Automotive Technician Resume: Samples and Writing Guide

Your automotive technician resume has to work like a small-block Chevy. Consider—there are 600 less auto tech jobs each year. And never mind the cheese-gratered knuckles and the aching backs. Everybody wants these jobs. That means the shop manager has a stack of resumes up to the girders.

What can you do? Panic. Just kidding. To get your resume for automotive technician jobs turning over like a Lexus, list achievements that match the shop’s job duties. It’s not that hard, and we’ve got the Chelton’s specs below to get you in the coveralls in no time.

Let’s make this work.

You’re about to see an automotive technician resume example you can change to fit any automotive technician position. You’ll also get fast steps to write a resume for automotive technician jobs that’ll land 10x more interviews than any other.

Here’s an automotive technician resume sample that works:

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Want another auto tech resume, or something else? See these guides:

• Mechanic Resume
• Mechanical Engineer Resume
• Machinist Resume
• Maintenance Resume
• Maintenance Technician Resume
• Machine Operator Resume
• Systems Engineer Resume
• Heavy Equipment Operator Resume
• Electronic Technician Resume
• Welder Resume
• Technical Resume
• Best Resume Examples

Sample Automotive Technician Resume (Text Version)

Here’s how to write an automotive technician resume step-by-step.

1. Start With the Right Format for an Automotive Technician Resume

Format matters in an automotive tech resume. Poor layout is like a warning light—it tells the shop manager you cut corners and forget to put the oil back in. On the flipside, a well-formatted resume tells them you pay attention to the little things. Do it right and you’ll look turbocharged.

So—

Here’s how to format an automotive technician resume template:

• Format: use the reverse-chronological resume format to list your best wrenching achievements first.
• Fonts: use resume fonts like Helvetica or Cambria to look your best.
• Font size: 11–12 points.
• Line spacing: 1 to 1.15.
• Resume headings: 13–14 points.
• White space: put some between sections to streamline the readability.
• Resume margins: an inch on every edge.
• File type: save it as a PDF resume unless the shop says, “No PDFs.”

Create these parts of a resume:

• Header: your name in large font and the right contact information. You don’t need an address on a resume, but a city or town will show you live close to the dealership.
• Summary: the top-line specs of your resume.
• Experience: your best automotive technician accomplishments.
• Education: relevant classes and successes.
• Skills: the ones the shop lists in their ad.
• Additional sections: do you have an ASE master tech certification? Do you do freelance work for friends? Add it!

The chronological resume style is best, but it’s not the only game in town. See our guide: Best Resume Styles

2. Add Experience to Your Automotive Technician Resume

You can’t get hired without experience. But—first, it doesn’t have to come from automotive technician jobs. And second, even if you have it, most techs display it wrong. That’s the source of the quiet-as-a-Yugo sound your phone makes every time you send your resume.

To target your resume:

• Start by listing your latest job title.
• Write the shop name and the years and months you were employed.
• Create a short automotive technician job description.
• Make up to 6 bullet points, with fewer as you go back in time.
• Include your best wrenching achievements.
• Use the PAR (Problem-Action-Result) method.

See these automotive technician resume samples:

Automotive Technician Job Description for a Resume

Which auto tech would you hire? But it’s not just the resume layout. The first example has tangible, numbered accomplishments. He obviously helped his shop perform better. The other? Your guess is as good as mine.

Pro Tip: You shouldn’t write a 2-page resume unless you’ve got garage-fulls of impressive things to share. A one-page resume is usually best.

An entry-level automotive technician resume must dig deeper for achievements. If you were a day laborer and you worked on the equipment, use that. If you were a woodworker and used communication skills, show how. If you were a lube technician, list mechanic job duties you performed.

See these work experience section examples:

Entry-Level Automotive Technician Resume Samples [Experience]

Of course, in an entry-level automotive technician resume, you can’t just say you were a lube tech. In your education section or your “other” sections, show more grease monkey achievements. Examples? Freelance wrenching for friends, rebuilding a car, or getting a commendation from a professor in your associate degree.

Pro Tip: There are 640 fewer automotive technician jobs each year. To make your resume stand out, think hard to find big achievements. They’re not always obvious.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

3. Make Your Education Section Count

If you’re an ASE Master Tech, you’re hired. Even if you’re not, listing a degree on a resume takes skill. First list your school name and your associate or bachelor’s degree. Add the years, then show you weren’t just playing intramural frisbee. Achievements give it horsepower.

See these automotive technician resume examples:

Automotive Technician Resume Example [Education]

You can even just list relevant classes or a nice compliment from a professor. Anything that shows you aren’t faceless turns your application from a PT Cruiser into a Silverado. Teamwork and work ethic work, too. The more transferable skills you add, the better your chance to land the interview.

Pro Tip: You should put high school on a resume, if you don’t have any other schooling. You can add achievements to it if you’re still very young.

4. Put the Right Skills in Your Automotive Technician Resume

If you want your phone to ring like after a full-engine mandatory recall, don’t add just any automotive technician skills. There’s a time-tested procedure that helps you pick the right ones to get hired. Then—don’t just list your wrenching skills. Prove them with numbers and action words.

