CNC Programmer CV Examples & Writing Guide

This is a CV for a programmer who came up off the shop floor: operator, then setter, then programming. It leads with equipment and software because that is what a shop manager scans for. The person and shops are invented; the numbers are the kind that sit in your route cards and scrap reports.

Machine shops hire fast and they hire on fit with the equipment already on the floor. Four things decide whether your CV goes in the call pile.

• Machines and axes. Three-axis mill work and five-axis simultaneous work are different jobs. Say which you program, how many axes, and whether you have done mill-turn or sliding head (Swiss-type).
• Control and CAM. A Mastercam shop wants a Mastercam programmer. Name the CAM package and the version, and name the controls (Fanuc, Haas, Okuma OSP, Mazatrol, Siemens, Heidenhain). Many shops search for these exact words.
• Materials and tolerances. Aluminium production work is not the same as Inconel or titanium in aerospace. Give your tightest routine tolerance and the alloys you have cut.
• Industry and quality system. AS9100 aerospace, ISO 13485 medical, IATF 16949 automotive and oil and gas API work all carry different paperwork. Say which you have lived with, and whether you handled first article inspection.

“I need three things off the first page: what machines, what control, what CAM. When those are buried at the bottom, the CV goes back on the pile before I get there. And put your tolerances in. Everybody says precision. Nobody says two tenths.”

Most CNC programmer CVs bury the equipment in paragraphs. Put it in a labelled block near the top instead, so the shop manager and the keyword filter both find it. Four or five lines is enough.

A programmer is judged on parts per hour and parts in the scrap bin. Turn every duty into a number from the job you actually ran.

Use a personal statement if you have machining experience. Use a career objective only if you are switching into programming or leaving college, because an objective talks about what you want and a personal statement talks about what you can do. Either one sits under your name and runs three or four lines.

Most programmers were operators first, and shops know it. If you are making that jump, the CV has to show that you already do the thinking part of the job, not just the button pressing.

1. 1Pull out every time you edited a program. Offset changes, feed and speed corrections, adding a spring pass, fixing a gouge at the control. That is programming work and most operators never mention it.
2. 2Name the CAM software you have touched, even from a course or a home Fusion 360 licence, and say what you cut with it. A photo-worthy part you programmed and machined yourself counts.
3. 3List the prove-outs. "Proved out 30 new jobs in 2025, including first-run titanium work" tells a shop you can be trusted with a new part number.
4. 4Add the paperwork side: setup sheets you wrote, tooling lists, control plans, first article inspection you supported. Programmers spend a lot of time on documents.
5. 5Get a qualification that closes the gap. A Mastercam or Fusion course from an authorised reseller costs less than a month's wages, and a part-time HNC in manufacturing engineering is widely recognised.

There is no licence to be a CNC programmer in the UK. What employers recognise is a short list of qualifications and training records.

• Apprenticeship and NVQs: a completed Level 3 engineering apprenticeship with a machining option, or a Level 2 Performing Engineering Operations and a Level 3 NVQ in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering. Name the specific qualification and the year.
• CAM vendor training: Mastercam, Esprit, NX CAM, hyperMILL or Fusion 360 courses through an authorised reseller. Give the module and year.
• GD&T training to BS 8888 (ISO GPS), plus ASME Y14.5 if you machine for US customers: worth its own line, especially for aerospace and medical work.
• IOSH Working Safely: short, common and often asked for.
• An HNC or HND in mechanical or manufacturing engineering: list the college and the completion year. It is a common step from setting into programming and production engineering.
• Quality system exposure: AS9100D, ISO 9001, ISO 13485 or IATF 16949. You are not certifying yourself, so write it as experience, for example "worked to AS9100D since 2021, including AS9102 first article packs".

If you trained outside the UK, list the qualification with its country and add a line about the drawing standards you have worked to, since ISO and ASME GD&T conventions differ enough to matter on the floor.

One page is right for most machinists and programmers. Two pages only if you have a long machine list plus supervisory experience. Subcontract shops often use simple applicant tracking software, and some still print CVs and carry them onto the floor, so keep it plain.

• Single column, no photo, no date of birth, no graphics, black text. A printed copy has to be readable under shop lighting.
• Mirror the advert's exact words: "5-axis", "mill-turn", "Mastercam", "Fanuc", "Heidenhain", "AS9100", "first article", "probing", "sliding head". These are the phrases shops search on.
• Write both forms once: "computer numerical control (CNC)" and "computer aided manufacturing (CAM)".
• Include shift availability if you are open to nights or weekends. Many shops screen on this before anything else.
• State your right to work in the UK plainly if the shop does defence work. Defence suppliers run pre-employment screening, and parts controlled under US ITAR export rules can limit who may work on them.
• Send a PDF named Lastname-Firstname-CNC-Programmer-CV.pdf, and keep a Word copy for recruitment agencies that reformat.