Stonemason CV Examples & Writing Guide

This sample fixes stone on commercial jobs and does restoration work on older and listed buildings. The employers are described, not named. Notice that stone types, square metres and the saws are all named, because that is how a stonework foreman decides where to put you on Monday.

Stonework contractors price work on output rates and lose money on rework and safety. Your CV has to speak to both.

• Output. Square metres or tonnage set per day, and the joint tolerance you hold. This is the number a foreman uses to build a gang.
• Stone types and fixing methods. Cut stone cladding, full bed, thin cladding, dry stone walling, flagging, paving, ashlar, rubble. Each one is a different pace and a different skill.
• Whether you can cut and template as well as fix. A mason who can run the bridge saw, template a radius return and keep waste under control is far more valuable than a fixer alone.
• Safety training that is current. Silica dust control on stone cutting is a priority for HSE inspectors. Your CSCS card, silica training, scaffold and working at height training belong on the page with the year.

“Tell me your square feet a day, the stone, the tolerance, and whether you can run a saw. Then tell me your silica training is current. That is a full picture. I get CVs that say hard working mason with attention to detail, and there is nothing on them I can price a job with.”

Two or three lines with output, stone types, tools and safety. Take whichever is closest to your work.

Every stonemason lays stone. Say how much, in what, to what tolerance, and what it added up to.

Name the stone, the fixing method and the tools. This is a trade where detail reads as competence.

• Fixing: cut stone cladding, full bed, thin cladding, ashlar, rubble and random coursing, dry stone walling, flagging and paving, steps and treads, copings, sills and lintels, chimney and fireplace work.
• Stone: limestone, granite, marble, York stone and other sandstones, slate, rubble stone, travertine, plus reconstituted stone and how it differs in fixing.
• Setting out and drawings: gauge rods, coursing plans, elevation and setting-out drawing reading, dimensioning, checking for plumb, level and line over long runs.
• Cutting and banker work: bridge saw, wet saw, grinder, splitter, CNC programming if you have it, hand tools including pitching tool, chisels, bush hammer and plug and feathers.
• Mortar and joints: mortar designations, lime mortars for historic work, colour matching, tooling joint profiles, grouting, pointing and repointing, cleaning and sealing.
• Site: lifting gear and lift plans, telehandler and MEWPs, scaffold and suspended cradles, working at height, silica dust control, materials handling and staging.

Stonemasonry is not a licensed trade in the UK, but cards and safety training are checked before you set foot on a commercial site.

• Apprenticeship. A stonemasonry apprenticeship (Level 2, then Level 3) is the standard route. Say the length, the college, and whether you trained as a banker mason, a fixer mason or both, because employers know what those mean.
• Trade union membership. Most UK stonework firms do not ask about it, so leave it off unless the advert or the employer brings it up.
• CSCS card. Most commercial and main contractor sites will not let you on without one. An NVQ Level 3 in stonemasonry qualifies you for the Gold card.
• Silica training. Cutting and dressing stone, especially sandstone, produces respirable crystalline silica, which HSE treats as a serious health risk. Silica awareness training and a face-fit test for your mask are worth naming with the year.
• Scaffold awareness, working at height, IPAF for MEWPs and CPCS or NPORS for telehandlers. Name the card scheme and the year rather than writing "trained".
• Listed buildings. There is no licence, but alterations to listed buildings usually need listed building consent, and Historic England (or Historic Environment Scotland and Cadw) guidance shapes how repairs are done. If you have worked on listed buildings, say so; do not imply experience you do not have.

Stonework contractors take on labourers constantly, and the good ones move onto the stone within a year. Show that you can work hard outdoors and follow a line.

1. 1Apply for a labourer or mason's labourer job and say plainly that you want an apprenticeship and intend to stay in the trade.
2. 2Show physical work history with real weights and paces: landscaping, concreting, roofing, warehouse, removals. Say tonnes moved or hours on your feet.
3. 3Pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test and get a CSCS Labourer card before you apply. It does not cost much and it removes an obstacle on day one.
4. 4List any hand skill: joinery, tiling, welding, car repair. Stonemasonry is about a steady hand and reading a line, and related trades transfer.
5. 5Say you have your own transport and basic hand tools, and that you can start at 7am. Stonework gangs start early.
6. 6Ask local colleges and stonework firms about stonemasonry apprenticeships and mention that you have applied. It signals you are not there for one season.

One page, two at most. Stonework contractors read fast, often on a phone in a van. Photographs of your work matter more than layout.

• Use the advert's word: stonemason, banker mason, fixer mason, heritage mason, stone fixer, conservation mason, restoration mason.
• Put cards and safety training in their own block with years, because larger contractors filter on them before anything else.
• Say whether you work away, whether you have worked with lodging or subsistence paid and how far you will drive daily.
• Bring or link photographs of finished work: cladding elevations, a repointed wall, a carved piece. This trade hires on what the work looks like.
• No photo of yourself, no date of birth. Single column, plain headings, PDF.