Foundry Worker Resume Example & Writing Guide
A foundry worker resume gets read when it names the metals you have poured, the molding process the plant used, your output in molds, cores or pounds per shift, your scrap rate, and the safety training that lets a supervisor put you near molten metal on day one.
Foundry worker resume example (molding, melting and pouring)
This sample is for a foundry worker with seven years in a gray and ductile iron jobbing shop who has worked molding, coremaking and the pour deck. The name and employers are invented. If you work in aluminum, investment casting or die casting, keep the layout and change the process and metal vocabulary.
Ray Dombrowski
Foundry Worker / Molder and Furnace Operator
Rockford, IL · (815) 555-0138 · ray.dombrowski.cast@email.com
Summary
Foundry worker with 7 years in gray and ductile iron, working green sand molding, no-bake molds and the pour deck. Makes 95 to 120 molds a shift on a jolt-squeeze line, runs a 2,000 lb coreless induction furnace, and pours to temperature with a pyrometer. Scrap on molds made held at 2.1% against a 4% plant target.
Experience
Molder and Furnace Operator · Jobbing iron foundry, 40 tons of castings a week (gray and ductile)
Jun 2022–Present
- Makes 95 to 120 green sand molds a shift on a jolt-squeeze line, setting cores, chaplets and chills to the pattern card and checking gating and risering before closing.
- Runs a 2,000 lb coreless induction furnace: charging, slag removal, temperature to a 2,650 to 2,720 degree pour range, and holding chemistry within spec on carbon and silicon after the spectrometer check.
- Pours with a 500 lb bottom-pour ladle and treats ductile iron with magnesium in the tundish, then inoculates in the stream.
- Held scrap on his own molds at 2.1% against a 4% plant target by tightening ram density and vent placement, which saved an estimated 6 tons of remelt a year.
- Runs shakeout, shot blast and grinding when the schedule needs it, and cuts gates and risers with a torch and cutoff saw.
- Trains new molders on pattern setup, sand testing and closing procedure; 5 people brought to production rate since 2023.
Coremaker and Sand System Operator · Ductile iron foundry serving agricultural and truck markets
Sep 2019–May 2022
- Produced 250 to 400 cores a shift on cold box and shell core machines, including multi-piece assemblies glued and coated before setting.
- Ran the sand system: muller checks, moisture, compactability and green strength testing every two hours, with results logged and adjustments made before molds went off spec.
- Cut core-related casting defects (veining and penetration) by about a third over a year by changing coating dilution and drying time.
- Kept the core room to 5S standards and reduced core breakage in handling from 7% to 3% by rebuilding the racks and transfer trays.
Grinder and Finishing Operator · Steel castings finishing department
Mar 2018–Aug 2019
- Ground, cut and finished 80 to 140 steel castings a shift to drawing tolerance using stand grinders, swing grinders and air tools.
- Performed dye penetrant and magnetic particle checks on flagged castings and tagged rejects with the defect type for the metallurgist.
Education
High school diploma
Rockford East High School, IL, 2017
Industrial maintenance short course (hydraulics, pneumatics, basic electrical)
Rock River Community College, 2021
Certifications
- OSHA 30-Hour General Industry card, 2023
- Overhead crane and rigging training, employer-certified, current
- Forklift operator card, current
- Respirator medical evaluation and fit test, current
- First aid and CPR
Skills
What a foundry supervisor checks first
Foundries are hot, heavy and hard to staff, and a bad hire near molten metal is a serious problem. Supervisors read for four things.
- Metal and process. Gray iron, ductile, steel, aluminum, brass and bronze all behave differently, and green sand, no-bake, shell, investment and permanent mold are separate skills. Name yours.
- Where you worked on the floor. Molding, coremaking, melt deck, pouring, shakeout, finishing, pattern shop, sand lab. Say which stations you can cover, because coverage is what a supervisor buys.
- Output and quality. Molds or cores per shift, pounds poured, scrap rate, rework. If your plant tracked it, use it.
- Safety readiness. Crane and rigging, forklift, respirator fit test, hot metal PPE, silica dust awareness, lockout/tagout. This decides how fast you can be put to work.
