Fish Processing Worker CV Examples & Writing Guide
A fish processing CV gets picked up when it shows the species and cuts you have handled, your speed in kilos or pieces per hour, your fillet yield, the machines you have run, your food safety training, and that you can work a cold, wet, 12-hour line without missing shifts.
Fish processing worker CV example (plant line and filleting)
This sample is for a processor with six years who started on the packing line and moved into hand filleting and machine operation, including two summer pelagic seasons. The name and companies are invented. If you work a retail fish counter or a market, keep the layout and change the cuts and the customer side.
Nikolai Sorokin
Fish Processing Worker / Filleter
Peterhead · 07700 900173 · n.sorokin.seafood@email.com
Summary
Seafood processing worker with 6 years across shore plants and two summer pelagic seasons in north-east Scotland. Hand fillets salmon, cod and haddock at 135 to 170 kg an hour with a 52% to 56% yield, runs Baader filleting and skinning machines, and holds a Level 3 HACCP certificate. No missed shifts across three seasons of 12-hour days.
Experience
Filleter and Machine Operator · Whitefish and salmon processing plant, 18 tonnes a day
Sep 2022–Present
- Hand fillets and trims salmon, cod and haddock at 135 to 170 kg an hour, holding fillet yield between 52% and 56% against a plant target of 51%.
- Runs a Baader filleting line and a skinning machine, changing blades and settings by species and size grade, and clears jams without waiting for maintenance.
- Pin bones, grades and portions fillets to customer specification, with downgrades held under 3% on a line running 8 tonnes a shift.
- Follows HACCP critical control points on chill temperature, metal detection and glaze weights, and signs off the records for the shift.
- Runs hygiene on the line at end of shift (disassembly, foam, rinse, sanitise) with no failed environmental swabs in two years.
- Trained 9 seasonal workers on knife safety, cutting technique and yield checks during the last two peak seasons.
Seasonal Processor · Pelagic processing plant, north-east Scotland (two summer seasons)
Jun 2021–Aug 2022 (seasonal)
- Worked 12-hour shifts through two summer herring seasons: grading, heading and gutting, sorting by size grade, and packing into boxes and cases.
- Handled roughly 680 tonnes of fish across the two seasons on a line running near-continuously through the peak.
- Loaded and stacked plate freezers and moved frozen cases to the blast freezer and cold store at temperatures down to minus 23°C.
- Completed both seasons with zero missed shifts and no reportable injuries.
Packing Line Worker · Prawn and value-added seafood processor
Feb 2020–May 2021
- Peeled, deveined and graded prawns and packed IQF product at 550 to 680 kg a shift.
- Ran the vacuum sealer and checkweigher, catching short weights before packout and keeping giveaway under 1.5%.
- Kept the cold room and packing area to GMP standards, with two customer audits passed during that period.
Education
Highers and National 5 qualifications
Secondary school, Aberdeenshire, 2019
Certifications
- Level 3 HACCP for Food Manufacturing, 2023
- Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Manufacturing, current
- Counterbalance forklift certificate, 2022
- Emergency First Aid at Work, current
Skills
What a plant supervisor checks first
Seafood plants run on volume, yield and food safety records, and they are chronically short of people who can hold a knife and turn up. Supervisors read for four things.
- Species and cuts. Salmon, cod, haddock, pollock, mackerel, herring, monkfish, prawns, crab, shellfish. Each has its own technique and pace, so name the ones you know.
- Speed and yield. Kilos or pieces per hour, yield percentage, downgrade rate. If you have never been told your yield, ask, because it is measured.
- Food safety credentials. HACCP training, a food hygiene certificate, GMP and hygiene experience, and whether you have been on the line through a customer or third-party audit.
- Whether you can take the conditions. Cold, wet, standing, 12-hour days in season. Attendance across a full season is a real qualification and should be stated.
