Resume tips for ITI, diploma and skilled trades

If you are an ITI or polytechnic diploma holder, or you have learned a trade on the job, your resume needs to answer different questions from an office job resume. A maintenance supervisor or a plant HR team wants to know: which trade, which certificate, which machines and tools, which kind of plant or site, and whether you work safely. Answer those clearly and you are ahead of most applicants.

Put your trade in the first line

Under your name, write your trade and level as a title: "ITI Fitter", "Diploma in Mechanical Engineering", "Electrician – Industrial Maintenance", "CNC Operator", "Welder (SMAW, MIG)". A recruiter should know what you do in two seconds.

Certificates: be exact

Write the full name of each qualification, the trade, the year and the body that issued it. Recruiters in many industries check these details.

• ITI: trade name, NCVT or SCVT, year of passing, institute name. If you have the National Trade Certificate (NTC), say so.
• Apprenticeship: company, duration, and the National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) if you have it. Apprenticeships are valuable experience; list them like a job.
• Diploma: branch, polytechnic, state board of technical education, year, and percentage.
• Licences: an electrical wireman or supervisor licence from your state, a driving licence with its category (for example LMV or HMV), a forklift or crane operator certificate.
• Safety training: fire safety, first aid, working at height, confined space, lockout-tagout. Write the course and the year.
• Short courses: PLC basics, AutoCAD, Tally, solar installation, and courses taken through Skill India programmes.

Show machines, tools and materials

A skills list for a trade should be concrete. Instead of "good technical knowledge", name what you have used:

For an electrician, list panel types, motors (with rough HP range if you know it), starters, wiring systems, testing instruments like a megger or clamp meter. For a welder, list processes (SMAW, MIG, TIG), positions you are qualified in, and materials.

Write experience as work done, not duties

Each job or apprenticeship should have the company, the type of plant or site, your role and dates, then two to four lines about what you actually did. Mention the size or the result if you can.

Plain sentences are fine. The person reading this often knows the work better than an office recruiter does, so they will notice when details are real.

Personal details: what is needed, what is not

Trade resumes in India often carry a long "personal details" section. Keep the useful parts and drop the rest:

• Keep: phone number (one you answer), city and willingness to relocate, languages you speak, availability for shifts, and notice period if you are working.
• Add for jobs abroad: passport number and validity, and any trade test you have passed. Registered recruiting agents will ask for these anyway.
• Usually leave out: father's name, religion, caste, marital status, height and weight, unless the employer asks.
• Photo: many trade and factory employers in India still expect one. If you add a photo, use a recent, plain-background passport photo.

Length and language

One page is right for most ITI and diploma holders, two at most for long experience. Write in simple English; if you are more comfortable in Hindi or another language, it is fine to prepare a version in that language for local employers, but keep an English version for larger companies and portals.

Where to look for work

• Apprenticeship openings on the government's apprenticeship portal (apprenticeshipindia.gov.in).
• Jobs and job fairs on the National Career Service portal (ncs.gov.in).
• Campus drives at your ITI or polytechnic. Ask your training officer which companies come and when.
• Contractors and plant maintenance teams in the industrial areas near you. Many still hire by walk-in with a printed resume.

Be careful with agents promising jobs abroad for a fee. Our guide on spotting fake job offers explains how to check that an agent is registered.

Get started

The sample resumes include ITI and polytechnic diploma examples and experienced trades roles. Pick one close to your trade, then replace every detail with your own: your certificates, your machines, your plants.