Start with this list of skills for automotive technician resumes:

Automotive Technician Resume Skills (Hard Skills)

• Electric And Hybrid Vehicles
• Fleet Management
• Diagnostics Software
• Diagnosis and Repair
• Suspension and Steering
• Drive Train
• Wiring
• Brake Work
• Front-end Work
• Transmission Repairs
• HVAC

Automotive Technician Skills (Soft Skills)

• Interpersonal Skills
• Collaboration & Teamwork
• Communication Skills
• Detail Oriented
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving Skills
• Time Management
• Organizational Skills

But—

Here’s how to pick the best automotive technician skills:

1. List all the soft skills and hard skills you have.
2. Read the job posting and list the automotive technician skills you see.
3. The overlaps between the two are your resume keywords.
4. Add them to your resume skills list.
5. Put them in the bullet points of your experience and education sections.
6. Include your auto tech achievements that highlight them best.

See this automotive tech resume example:

Say the shop’s job ad calls for vehicle maintenance, communication skills, and brake work.

Automotive Technician Resume Examples [Skills]

Automotive technician skills on a resume like that will overload your phone. Want more resume tips? Start your bullets with resume action words and add some numbers like 200+ and 5+. Metrics take your resume from hypothetical to actual.

83% of employers value problem-solving skills on a resume. See our guide: +30 Best Examples of What Skills to Put on a Resume

5. Add Other Sections to Your Automotive Technician Resume

By now you know that most automotive technician resumes are as generic as Duralast plugs. Pull one out and stick another in—no difference. To make an OEM resume, add resume achievements in bonus sections like conferences, certifications, volunteer work, and even fitness. 

Choose from:

1. Resume Licenses & Certifications

Certifications aren’t mandatory in an auto technician resume. But an ASE Tech cert will get you higher pay, and other certs help too. List these or others:

• ASE Master Tech
• Suspension and steering
• Electric and hybrid vehicles
• Brake technician

2. Resume Volunteer Work

Have you worked on your local animal shelter’s rescue van or organized a fundraiser? You can use volunteering to prove key skills. It also shows you don’t just pound Schlitz in your spare time.

3. Languages on a Resume

You shouldn’t always put a second language on your resume. But if the customers or other techs speak Spanish, adding it can help your odds.

4. Professional Associations

Association memberships in IATN are clues that you don’t just do this for a paycheck. Bonus points for mentoring other techs.

5. Awards and Honors

Were you mechanic of the month at your last dealership? Did you get a bonus for efficiency? Kudos like that can telegraph your skill level.

See these automotive technician resume samples:

Automotive Technician Resume Examples [Other Sections]

Is it ever wrong to add weightlifting? Nope. But use it to show an accomplishment or transferable skill. Example? Say, “organized 2 powerlifting championships” or “Lift weights 3x a week to maintain fitness.”

Pro Tip: For past achievements, use the past tense in a resume like repaired, serviced, or maintained. For current positions, use the present like repair or service.

6. Write an Automotive Technician Resume Objective or Resume Summary

The death knell—the customer takes 3 hours to describe that grinding sound in the left rear wheel. Don’t be that guy. Your automotive technician resume should get its points across at highway speed. Do it with an auto tech resume summary or resume objective, front and center.

Here’s how to write a career summary:

1. Start with an adjective like multi-talented or efficient.
2. Add your title (automotive technician or ASE Master Tech).
3. List years of experience (5+, 1, 2+).
4. Tell your goal (increase customer satisfaction).
5. Include the dealership or shop name.
6. Add 1–2 automotive technician achievements.
7. Keep it to about 3-4 lines.

See these two career summary examples:

Automotive Technician Resume Summary

Those look identical, but one’s got a worn bushing that’ll crash your job search hopes. To diagnose, look at all the adjectives in the second example. It talks a lot, but it’s not saying anything. See the details in the first? Those make it roar.

An entry-level automotive technician resume needs a career objective instead. The difference? Not much—except you can’t list auto-tech experience. So, pull achievements from lube tech work, freelance wrenching, school, or even volunteering or non-automotive-technician jobs.

See these examples:

Entry-Level Automotive Technician Resume Objective

Diagnostics? The first one shows you can at least move fast and work on cars in some capacity. The second tells, but doesn’t show. I could say I’m a skilled baker, but unless I say how many of what kind of cake I made, who’ll buy it?

Pro Tip: Did you rebuild a DeLorean or build a kit car? You can put a projects section in a resume. Focus on the job-ready skills you used and don’t skimp on the numbers.

7. What About an Automotive Technician Cover Letter?

Argh, nobody wants to write a cover letter for an automotive technician resume. But you need a cover letter unless you want to cut your hiring hopes in half. That’s according to our HR statistics report. Almost half the shop managers out there will toss your resume without a letter attached.

To write your cover letter:

1. Format your cover letter first.
2. Start your automotive technician cover letter with the shop manager’s name.
3. Create an engaging cover letter first sentence.
4. Use the middle paragraph to prove you understand their needs.
5. Make an offer to end your cover letter.

Need more tips for a Honda-level automotive technician resume? See our guides: How To Write A Cover Letter in 8 Simple Steps and How to Make a Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

Here’s a recap of how to write an automotive technician resume:

• Format your automotive technician resume template in reverse-chronological order.
• Find the right automotive technician skills in the ad for the job.
• Write your experience section first. Custom-fit it like a torque-wrench with the right accomplishments.
• Put some eight-banger achievements in your education section.
• Include an ASE Master Tech certification or freelancing for added power.
• Use resume action words and numbers to keep the shop manager engaged.
• Write an automotive technician cover letter to supercharge your chances.

That’s it! Now, we’d love to hear from you: 

• What’s the most trying part about writing an automotive service technician resume? 
• Is it hard to think of the right accomplishments?
• Does making a cover letter feel artificial?

Let’s chat below in the comments, and thanks for reading!