“Tell me your species, your kilos an hour and your yield, then tell me you finished the season without missing shifts. Those four lines answer every question that matters. Half the CVs I see just say "worked in a fish plant", and that could mean six weeks or six years.”
Food safety training and what to put on the page
Every UK food business must run food safety procedures based on HACCP principles, and fish processing plants are approved establishments, so training here is not optional decoration. Name only what you actually hold.
- HACCP training: Level 2 for line operatives, Level 3 for anyone who monitors or signs off critical control points. Name the year and the provider. It moves you from general line worker to someone who can sign records.
- A Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene certificate (in Scotland, often a REHIS food hygiene course), with the year you took or refreshed it.
- Level 3 food safety supervision training if you hold it, and any role you played as the person responsible for records on a shift.
- GMP, cleaning schedules, allergen control and hygiene training, plus experience being on the floor through a customer, BRCGS or MSC chain of custody audit.
- Safety training that plants ask about: knife safety, cut-resistant glove and mesh use, lock-out tag-out, forklift, cold stress awareness, and ammonia refrigeration awareness if the plant has it.
- For at-sea processing, add any sea survival or marine safety training, drills and documentation you completed.
Fish processing CV personal statement examples
Seafood processing worker with 6 years in shore plants. Hand fillets salmon, cod and haddock at 135 to 170 kg an hour with yields of 52% to 56% against a 51% target, runs Baader filleting and skinning machines, and holds a Level 3 HACCP certificate. No missed shifts in three seasons.
Seafood plant worker with 4 years on packing and freezing lines. Handles heading, gutting, grading, IQF packing, glazing and case work at 680 kg a shift, runs vacuum sealers and checkweighers, and keeps weight giveaway under 1.5%. Comfortable in cold stores down to minus 23°C.
Seasonal seafood processor with three completed pelagic seasons in north-east Scotland. Worked 12-hour shifts through peak herring and mackerel landings on grading, sorting, freezing and case packing, handling around 680 tonnes across two seasons. Zero missed shifts and no injuries, and available for the next season start date.
Fish counter assistant with 5 years in a supermarket fish department. Fillets and portions to order, sets and rotates the ice display, keeps wastage under 4%, and handles customer questions on species, sourcing and cooking. Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate and trained on allergen and cross-contamination control.
Reliable worker seeking a seafood processing position. 2 years in a cold-storage warehouse on 10-hour shifts at 1°C with full attendance, plus 3 years of restaurant kitchen prep including breaking down whole fish. Comfortable with knives, standing all day and wet, cold conditions. Available for full season contracts.
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Seafood plant job description bullets, rewritten
| Vague | Rewritten with plant numbers |
|---|---|
| Processed fish on the production line. | Headed, gutted, graded and packed fish on a line running 8 tonnes a shift through the peak season. |
| Filleted fish by hand. | Hand filleted salmon, cod and haddock at 135 to 170 kg an hour, holding yield between 52% and 56% against a 51% plant target. |
| Operated processing equipment. | Ran a Baader filleting line and skinning machine, changed blades and adjusted settings by species and grade, and cleared jams without calling maintenance. |
| Followed food safety procedures. | Monitored HACCP critical control points for chill temperature, metal detection and glaze weight, and signed the shift records. |
| Cleaned equipment at end of shift. | Completed line hygiene (disassembly, foam, rinse, sanitise) nightly with no failed environmental swabs in two years. |
| Packed and froze product. | Loaded plate freezers, moved cases to blast freeze and cold store at minus 23°C, and glazed to spec with weight giveaway under 1.5%. |
| Trained new workers. | Trained 9 seasonal workers on knife safety, cutting technique and yield checks during two peak seasons. |
Fish processing skills for a CV
- Knife work: filleting, heading, gutting, trimming, skinning, pin boning, portioning, and sharpening your own knives
- Species handled, listed by name, and the grades or specifications you cut to
- Machines: filleting and skinning lines, graders, portioners, vacuum sealers, thermoformers, checkweighers, metal detectors
- Freezing and cold chain: plate freezers, IQF tunnels, blast freezers, glazing, cold storage handling
- Quality: yield measurement, downgrade control, weight control, foreign material checks
- Food safety: HACCP records, GMP, cleaning schedules, allergen control, cleaning chemicals (COSHH) and procedures
- Support skills: forklift, pallet truck, tote and case handling, stock and lot coding
The plain ones that matter: you can stand in cold water on a concrete floor for 12 hours, you keep your knife under control when you are tired, and you come back the next day. Say those as facts, such as attendance across a full season, not as adjectives.
