Technician CV Example
Updated 24 July 2026
A technician CV must prove you can diagnose faults fast, keep equipment running, and work safely. Hiring managers scan for specific machinery you've serviced, the metrics you've moved (downtime, uptime, MTTR), and the certifications that let you work unsupervised. This guide shows you how to write a technician CV that passes ATS screening and wins interviews in 2026.
Technician CV examples
Junior Maintenance Technician
entryLeads with apprenticeship credentials and hands-on placement experience, naming specific equipment and tools to demonstrate readiness despite limited tenure.
Maintenance Technician
midBalances reactive and preventive maintenance with quantified downtime and uptime metrics, names CMMS and diagnostic tools, and shows ownership of a PPM programme.
Senior Maintenance Technician
seniorDemonstrates leadership through mentoring and programme ownership, quantifies OEE and downtime improvements at scale, and lists advanced diagnostics and multi-site responsibility.
How to write a technician CV
CV format and length
One to two pages, reverse-chronological. Senior technicians with multi-site or specialist experience may stretch to two pages; everyone else should aim for one tight page. No photo, no date of birth. UK hiring managers want contact details, a short personal statement, skills, experience, education and certifications in that order.
Personal statement
Three to four lines. State your years of hands-on experience, your maintenance specialism (electrical, mechanical, HVAC, automotive, multi-skilled), and one headline metric that proves impact: downtime reduced, uptime improved, or first-time-fix rate. Follow with a scannable hard-skills line listing the trades and systems you cover before the experience section so a busy maintenance manager sees your fit instantly.
Skills
Name the specific machinery and systems you've serviced rather than saying "various equipment". HVAC, CNC machines, conveyor lines, hydraulic/pneumatic systems, PLCs. Equipment-specific terminology is what hiring managers and ATS scan for. List the diagnostic tools and test instruments you actually use: multimeter, oscilloscope, thermal imaging camera, vibration analyser, manufacturer diagnostic software. Include any equipment brands or models you're trained on. Show CMMS fluency by name (SAP PM, Maximo, Fiix) and mention raising and closing work orders. It signals you can work within a structured maintenance operation, not just turn a spanner.
Experience
Show experience with both preventive (planned/scheduled) and reactive (breakdown/emergency) maintenance. Call out any preventive-maintenance programme you set up. That's the line that signals you reduce future failures rather than just react to them. Quantify maintenance impact with the metrics employers track: downtime reduction (%), equipment uptime or OEE improvement, first-time-fix rate, and MTTR (mean time to repair) reductions. Strong technician achievement bullets read like: "Implemented a preventive maintenance programme that improved factory productivity by 20%" or "Resolved a recurring conveyor fault, cutting line stoppages by X per week." A specific problem, the action, and the measurable outcome.
Education and certifications
List your technician certifications precisely with issuing body and level: City & Guilds 2365 Electrical Installation, NVQ/HNC in the relevant specialism, EASA Part 66 (aviation), IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH. Include expiry or renewal dates where applicable. Make health and safety credentials visible: LOTO (lockout/tagout), PPE compliance, risk assessments, and any safety-incident reduction you contributed to. For technician roles, demonstrated safety discipline is a hiring differentiator, not a footnote.
What to include in each section
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Personal statement | Years of experience, specialism, one headline metric, core systems |
| Skills | Specific equipment/systems, diagnostic tools, CMMS software, certifications |
| Experience | Preventive and reactive maintenance, quantified downtime/uptime metrics, fault diagnosis examples |
| Education | NVQ/HNC/City & Guilds with level and year, safety certifications with expiry dates |
| Additional | Driving licence, forklift ticket, on-call availability if relevant |
Personal statement examples
Multi-skilled maintenance technician with five years of hands-on experience in high-speed manufacturing. Proven track record reducing unplanned downtime by 18% through structured PPM and rapid fault diagnosis on hydraulic, pneumatic and PLC-controlled systems. NVQ Level 3 qualified with strong CMMS and safety discipline.
Hard-working and reliable technician looking for a maintenance role to use my skills and grow. A good team player who is passionate about fixing things and keeping equipment running smoothly.
Writing your experience
The result-plus-metric pattern
Every achievement bullet should answer: what problem did you solve, what did you do, and what measurable outcome did you deliver? "Reduced unplanned downtime by 15%" beats "responsible for maintenance". Cite a specific tricky fault you traced and resolved. That's the story that sticks.
