Miner Resume Examples & Writing Guide

This sample is an underground coal miner with about eleven years, starting on a surface quarry and moving underground. The name and mines are invented. Swap in your own seams or pits, equipment, tonnages and training dates.

Mining resumes are usually screened by a superintendent or a safety manager, not by HR. They read for four things.

• Is your training current? MSHA Part 46 for most surface aggregate operations, Part 48 for underground and many metal and nonmetal mines, plus the annual refresher. A current 5000-23 record means you can start immediately.
• Are you state certified where the state requires it? Underground coal states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia issue their own miner certifications, and a supervisor cannot put an uncertified person on some jobs at all.
• What can you run alone? Continuous miner, roof bolter, shuttle car, scoop, longwall, jumbo, haul truck, loader, dozer, drill. Names and models, because a mine buys and staffs specific fleets.
• What is your safety record? Reportable injuries, near-miss reporting, violations attributed to your section, and whether you have been on a mine rescue team. Safety history is the first thing that gets checked in an interview and the last thing that gets forgiven.

“Give me your training status, your certification number state, what you can operate and how long you have gone without a reportable. That is the resume. The rest is conversation once you are sitting across from me.”

Three or four lines. Years, mine type, equipment, training status, one production or safety number. If you are new to mining, use an objective and lead with your training and your availability for shift work.

One bullet per real task, with a number: feet, tons, bolts, loads, hours, absences, incidents. Choose the group that matches your side of the industry.

Twelve to sixteen, equipment first. Write the machines by name and type, because that is what a superintendent is staffing.

Underground equipment and tasks:

• Continuous miner, longwall shearer, jumbo drill
• Roof bolter, resin and mechanical bolts, straps and mesh
• Shuttle car, ram car, LHD, battery scoop, mantrip
• Feeder-breaker, belt structure and conveyor work
• Ventilation controls: stoppings, curtains, line brattice, regulators
• Shotcrete and ground support crews, if you have done hard rock

Surface equipment:

• Rigid frame and articulated haul trucks, with tonnage class
• Front-end loader, excavator, dozer, grader, water truck
• Blast hole drill and drill pattern support
• Crusher and plant control booth relief
• Dispatch systems and fleet management software

Safety, examination and general skills:

• Gas detection and methane checks; handheld and machine-mounted detectors
• Self-contained self-rescuer use, escapeway and evacuation procedures
• Roof, rib and highwall examination
• Pre-operational and workplace examinations with written records
• Lockout/tagout and de-energizing equipment
• Basic hydraulics, electrical troubleshooting and welding
• Mine rescue, first aid, CPR
• Rotating shifts, extended hours and camp or drive-in rosters

This is the section a mine reads before your work history, because it decides whether you can be on site next week.

• MSHA Part 46 covers most sand, gravel, stone and surface aggregate operations. New miner training is 24 hours, with an 8-hour annual refresher.
• MSHA Part 48 covers underground mines and many surface metal and nonmetal mines. New underground miner training is 40 hours; new surface miner training under Part 48 is 24 hours. The annual refresher is 8 hours.
• Give the year of your original training and the date of your most recent refresher. Employers keep training on MSHA form 5000-23; if you have copies, bring them to the interview.
• State certification matters in underground coal states. West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Illinois and others certify miners through their own mining agency, usually with an apprentice period and an exam. Name the state and say the certification is current.
• Mine rescue team training under MSHA Part 49 is worth its own line. Operations value it and often pay extra for it.
• Specialist tickets: a state blaster's license, a shot firer certification, an electrical qualification, welding qualifications, EMT or first responder, and a Class A or B commercial driver's license.
• If you are applying overseas, note that other countries have their own systems. Australian sites, for example, ask for a Standard 11 general induction plus site-specific inductions, and a mining CV there is a different document. Do not put an Australian induction on a US resume as if it were MSHA training.

Mines hire green miners regularly, especially for surface operations and general labor underground. What they will not do is train someone who looks like a flight risk on the roster.

1. 1Get your MSHA new miner training yourself if you can. Many community colleges and state mining agencies run Part 46 and Part 48 courses, and a candidate who is already trained is far cheaper to hire.
2. 2Put the posting's title under your name, such as "Utility Miner" or "Haul Truck Operator," not "General Labor."
3. 3Write an objective that names your training status and your availability for rotating shifts, nights and camp work.
4. 4Translate whatever heavy or outdoor work you have done: construction, excavation, logging, farm equipment, oilfield, trucking, military, plant maintenance.
5. 5List your licenses and cards: CDL, forklift, OSHA 10, first aid and CPR, welding.
6. 6Give an attendance number from your last job. Reliability is the trait that gets green hires kept on.

• One page, two if you have supervisory or specialist history. Superintendents read fast.
• Order: name and target title, three-line summary, training and certifications, work history, equipment and skills, education.
• Plain one-column layout, PDF. Large mining companies use application systems that mangle sidebars.
• No photo, no date of birth. That is standard on a US resume.
• Say what roster you can work. Seven on seven off, two and one, night rotations, drive-in or camp. Rosters are the reason many hires fall through, so answer the question up front.
• If you are applying in another country, expect a mining CV rather than a resume, different training names, and in some places a personal details section that would be unusual in the US.

Words worth mirroring from the posting when they are true of you: MSHA, Part 46, Part 48, annual refresher, underground, surface, room and pillar, longwall, continuous miner, roof bolter, shuttle car, scoop, LHD, jumbo, haul truck, loader, dozer, ground control, roof control plan, ventilation, methane, gas detection, self-rescuer, pre-shift examination, mine rescue, lockout/tagout, tons, feet of advance, rotating shift.