Automotive Technician Resume Example & Job Description

What to Highlight in an Automotive Technician Resume

As an automotive technician or mechanic, you’ll be responsible for car maintenance, repairs, and all aspects of automotive service. That means you’ll be diagnosing various vehicle issues and problem-solving to please your customers. Therefore, you should focus on these areas in your resume:

• Preventative maintenance, routine maintenance
• Fixing brake systems
• Fixing/maintaining electrical systems
• Oil changes
• Repairing air conditioning units and cooling systems
• Increasing engine performance
• Engine repair
• Installing exhaust systems 
• Diagnosing malfunctions

Essentially, you need to showcase extensive knowledge of all vehicle systems. To land the best jobs, highlight your technical skills and previous work experience in a well-crafted resume that also demonstrates you have the communication skills to ensure customer satisfaction.

Structure of an Automotive Technician Resume

There are three types of resume formats to choose from: a chronological resume, a functional resume and a combination resume.

A chronological resume focuses on your experience, going reverse-chronologically with your most recent position at the beginning of your resume. A functional resume, on the other hand, focuses on your skills. A combination resume provides a balanced mix of your skills and work experience. As an automotive technician, you can choose any of these resumes, depending on where your strengths lie. If you’re just starting out in your career, a functional format might work best as it emphasizes skills and training. If you’re an experienced technician, go with the chronological format so you can highlight your work history. A combination resume works if you have a few years of related experience and a collection of strong skills.

Regardless of resume format, your professional resume will include the following sections:

• Header 
• Resume summary/resume objective
• Skills
• Work experience
• Education

Header

The perfect resume will immediately share your contact information with the recruiter. Include this in the header in a prominent position for the hiring manager. Make sure to include:

• Your full name
• Address (city and state)
• Email address
• Phone number

Resume summary or objective

Next, you’ll need to provide a snapshot of your career as an auto mechanic, using a resume summary or a resume objective.

A resume summary is a brief 2-3 sentence paragraph detailing your best qualifications and career highlights in automotive repair. You could mention specific specialties or major responsibilities from previous jobs. To keep this section concise, you can also use bullet points.
A resume objective, on the other hand, is a brief paragraph outlining your career ambitions and where you hope to progress in the future, as well as the top skills you already have. This option is better for entry-level candidates.

Skills

To land the best roles, demonstrate your expertise in automotive technology. These are the hard skills that show you will be able to perform the duties of a mechanic. List the skills that enable you to complete the work associated with the specific mechanic job you’re applying to. This could be expert knowledge of fuel systems or familiarity with specific diagnostic equipment. Check the job description to see which skills are required.

However, don’t neglect soft skills here either. Mechanics often rely on time management and teamwork to complete tune-ups and maintenance services efficiently. If you apply to work in a dealership, then you may also need excellent customer service skills. Present a mix of hard and soft skills needed to be an excellent automotive technician.

Work experience

List your previous automotive technician experience in reverse chronological order in this section, most recent job first. Any vehicle repair-related work will be relevant here, whether as a service technician or a mechanic for Ford. Just make sure to add a sentence or two about your responsibilities.

If you are an entry-level candidate, then try to list previous experiences or activities (e.g., volunteer work, summer jobs or internships) that demonstrate some of the qualities the recruiter may be looking for.

Education

Most mechanics don’t need qualifications beyond their high school diploma but will need professional certificates that establish their credibility as mechanics. Some automotive technicians now have an automotive technology associate degree. Many mechanics are also ASE-certified.

Whatever professional qualifications you have, list them here to demonstrate your technical expertise for the recruiter.

Do’s and Don’ts For an Automotive Technician Resume

Do:

• Establish your credibility by listing key technical skills that match the job description.
• Use bullet points as an efficient system of displaying expertise.
• Use resume templates to help you create an easy-to-read resume that follows a professional structure.

Don’t:

• Falsify any work experience or knowledge. You’ll most likely get found out later in the job application stages.
• Add too much non-relevant work experience. If you link previous work experience to the mechanic role, then great, but if not, don’t overload the recruiter with unnecessary information.
• Try to write your resume without any help! Use our resume builder and mechanic resume examples to help craft the perfect resume.