Plumber Resume Examples & Writing Guide

A one-page resume for a Texas journeyman plumber with eight years in the trade: four as a registered apprentice on commercial new construction, then four in residential service. Name and companies are made up. The license sits under the name, every job names the type of work and the code, and the service job carries the numbers a service manager wants: calls a day, average ticket, callbacks and reviews.

Plumber resumes are read by a service manager, a project manager or the owner of a shop, rarely by HR. Service companies and construction contractors weigh things differently, but both look for four items.

• License level and state. Apprentice (registered), journeyman or master, in which state, and whether it is current. Some states license at the state level (Texas, Illinois, Oregon, Washington), others leave it to cities or counties. Say exactly what you hold and who issued it.
• Type of work. Residential service, residential new construction, commercial rough-in, industrial process piping, gas, medical gas, backflow testing, drain cleaning. "Plumbing installation and repair" makes them guess; "residential service, water heaters and repipes, 5 to 7 calls a day" places you on a truck.
• Service numbers or construction numbers. For service: calls per day, average ticket, revenue, callback rate, reviews. For construction: project types and sizes, footage of pipe, fixture counts, inspections passed, crew size.
• Practical facts: clean driving record (you drive a company van), own hand tools, ability to pass a drug screen and background check (service plumbers enter homes; schools and hospitals require it), on-call and weekend availability.

“License first, then I want to know your callback rate and your average ticket. A journeyman who writes 'under 2% callbacks, $640 average ticket, 4.9 stars' gets a call today. 'Skilled plumber with strong work ethic' gets nothing.”

Plumbing licensing is a state matter and the levels vary. Texas, for example, has registered apprentice, tradesman plumber-limited, journeyman and master through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, with 8,000 hours required before the journeyman exam. Other states require 4,000 to 10,000 hours, and a few license only at the city or county level. Copy the wording from your license card and check your own state board.

• Required almost everywhere: your state or local license or apprentice registration, a valid driver's license (a clean record for service jobs) and OSHA 10; commercial general contractors often require OSHA 30 for anyone leading a crew.
• Expected for specific work: Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester (ASSE 5110 or your state's program) for commercial service; Medical Gas Installer (ASSE 6010) for hospital work; trenching competent person and confined space for underground and industrial work; brazing certification for medical gas and refrigeration piping.
• Nice to have: manufacturer installer certifications for PEX, press-fit copper and tankless water heaters (they often carry extended warranties the company can sell), and a separate gas fitter license in states that issue one.
• Do not write "OSHA certified" or "licensed plumber" without the level and state. Neither means anything to a contractor until you name the card and the board.

Three lines: license and years, the type of work and code you work under, one or two numbers that prove you are reliable and profitable. An objective is only for apprentice applicants and people switching from another trade.

The standard plumber job description says: install, repair and maintain pipes, fixtures and water heaters; read blueprints; follow plumbing codes; respond to service calls. Those are duties every plumber shares. A strong bullet adds the kind of work, the size or count, and a result: inspections passed, callback rate, ticket revenue, schedule met.

List 10 to 14 skills a service manager or foreman could test you on, ordered to match the job: water heaters, drains and diagnosis for a service company; plans, DWV layout and inspection prep for a construction contractor.

• Service and repair: leak diagnosis, fixture and valve repair, water heater installation and repair (tank, tankless, heat pump), garbage disposals, pressure-reducing valves, slab leak detection and reroutes.
• Drains and sewers: cable machines, hydro-jetting, camera inspection and locating, cleanout installation, sewer spot repair and trenchless options.
• Piping systems: PEX (expansion and crimp), copper (solder, braze and press), CPVC, PVC and ABS DWV, cast iron with no-hub couplings, galvanized removal, threaded black iron and CSST for gas.
• Construction: reading plumbing plans and isometrics, underground and rough-in layout, DWV sizing and venting, top-out and trim, water heater and boiler installation, backflow preventers, coordination with other trades.
• Codes and inspections: the International Plumbing Code or Uniform Plumbing Code your state has adopted, local amendments, the state gas code, pulling permits and scheduling inspections.
• Safety: OSHA 10 or 30, trenching and excavation, confined space, ladder and lift safety, lockout of water and gas, silica awareness for cutting cast iron and concrete.
• Software and paperwork: ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or similar for estimates and invoicing; Procore or Bluebeam on commercial jobs; written options, photos and inspection paperwork.
• Working habits contractors hire for: clean driving record, on-call rotation, respectful in customers' homes, a stocked van, and honesty about what you found.

Apprenticeship programs and shops hiring helpers know you have not roughed in a bathroom. They hire for reliability, physical readiness, basic math and real interest in the trade. Prove those four things with specifics, and file your apprentice registration with the state board where one is required (Texas registers apprentices before they can work).

1. 1Header: name, phone, email, city, then one line of practical facts: valid driver's license and clean record, reliable transportation, OSHA 10 if you have it, own basic hand tools, available for 6 a.m. starts and on-call.
2. 2Objective: two lines naming the program or role and what you bring (pre-apprenticeship course, trade school, labor or landscaping work, military service).
3. 3Training: pre-apprenticeship or vocational plumbing program with hours, high school or GED with any algebra or geometry, and any state apprentice registration already filed.
4. 4Work history: any job that proves you show up, work outdoors, lift 80 pounds and follow instructions. Construction labor, landscaping, warehouse, moving, military. Give numbers: hours a week, crew size, months without a missed shift.
5. 5Skills: tools you have used, digging and trenching, pipe cutting or threading from a class, ladders, tape measure and basic plans. One page; many shops still hire in person, so bring printed copies.

• One page. A 20-year master fits on one page; two pages is only for foremen, superintendents and estimators with a long project list.
• Order: header with license line, summary, license and certifications, work history, skills, education. Journeymen and masters keep the license section above work history; it is what contractors sort on.
• Plain layout, single column, standard font, no photo, no date of birth. Large mechanical contractors and home-service companies use applicant tracking systems; small shops print your resume. Both prefer plain text and a text-based PDF.
• Keywords to mirror from the posting: "journeyman", "residential service", "commercial", "new construction", "water heaters", "tankless", "repipe", "drain cleaning", "sewer camera", "gas piping", "DWV", "IPC" or "UPC", "blueprints", "OSHA 30", "backflow", "ServiceTitan".
• In the UK the document is a plumber CV and employers look for an NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Plumbing and Heating, a CSCS card and Gas Safe registration for gas work; a "heating engineer" there is roughly a plumber who also services boilers.

Run the finished page through the cvplex ATS checker with the posting pasted in. It flags a missing license line, a certification the posting names that you left out, and bullets with no count or result.