No experience and seasonal work
Fish plants hire large numbers of people with no processing background, especially for seasonal peaks such as the pelagic season and the run-up to Christmas. They train the knife work. What they screen for is whether you will finish the contract.
- Lead with attendance evidence from any job: full seasons completed, months without an absence, longest shift worked.
- Any cold or wet work counts: cold storage, meat processing, dishwashing, commercial fishing, farm work, construction in winter.
- Any knife work counts: kitchen prep, butchery, deli counter, gutting your own catch if you fish.
- Say clearly that you understand the shift pattern you are applying for: 12-hour days, up to six days a week, for the length of the season.
- Get a Level 2 food hygiene certificate before you apply. It is cheap and it removes a step for the plant.
- For seasonal contracts, state your availability dates, that you have the right to work in the UK, and whether you can travel or relocate at short notice.
Format and length
- One page. Plant supervisors and seasonal recruiters read hundreds of these in a hiring window.
- Put species, speed and yield in the personal statement, and put food safety training in its own block.
- List seasonal jobs with the season and the year, for example "Jun 2021 to Aug 2022 (seasonal)", so the gaps read as seasons rather than unemployment.
- No photo, no date of birth. The same work is often advertised as fish filleter, fish processing operative or fish factory worker, so use the advert's title.
- Say plainly whether you will relocate, take a full season contract, or work night shift. That is a hiring decision on its own.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a fish processing worker CV?
Name the species and cuts you handle, your speed in kilos per hour, your fillet yield and your downgrade rate. Add the machines you run and your food safety training, then give each job 3 to 5 bullets with numbers. Finish with attendance evidence, such as completed seasons with no missed shifts. One page.
What skills should a seafood processing worker list?
Knife skills by species and cut, machine operation such as filleting and skinning lines, grading and portioning to spec, yield and weight control, freezing and glazing, HACCP and GMP compliance, line hygiene, and forklift or pallet truck if you hold a certificate.
Do I need HACCP training to work in a fish plant?
Not to start on a line, but every UK food business must run food safety procedures based on HACCP principles, and a Level 2 or Level 3 HACCP certificate on your CV moves you toward the roles that sign records and lead crews. A Level 2 food hygiene certificate is inexpensive and worth having before you apply.
How do I get a seafood processing job with no experience?
Apply for seasonal or entry line work and build the page around attendance, cold and wet work history, and any knife experience from a kitchen or butchery. Say that you understand the shift pattern and can complete a full contract. Get a Level 2 food hygiene certificate first. Plants train the cutting.
What is the job description for a fish processing worker?
Receiving and sorting fish, heading, gutting and sliming, filleting and trimming, pin boning and skinning, grading and portioning to customer specification, packing, freezing and glazing, monitoring food safety control points, and cleaning and sanitising the line at the end of the shift.
How should I list seasonal plant work on a CV?
As one entry per employer with the seasons and years marked seasonal, the species run, the hours worked and the volume handled. Add that you completed the contract with no missed shifts. Recruiters for the next season read completion history as the strongest single signal.
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How this page was made: a first draft was written with AI assistance from cvplex's example library, then edited and fact-checked by the cvplex Careers Team. Examples are fictional composites; numbers are illustrative. Report an error via the editorial policy page.