Automotive Technician resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 17 skills, tools and credentials that come up in automotive technician job posts, sorted by type, and how to put them in bullets a recruiter believes.
By Nazir Elmurodov, Founder, LaunchCV · Updated
/ The list
Keywords by type. Use only the ones that are true for you.
Hard skills · 11
- Engine diagnostics (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Electrical diagnostics (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Engine performance (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Drivability (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Wiring diagrams (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Brakes (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Suspension and steering (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- A/C service (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Preventive maintenance (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Multi-point inspections (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Repair orders (used in Brandon's sample resume)
Tools & software · 3
- Scan tools (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Lab scope (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- ALLDATA (used in Brandon's sample resume)
Licenses & certifications · 3
- ASE certified (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- Master Automobile Technician (used in Brandon's sample resume)
- EPA Section 609 (used in Brandon's sample resume)
17 of 17 appear in Brandon's sample resume. See where
/ How to use them
Put keywords in bullets, not just in a skills list.
A skills list tells the software you have a skill. A bullet shows a recruiter what you did with it.
Engine performance, Drivability, Scan tools, Lab scope, Wiring diagrams, ALLDATA
Weak: Skills: Engine performance, Drivability, Scan tools, Lab scope, Wiring diagrams, ALLDATA
Strong: Diagnose engine performance, electrical and drivability problems on domestic and Asian vehicles using scan tools, a lab scope and wiring diagrams from ALLDATA
Drivability, Repair orders
Weak: Skills: Drivability, Repair orders
Strong: Keep my comeback rate under 2% by road-testing every drivability repair and writing the cause and fix clearly on the repair orders
EPA Section 609
Weak: Skills: EPA Section 609
Strong: Service A/C systems on R-134a and R-1234yf vehicles under EPA Section 609 certification
Multi-point inspections
Weak: Skills: Multi-point inspections
Strong: Performed oil changes, brake jobs and multi-point inspections on 12–15 vehicles a day
Strong bullets come from Brandon's sample resume and our automotive technician bullet examples. Names and figures are illustrative.
/ Use them honestly
Keywords get you found. Proof gets you hired.
Mirror the job post's wording for skills you really have. If an automotive technician post asks for ASE certified and you've used it, say ASE certified, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If an automotive technician post says "Master Automobile Technician", write "Master Automobile Technician", not a near-synonym — as long as it's accurate. Recruiters search for the post's exact term.
Only claim what you can back up
Expect to be asked about every term you list. If you couldn't spend two minutes on Engine diagnostics — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know Engine performance. A bullet like the one under Automotive Technician in the example above shows what you did with it.
No stuffing, no hidden text
Repeating a word or hiding keywords in white text doesn't make you a better match. A person reads the resume in the end.
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/ Questions
Automotive Technician keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should an automotive technician resume have?
There's no magic number. Brandon's sample resume uses all 17 terms on this page, because each one fit that job. Cover what your post asks for that you can back up, each where it fits; repeating a keyword doesn't help.
Should I copy keywords exactly from the job post?
Use the post's wording for skills you really have. If an automotive technician post says "ASE certified", write "ASE certified" rather than a synonym, so a recruiter searching for that term finds you. Don't add skills you don't have just because the post lists them.
Where should keywords go on my resume?
In your summary, a short skills section and, above all, the bullets under each job, where you show what you did with the skill. In Brandon's sample, ASE certified, Master Automobile Technician and Drivability are in the summary and Engine performance shows up in a bullet under Automotive Technician. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on an automotive technician resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in automotive technician posts include Scan tools, Lab scope and ALLDATA. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
How should I list ASE certified and Master Automobile Technician on my resume?
Spell them the way the job post does, and include both the abbreviation and the full name if you have room. Put licenses and certifications in their own section or next to your education, and only list ones that are current.
Keywords for related roles
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