Stevedore (Port Operative) CV Examples & Writing Guide

A fictional CV for a port operative with twelve years on a container and break bulk terminal. Use it for stevedoring contractor jobs, terminal operator vacancies, port labour agencies and supervisor applications. Swap the cargo types and the equipment you are actually qualified on.

In the UK the same work goes under several names: stevedore, dock worker, docker, port operative, cargo handler. Strictly, a stevedoring company is the contractor that loads and discharges the ship, and its port operatives are the people who do it. On a CV, use whichever word the advert uses and describe the work in specifics.

• Loading and discharging vessels: containers, break bulk, bulk, project cargo, vehicles on roll-on roll-off ships.
• Lashing and unlashing containers on deck with twistlocks, lashing bars and turnbuckles, and securing cargo below deck.
• Slinging and signalling for ship-to-shore cranes and mobile harbour cranes.
• Operating yard equipment: terminal tractors, straddle carriers, reach stackers, empty container handlers, forklifts, and RTG cranes where you are authorised.
• Working to a stowage plan and confirming moves in the terminal operating system.
• Checking containers and cargo for damage, seals, reefer temperatures and dangerous goods labels.
• Working hatch, deck, yard and gate duties on rotating day, night and weekend shifts, often at short notice.

A word about how the work is actually filled. UK ports have had no national dock labour scheme since 1989, so there is no hiring hall to register with. Terminal operators and stevedoring contractors at ports such as Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Liverpool recruit directly, and many top up with agency or flexible-hours staff. A CV matters for all of these, and it decides the job for equipment operator, foreman, planner, checker and supervisor roles. Write it as if a shift manager is reading, because one will be.

Vessels are worked to tight windows and moves per hour is the number the whole terminal lives on. The manager reading your CV is asking whether you add moves or slow the gang down.

• Port pass status. Without one you cannot work unescorted in the restricted zones, so say whether you hold a current pass or can pass the checks for one.
• Equipment authorisations, named. Straddle carrier, reach stacker, empty container handler, terminal tractor, RTG, ship-to-shore crane. Each one you hold makes you assignable to more gangs.
• Cargo types. Container, break bulk, bulk, ro-ro and project cargo need different skills, and break bulk experience is scarce at container-heavy ports.
• Volume. Moves per shift, containers lashed, tonnes handled, vessel calls a month. This is how a manager sizes you up.
• Safety and reliability. Reportable injuries, equipment damage claims, hours worked and attendance. Docks are dangerous and short-handed gangs cost money.

“List the equipment you are certified on and the cargo you have worked. That is what tells me which gang I can put you in tomorrow. A CV that says "performed general dock duties" is worth nothing to me, because I cannot assign it to anything.”

Three lines. Years and cargo types, equipment authorisations, one volume figure, then port pass and safety record. Use a career objective only if you are new to the docks.

Dock work reads as general labouring unless you name the cargo, the equipment and the volume. Keep the duty and add all three.

If you cannot get exact numbers, use the vessel size, the gang size and the shift pattern. A manager can price "deck gang on 8,000 TEU vessels, 12-hour shifts" without any other figure.

This section is a duty list. Every line should be something a shift manager could send you to do tomorrow.

• Lashing and securing: twistlocks, lashing bars, turnbuckles, chains and tensioners, dunnage and shoring
• Slinging: chains, wire and webbing slings, shackles, spreader beams, lift plans, hand and radio signals
• Container equipment: straddle carrier, reach stacker, empty container handler, terminal tractor and trailer
• Cranes: RTG or rail-mounted gantry, ship-to-shore, mobile harbour crane, where you hold the authorisation
• Forklifts by capacity, and specialist attachments such as coil rams and paper roll clamps
• Cargo types: container, break bulk, bulk, ro-ro, project and heavy lift, refrigerated

• Reading stowage plans, bay plans and lift plans
• Terminal operating system entry and move confirmation
• Container damage, seal, reefer and dangerous goods label checks
• Dock safety rules (Docks Regulations 1988, LOLER and PUWER) and the terminal's safe systems of work
• Working at height, confined space awareness and fall protection on deck
• Rotating day, night and weekend shifts, and short-notice call-outs

Say something about weather and hours as a fact, not a boast. "Worked 12-hour deck shifts through a winter of Channel gales, including night lashing in rain" tells a shift manager exactly what you can take.

Getting on the docks is different from most trades. These are the things that actually decide it.

• Port security pass. Each port issues its own pass for its restricted areas, usually after identity, right to work and background checks that the employer arranges. There is no national dock worker card, so say whether you hold a current pass and for which port.
• Age and physical requirements. Employers set their own, most only take on staff aged 18 or over for operational roles, and nearly all ask for the ability to lift heavy weights, climb ladders and work at height and at night. Many also run a pre-employment medical and drug and alcohol testing.
• No hiring halls. There has been no national dock labour scheme since 1989. You apply to terminal operators, stevedoring contractors and port labour agencies directly, often starting on flexible or casual hours before a permanent contract. Unite represents many port workers, and membership is your choice.
• Who hires on CVs: terminal operators, stevedoring contractors, ro-ro and cruise terminals, smaller and private ports, and any checker, planner, engineer, foreman or shift manager role.
• Safety law. Dock work comes under the Docks Regulations 1988 and HSE guidance on safety in docks, alongside general rules such as LOLER for lifting. Port Skills and Safety publishes industry guidance. A recognised safety course such as IOSH Working Safely is worth holding and worth listing.
• Equipment authorisations, which are usually issued by the terminal or employer after accredited training rather than by a national licence. Name the equipment and the year you were signed off.
• Dangerous goods awareness for labelled cargo (IMDG Code), plus a current first aid certificate.
• A full UK driving licence with few or no points if you will move vehicles or equipment on public roads, and a C or C+E licence where the job requires it.

• One page, two at most. Shift managers read fast and usually on a phone.
• Order: name with port pass and tickets, personal statement, experience, skills and equipment, certificates, education.
• Put your equipment authorisations where they cannot be missed, either in the personal statement or in a short list high on the page.
• PDF unless the employer asks otherwise. No photo, no date of birth and no National Insurance number on a UK CV.
• Add an availability line: shifts you can take, how quickly you can respond to a call-out, and whether you can work bank holidays.
• Keep dates honest. Port work follows vessel schedules and agency hours vary, so gaps are normal and easily explained.

Mirror the advert's own words in your bullets:

• Title variants: stevedore, port operative, dock worker, docker, cargo handler, port worker, terminal operative, checker.
• Cargo words: container, TEU, break bulk, bulk, ro-ro, project cargo, reefer, heavy lift.
• Equipment words: straddle carrier, reach stacker, empty container handler, terminal tractor, RTG, ship-to-shore crane.
• Operations words: stowage plan, hatch, lashing, moves per hour, vessel call, gang, gate.
• Compliance words: port pass, Docks Regulations, LOLER, IMDG, seal, lift plan, safe system of work.