Shotfirer (Blaster) CV Examples & Writing Guide

Search for "blaster CV" and you get two completely different trades. One is the person who loads and fires explosives in a quarry, mine or construction cutting. The other is an abrasive blaster (in the UK often called a shot blaster or grit blaster), who strips paint, rust and coatings with grit, sand or soda before a surface gets painted.

This page is about the explosives job, in the UK usually called a shotfirer. If you strip and prepare surfaces, you want a surface preparation or industrial painter CV instead, built around surface preparation standards such as ISO 8501 and NACE (now AMPP), containment, and coatings. Say which one you are in your job title line, because a hiring manager scanning fifty CVs will not stop to work it out.

This is an appointed shotfirer with eleven years in quarry and road construction work. The name is invented and the employers are described, not named. Note how much of the top of the page is qualifications and safety record. That is deliberate; it is exactly how this job is screened.

Nobody in this trade hires on personality. The screen is a compliance screen, and it is short.

• Your shotfiring qualification and appointment. There is no state-style blaster licence in the UK; operators appoint shotfirers they judge competent, usually on the strength of a recognised shotfiring course, assessment and documented experience. Name the course, the provider, the year, and whether you have worked surface, underground or both.
• Explosives clearance. Acquiring and keeping explosives in Great Britain is controlled under the Explosives Regulations 2014, with explosives certificates issued by the police. If you have been checked and cleared for explosives work, say so. If you have anything in your history that would block it, deal with that before you apply.
• Quarry, mine or construction training. Quarries work under the Quarries Regulations 1999 and the few underground mines under the Mines Regulations 2014, while construction blasting sits within CDM 2015 and site rules. Say which world you come from and what training is current.
• Your record. Shots fired, incident count, misfires, complaints, exceedances. A clean nine-year record stated plainly is the strongest sentence on the page.
• Driving and hauling. A Category C licence with an ADR certificate covering explosives lets you move product. On small crews that can be the difference between two hires and one.

• Blast design: burden and spacing, subdrill, stemming column, hole diameter selection, timing and delay design, powder factor, fragmentation targets
• Products: ANFO, bulk and packaged emulsion, water gel, cast boosters, detonating cord, shock tube, electric and electronic detonators, and knowing which one a wet hole calls for
• Loading and firing: primer assembly, deck loading, stemming, tie-in, hook-up checks, firing line control, clearance and guarding, warning signals
• Monitoring and compliance: seismograph placement and reading, peak particle velocity and air overpressure limits, scaled distance, pre-blast condition surveys, complaint handling, blast reports
• Safety procedures: misfire handling, post-blast inspection, flyrock control, mats and matting, weather and lightning holds, thunderstorm detection
• Storage and transport: explosives store management and stock records, transport boxes, explosives record keeping, ADR placarding and the rules for carrying explosives by road
• Site work: drill pattern layout, hole checking, face profiling with a laser or drone, coordination with drillers, loaders and haul crews
• Software and tools: blast design and timing software, seismograph software, GPS hole location, drone photogrammetry, digital blast logs

This is the section a manager actually reads. Do not paraphrase anything here. Use the exact name of the qualification, the awarding or training body, the scope and the year.

• Shotfiring qualification and appointment. The UK has no individual blaster licence. Quarry and mine operators must appoint competent shotfirers, and in practice they look for a recognised shotfiring course or qualification, an assessment and documented experience. Training bodies in the mineral products sector run these courses; name yours exactly, with the year and whether it covers surface, underground or both.
• Explosives certificate. Under the Explosives Regulations 2014, acquiring and keeping explosives needs an explosives certificate issued by the police, and stores need a licence. Employers usually hold these. If you have been through the police checks for explosives work, say so in one line.
• Quarry and mine training. Quarries work under the Quarries Regulations 1999 and the few underground mines under the Mines Regulations 2014, each with site induction, task training and refreshers. Many quarries also ask for a quarry health and safety (SHEA) card. Give the date of your last refresher.
• Construction. Blasting on civil sites runs within CDM 2015 and the principal contractor's rules. A CSCS card and IOSH or similar safety training are standard on civil sites.
• Driving. A Category C or C+E licence with Driver CPC, plus an ADR certificate that covers Class 1 explosives, is what lets you move product by road.
• Professional bodies. The Institute of Explosives Engineers in the UK and the International Society of Explosives Engineers run conferences, publications and training. Membership is not a qualification, but listing it shows you keep current with practice.

Almost nobody starts as a shotfirer. You start on the powder crew as an assistant, you log documented experience under an appointed shotfirer, and then you take a shotfiring course and assessment. Your CV for that first assistant job is a different document.

1. 1Get your quarry health and safety (SHEA) card or site induction first. It is a short course and it removes the employer's first objection.
2. 2Be honest that you can pass the police checks for explosives work. Nothing else matters if you cannot, and employers will find out at the first form.
3. 3Put any related heavy work on the page: quarry, mining, drilling, excavation, demolition, plant operation, Royal Engineers or ordnance work. Blasting crews hire on reliability and physical stamina.
4. 4Add your driving licence category if it is C or C+E, and any ADR certificate. If you do not have one, say you are willing to get it; ADR has its own course and exams.
5. 5Say what you can lift and how far you can walk carrying it. Loading a bench means hours of carrying primers and hose over broken rock.
6. 6Track your experience from day one. Shotfiring courses and employers expect documented experience signed off by an appointed shotfirer, and reconstructing that later is painful.

• One page, two only if you have a long site list worth naming. Plain layout, no photo, no date of birth, as on any UK CV.
• Put a Qualifications and Training block directly under your personal statement, above work history. This is one of the few trades where that order is correct.
• Large aggregates producers and civil contractors use applicant tracking systems. Mirror their words: shotfirer, drill and blast, blast specification, powder factor, ANFO, emulsion, shock tube, seismograph, Quarries Regulations, Explosives Regulations, explosives store, blast report.
• State your shot count and your incident record as separate lines. Both are unusual and both are memorable.
• Note your willingness to travel or to work a rotation. Quarry work is local; tunnelling, wind farm and road scheme blasting is not.
• Keep a copy of your shotfiring certificate, SHEA card and training records ready to send. Employers ask for them early, and a fast reply beats a polished CV.

“First thing I look for is the shotfiring ticket and whether the explosives clearance is current. Second is shots fired and whether they will tell me about a misfire. A person who writes down how they handled a misfire is a person who follows the procedure. The ones who claim a perfect ten years and no incidents at all worry me more.”