“Tell me the metal, the process and your scrap number. If somebody writes "gray and ductile, green sand line, 110 molds a shift, 2 percent scrap, crane and forklift certified", they are on the phone that day. Foundry people are hard to find and easy to recognize on paper when they write plainly.”
Say which foundry you came from
"Foundry worker" covers a dozen different jobs. A supervisor cannot place you without knowing the process and the metal, so put both in the first line of each job entry.
- Process: green sand (hand or automatic line), no-bake and air-set chemically bonded sand, shell molding, investment casting, permanent mold, lost foam, centrifugal casting.
- Metal: gray iron, ductile iron, malleable, carbon and alloy steel, stainless, aluminum, brass and bronze. Include pouring temperature ranges if you know them.
- Melt equipment: coreless or channel induction furnace, cupola, electric arc, reverberatory or crucible furnace, and the capacity in pounds or tons.
- Molding equipment: jolt-squeeze, automatic molding lines, matchplate machines, floor and pit molding for large work, and the flask sizes you handled.
- Core equipment: cold box, hot box, shell core machines, core assembly and coating.
- Finishing: shakeout, shot blast or wheelabrator, grinding, torch and arc-air cutting, heat treat, machining allowance and drawing tolerances.
- Quality: spectrometer chemistry, carbon equivalent, pyrometer readings, Brinell hardness, dye penetrant, magnetic particle, radiography and the defect names you can recognize.
Foundry worker resume summary examples
Foundry worker with 7 years in gray and ductile iron. Makes 95 to 120 green sand molds a shift on a jolt-squeeze line, runs a 2,000 lb induction furnace and pours with a bottom-pour ladle. Scrap held at 2.1% against a 4% target. OSHA 30, crane, rigging and forklift certified.
Coremaker with 5 years on cold box and shell core machines, producing 250 to 400 cores a shift including multi-piece assemblies. Runs the sand lab checks on moisture, compactability and green strength every two hours, and cut veining and penetration defects by a third in a year.
Furnace operator with 9 years on the melt deck of a steel foundry. Charges and runs a 6,000 lb coreless induction furnace, takes and reads spectrometer samples, adjusts chemistry to spec and pours to temperature with a 1,500 lb ladle. No hot metal incidents in nine years.
Casting operator with 6 years in aluminum permanent mold and low pressure work. Runs 4 die stations, controls degassing and metal temperature, and holds first-pass yield above 96% on automotive components. Certified on forklift and overhead crane.
Reliable worker seeking a foundry position. 2 years in a hot metal fabrication shop running grinders, cutoff saws and a plasma table on 10-hour shifts with full attendance. Comfortable with heat, noise, PPE and physical work. OSHA 10 card, forklift card, own steel-toe boots and safety glasses.
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Foundry job description bullets, rewritten
| Vague | Rewritten |
|---|---|
| Made molds for metal casting. | Made 95 to 120 green sand molds a shift on a jolt-squeeze line, setting cores, chaplets and chills to the pattern card and checking gating before closing. |
| Operated furnace equipment. | Ran a 2,000 lb coreless induction furnace: charging, slag removal, holding a 2,650 to 2,720 degree pour range and adjusting chemistry after each spectrometer sample. |
| Poured molten metal into molds. | Poured with a 500 lb bottom-pour ladle, treated ductile iron with magnesium in the tundish and inoculated in the stream, running 60 to 90 pours a shift. |
| Made cores. | Produced 250 to 400 cores a shift on cold box and shell machines, including glued multi-piece assemblies coated and dried before setting. |
| Checked sand quality. | Tested moisture, compactability and green strength every two hours, logged the results, and adjusted the muller before molds ran out of spec. |
| Reduced defects. | Cut personal mold scrap from 4.5% to 2.1% by tightening ram density and vent placement, saving an estimated 6 tons of remelt a year. |
| Cleaned and finished castings. | Ran shakeout, shot blast, stand and swing grinders and torch cutting, finishing 80 to 140 castings a shift to drawing tolerance. |
| Followed safety rules. | Worked the pour deck in full aluminized PPE with crane and rigging certification and a current respirator fit test, with no hot metal incidents in seven years. |
Foundry skills for a resume
- Molding: green sand, no-bake, shell, floor and pit molding, pattern setup, gating and risering, flask handling
- Coremaking: cold box, hot box, shell, core assembly, coating and drying
- Melting and pouring: furnace charging and operation, slag control, temperature control with pyrometer, ladle handling, treatment and inoculation
- Sand system: muller operation, moisture, compactability, green strength and permeability testing, additions
- Finishing: shakeout, shot blast, grinding, torch and arc-air cutting, weld repair if you do it
- Quality: casting defect recognition, dye penetrant and magnetic particle checks, hardness testing, reading drawings and pattern cards
- Support: overhead crane and rigging, forklift, basic hydraulics and pneumatics, preventive maintenance
- Safety: hot metal PPE, silica dust control, respirator use, lockout/tagout, heat stress management, hearing conservation
The plain qualities that matter here are stamina and attention when tired. A foundry is 100 degrees in August and the last pour of the shift is where people get hurt. Show it with attendance and injury-free years rather than adjectives.
