Electrician resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 17 skills, tools and credentials that come up in electrician 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 · 12
- NEC (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Electrical troubleshooting (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Commercial wiring (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Residential wiring (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Blueprint reading (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Conduit bending (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Panel installation (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Motor controls (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Three-phase power (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Lighting systems (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Low voltage (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- Lockout/tagout (used in Marcus's sample resume)
Tools & software · 1
- Multimeter (used in Marcus's sample resume)
Licenses & certifications · 3
- Journeyman license (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- OSHA 30 (used in Marcus's sample resume)
- NFPA 70E (used in Marcus's sample resume)
Soft skills · 1
- Crew leadership (used in Marcus's sample resume)
17 of 17 appear in Marcus'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.
NEC, Lighting systems
Weak: Skills: NEC, Lighting systems
Strong: Install power, panels and lighting systems for retail and office build-outs up to 60,000 sq ft, working to the NEC and local amendments
Motor controls, Three-phase power, Multimeter
Weak: Skills: Motor controls, Three-phase power, Multimeter
Strong: Troubleshoot motor controls and 480V three-phase power distribution with a multimeter and megohmmeter, passing 40+ inspections with no failed items
Residential wiring
Weak: Skills: Residential wiring
Strong: Completed a 4-year registered apprenticeship in residential wiring and light commercial work
Low voltage
Weak: Skills: Low voltage
Strong: Installed EV chargers, generator transfer switches and low voltage data cabling for remodel customers
Strong bullets come from Marcus's sample resume and our electrician 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 electrician post asks for Journeyman license and you've used it, say Journeyman license, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If an electrician post says "NEC", write "NEC", 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 Electrical troubleshooting — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know NEC. A bullet like the one under Journeyman Electrician 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.
Which of these does your resume say?
Free ATS score and missing keywords in about 10 seconds.
Applying to one post? Scan its keywords against your resume.
Keep going
/ Questions
Electrician keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should an electrician resume have?
There's no magic number. Marcus'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 electrician post says "Journeyman license", write "Journeyman license" 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 Marcus's sample, Commercial wiring is in the summary and NEC shows up in a bullet under Journeyman Electrician. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on an electrician resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in electrician posts include Multimeter. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
How should I list Journeyman license and OSHA 30 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
All 88 rolesSee which of these your resume already says.
Free ATS check — no sign-up, about 10 seconds.