Before and after examples
| Weak (duty-focused) | Strong (impact-focused) |
|---|---|
| Responsible for general maintenance of production equipment. | Reduced unplanned downtime by 18% over 24 months by implementing a structured preventive maintenance programme covering 12 high-speed packaging lines. |
| Carried out fault diagnosis and repairs. | Diagnosed and resolved a recurring pneumatic leak on Line 7 that had caused 14 stoppages per month, cutting incidents to zero through valve replacement and pressure optimisation. |
| Used various tools and software. | Achieved 92% first-time-fix rate on electrical and mechanical breakdowns, using multimeter, thermal imaging camera and Siemens S7 diagnostic software. |
| Maintained equipment records. | Raised and closed 680+ work orders annually in Maximo, maintaining accurate equipment history and ensuring compliance with PPM schedules. |
Action verbs for technician CVs
Diagnosed, traced, resolved, reduced, improved, implemented, optimised, calibrated, overhauled, installed, commissioned, completed, achieved, eliminated, prevented, identified, rectified, maintained, coordinated, mentored, delivered.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
Qualifications that matter
List your technician certifications precisely with issuing body and level. City & Guilds 2365 Electrical Installation, NVQ Level 3 (or HNC/HND) in Engineering Maintenance, EASA Part 66 for aviation technicians, and any manufacturer-specific training (Siemens PLC, Fanuc CNC, Carrier HVAC). Include expiry or renewal dates where applicable so the hiring manager knows your credentials are current.
Health and safety certifications
Make health and safety credentials visible. IOSH Working Safely or Managing Safely, NEBOSH General Certificate, LOTO (lockout/tagout) training, confined-space entry, working at height. For technician roles, demonstrated safety discipline is a hiring differentiator, not a footnote. If you contributed to a safety-incident reduction (e.g. "zero RIDDOR incidents over 18 months"), cite it in your experience bullets.
Where to list certifications
Put formal qualifications (NVQ, HNC, City & Guilds diplomas) in the Education section with start and end years. Put standalone certifications and safety tickets (IOSH, NEBOSH, manufacturer training, forklift licence) in an Achievements or Certifications section immediately after Education. If a certification is central to the role you're applying for, also mention it in your personal statement and skills list so ATS picks it up early.
What to include
- NVQ Level 2/3 or HNC/HND in relevant engineering discipline (with awarding body and year)
- City & Guilds electrical or mechanical qualifications (with level and year)
- 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) if electrical
- IOSH Working Safely or Managing Safely
- NEBOSH General Certificate (if held)
- Manufacturer-specific certifications (Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Fanuc, etc.)
- Forklift licence, IPAF (powered access), or other plant tickets (with expiry dates)
- First aid at work (if current)
If you're partway through a qualification (e.g. studying HNC part-time), list it with "Expected completion: [month/year]" so the employer knows you're investing in your development.
Common mistakes to avoid
Writing "responsible for general maintenance" with no equipment named and no numbers.
Name the specific machinery and systems: "Maintained 12 high-speed conveyor lines and pneumatic packaging systems, reducing unplanned downtime by 18%."
Omitting current certifications or letting expired ones sit on the CV.
List certifications with issuing body, level and expiry/renewal dates. Remove expired credentials unless you're actively renewing them.
Reusing one generic CV instead of matching the equipment and brands in the specific job ad.
Tailor your skills and experience bullets to mirror the job ad's equipment list. If they mention Siemens PLCs and SAP PM, make sure those keywords appear in your CV.
Listing diagnostic tools vaguely ("used various test equipment").
Name the tools: "Used multimeter, oscilloscope, thermal imaging camera and Siemens diagnostic software to achieve 92% first-time-fix rate."
Burying health and safety credentials at the bottom or omitting them entirely.
Make LOTO, risk assessments and safety certifications visible. Cite any safety-incident reduction you contributed to in your achievement bullets.
Focusing only on reactive maintenance and ignoring preventive work.
Show both. Call out any preventive-maintenance programme you set up or contributed to. That's the line that signals you reduce future failures, not just react to them.
Junior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Leads with apprenticeship or recent qualification, names one or two equipment types, emphasises eagerness to learn. | Leads with years of experience, headline downtime/uptime metric, multi-skilled across several systems, mentions mentoring or programme ownership. |
| Achievement metrics | On-time task completion (%), number of work orders closed, first-time-fix rate on straightforward faults. | Downtime reduction (%), OEE improvement, MTTR reduction, cost avoidance, safety-incident reduction, team training outcomes. |
| Fault diagnosis | Assisted with diagnostics, followed checklists, used basic test equipment (multimeter, insulation tester). | Led root-cause analysis, traced complex intermittent faults, used advanced diagnostics (oscilloscope, vibration analysis, thermal imaging), resolved issues that evaded others. |
| Preventive maintenance | Completed scheduled PPM tasks under supervision, lubrication, filter changes, safety checks. | Designed or overhauled preventive-maintenance programmes, risk-based scheduling, mentored juniors on PPM best practice. |
| CMMS usage | Raised and closed work orders, maintained basic equipment records. | Managed work-order workflows, analysed failure trends from CMMS data, ensured schedule adherence across multiple assets or sites. |
| Certifications | NVQ Level 2/3 or City & Guilds Level 3, IOSH Working Safely, 18th Edition (if electrical). | HNC/HND, NEBOSH General Certificate, advanced manufacturer certifications (Siemens, Allen-Bradley), specialist tickets (thermography, vibration analysis). |