No foundry experience yet
Most foundries train from the ground up because almost nobody arrives trained. They will start you on shakeout, grinding or the sand floor. What they screen for is whether you can handle heat and weight and whether you will still be there in three months.
- Lead with hot, heavy or dirty work: welding, fabrication, kitchen line, roofing, landscaping, concrete, warehouse, farm work, military mechanics.
- Give attendance evidence. Missed days is the reason most new foundry hires do not last.
- Get an OSHA 10 General Industry card and a forklift card before applying. Both are cheap and both remove an objection.
- Say you understand the conditions: 90 to 110 degrees at the line, respirator and face shield, 10 or 12 hour shifts, rotating or night shift.
- Mention any machine or tool experience: grinders, saws, torches, cranes, hoists, air tools.
- If you have welding or machining background, say so. Foundries value people who can move into repair and finishing work quickly.
Format, length and words to mirror
- One page. Plain layout, no columns, no graphics.
- Put the metal and process on the first line of each job so the reader can place you immediately.
- Group your cards in a Certifications block: OSHA, crane and rigging, forklift, respirator fit test.
- Mirror the posting's words: molder, coremaker, melt deck, pour, shakeout, chipping and grinding, sand system, casting defects, ductile, gray iron, induction, cupola.
- No photo, no date of birth. In the UK the same work is often advertised as a foundry operative or caster, and a CV there follows the same rules.
- Say your shift availability. Foundries run nights and weekends, and willingness to rotate is a hiring factor.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write a foundry worker resume?
Name the metals and molding process in the first line, then your output per shift and your scrap rate. Give each job 3 to 6 bullets with numbers: molds, cores, pounds poured, castings finished. Add a certifications block with OSHA, crane, rigging, forklift and respirator fit test. Keep it to one page.
What is a foundry worker's job description?
Depending on the station: preparing and making molds and cores, setting cores and closing molds, charging and operating melting furnaces, handling ladles and pouring molten metal, shaking out castings, shot blasting, grinding and cutting off gates and risers, and inspecting for defects.
What skills should be on a foundry resume?
The molding process you know, coremaking, furnace operation and pouring, sand testing, gating and risering, casting defect recognition, finishing with grinders and torches, and support skills such as overhead crane, rigging and forklift. Add hot metal PPE and silica dust control on the safety side.
Do I need a certification to work in a foundry?
No license is required in the US. What helps is an OSHA 10 or 30 General Industry card, a forklift card, overhead crane and rigging training, and a current respirator medical evaluation and fit test. Employers provide most of this, but arriving with it gets you working sooner.
How do I get a foundry job with no experience?
Apply for shakeout, grinding or general labor positions and build the page around hot and heavy work history plus attendance. Get an OSHA 10 and a forklift card first, and say plainly that you understand the heat, the PPE and the shift length. Foundries train molding and pouring in-house.
What numbers work best on a foundry worker resume?
Molds or cores per shift, pounds or tons poured, castings finished per shift, scrap and rework percentage against the plant target, remelt saved, defect reduction, downtime and years without a recordable injury.
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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.