper and recreate the Eiffel Tower. Prove it with this jaw-dropping sample handyman resume.

Tom Gerencer

Career Expert

Updated 01/18/2022

As seen in:

Sample Handyman Resume Template

James Bunch

james.q.bunch@gmail.com

404-276-8485

Professional Summary

Talented handyman with 7+ years of experience, skilled in light carpentry, plumbing, and electrical. Seeking position with Blue Egg Property Management. At PRPQ Partners, maintained 11 buildings with 10+ apartment units each. Handled light carpentry, electrical, and plumbing work and resolved an average of 30 resident issues per week. Received positive comments from 95% of residents and managers.

Work Experience

Handyman

PRPQ Partners

Jan 2014–March 2019

Dealt with all light carpentry, plumbing, and electrical concerns. Escalated larger issues to contractors. Fixed issues 20% faster than predecessor.
Sourced contractors and vendors, saving the company $20,000 per year by picking higher-value options.
Received 30+ thank-you letters annually from residents.
Maintained building and grounds for 120 apartment units. Worked around resident schedules and needs.
Resolved conflicts between residents and management through active listening and problem solving skills.

Handyman

Bardwell Charles Building Managers

Nov 2011–Jan 2014

Worked as handyman in 55-unit apartment complex.
Noticed and repaired 3 electrical hazards that were guaranteed to cause a structural fire within the next 10 months.

Education

2006–2010 Ogelthorpe University

B.A. in Liberal Arts

Excelled in classes in construction management, carpentry, and electrical work.
Worked on a school project to build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Skills

Soft skills: Collaboration, conflict resolution, time management, active listening
Hard skills: Carpentry, repair, roofing, electrical, plumbing, appliance installation

Activities

Regular Habitat for Humanity volunteer.

Avid sport fisherman.

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Sample Handyman Resume—See more templates and create your resume here.

One of our users, Nikos, had this to say:

[I used] a nice template I found on Zety. My resume is now one page long, not three. With the same stuff.

Here are some other resume examples you may find useful:

Now, here’s how to write a handyman resume that gets jobs:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Handyman Resume

A slipshod handyman skills resume belies a slipshod handyman.

Show the hiring manager you’re worth a second look with a professionally formatted resume.

These steps will fix you up fast:

What’s the right format for a resume? The most respected is the chronological layout. That’s reverse-chronological to you and me.
In the heading for your resume, feature your name and your job title prominently.
Give the hiring manager a break now and add plenty of white space. Put your words in good resume fonts so they don’t have to struggle reading the text.
When you save it, should you do that in PDF format or Word format? Resumes as PDFs always work better unless the job ad says they’re “not code.”

Pro Tip: How many words should a resume be for handyman jobs? A single page is the standard. Any longer and you’d better have built Shea Stadium.

2. Write a Handyman Resume Objective or Resume Summary

You don’t have much time.

A handyman resume gets very little time with the busy hiring manager.

That’s why you need a resume profile that stands up and shouts.

The key to nailing it? Stock it with achievements.

When you’ve got more than two years of experience, a resume summary is the way to go. In it, show a couple skills and things you did in other handyman jobs that really helped.

For entry-level resumes for handyman positions, write a resume objective. That’s where you talk up your skills, but add accomplishments from non-handyman jobs.

Pro Tip: You need a summary in a handyman or landscaping skills resume, but write it last. If you write it first, you’ll get stuck looking for raw material.

3. Make a Polished Handyman Job Description for Your Resume

Who would you hire?

Someone who “handled” handyman duties and responsibilities?

Or somebody who excelled at them?

Show you’re the second kind of candidate, by listing accomplishments in your resume work experience section.

Put your latest job up top with a position title, company name, and dates you worked there.
Put about five bullet points under that top job. What goes in them? Duties and achievements.
Duct tape those achievements to the job by using them to prove skills from the job posting. That’s called tailoring a resume.
Add a few numbers like dollars saved or hours saved to show you weren’t just killing time.
Use powerful resume words to keep things interesting for the hiring manager.

Pro Tip: As you get lower on your handyman resume, use less bullet points. The key is to describe your current skills more fully.

4. Write a Functional Handyman Resume Education Section

Ready for a surprise?

In a handyman resume, your education section can get you hired.

How can that be possible?

Well, employers don’t care about your education. But they do care about your passion.

You want to show technical skills and softer skills in a resume.

Your education can prove the softer ones.

Here’s how:

List things you did in school that show your people skills, communication, or time management.
Did you belong to any clubs or teams? That shows collaboration skills.
Did you do any projects or excel in any classes that show job compatibility? List them.

Pro Tip: Should you show your GPA in a handyman or maintenance man resumes? You don’t need to. If it will make the hiring manager notice you in a good way, list it.

5. Show Your Handyman Skills

Use this handyman resume skills list in your resume:

Handyman Resume Skills

Hard Skills:

Carpentry
Landscaping
Painting
Appliance repair
Sheetrocking
Roofing
Electrical work
Plumbing
Appliance installation
Pest control

Soft Skills:

Interpersonal relations
Conflict resolution
Communication
Active listening
Dependability
Driver’s license
Problem solving
Time management
Critical thinking

But don’t just hammer that resume skills list in your application for handyman jobs. Did the job ad mention landscaping skills? Add them, then show how you used ‘em.

Pro Tip: Even if you’ve never held the handyman job title, you can still get the job with a good handyman resume. How? By adding skills that carry over from other jobs you’ve had.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Handyman Resume

Go above and beyond to get the job.

To do it, show you’ve still got energy when you’re not at work.

That works by adding extra resume sections like:

Volunteer efforts
Activities
Kudos from employers
Sports
Interests and hobbies
Foreign language skills

7. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Handyman Resume

Really?

Do you actually need to write a cover letter for a handyman resume?

Oh, yes.

Most recruiters like them. If you write a good one, it can get you in the door.

But you’ve got to show you fit the job like you were shimmed into it.

So:

Begin with a format for cover letters managers respect.
Always start cover letters with a grippy hook.
In the middle, say what you like about the company.
To end a cover letter, make a tantalizing offer like, “I’d like to talk with you about making your life easier.”

Pro Tip: When you send a handyman resume and cover letter, follow up on your job application. Don’t be afraid to do it more than once. They won’t count it against you at hiring time.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s it!

That’s how to write a resume for handyman positions.

Still puzzling out how to write a handyman or carpenter resume objective? Got tips for greenhorns that will get them on the premises? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!

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