Examples & writing guide
Painter Decorator CV Example
Updated 26 June 2026
A good painter decorator CV makes the quality and scope of your work easy to grasp. This guide explains how to present practical skills, recent projects and honest results, whether you are seeking your first paid position, moving from carpentry, or bringing years of site experience.
Examples by experience level
Junior Painter Decorator
TemplateTeal Signal2 / 5
Why this works
This painter decorator CV sample uses practical preparation work, tidy site habits and defensible project figures to make limited experience credible.
Continue writing your CVPainter Decorator CV sample
TemplateAshford1 / 5
Why this works
This painter decorator CV example backs practical ability with defensible figures for finish quality, programme delivery, material control, safe working and client care.
Continue writing your CVSenior Painter Decorator
TemplateGrey Frame5 / 5
Why this works
This CV shows progression into site leadership and supports claims with clear figures for project scale, finish quality, material control, coordination and team performance.
Continue writing your CVJunior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Focus on practical training, transferable reliability and supervised decorating evidence. Name the settings and techniques you have already experienced. | Lead with relevant experience, project scale, leadership responsibility and evidence of finish quality and dependable handovers. |
| Work experience | Use placements, apprenticeship work, property-maintenance tasks or other practical roles. Describe your own contribution rather than claiming the whole crew's output. | Show responsibility across new-build, refurbishment or maintenance work, including allocation, sequencing, quality checks and communication with clients or other trades. |
| Achievement measures | Use modest, traceable measures such as rooms prepared, jobs assisted, deadlines met or snagging points corrected. | Use broader measures such as project volumes, team size, completion against programme, material control and reductions in callbacks or remedial work. |
| Technical evidence | Prioritise sound preparation, neat application, equipment care and the ability to follow instructions. | Add surface assessment, work estimation, material calculation, specialist finishes and coordination across several work areas. |
| Safety and access | Describe protecting work areas, using equipment responsibly and reporting hazards. Mention working at height only where your project evidence supports it. | Show how equipment standards, housekeeping and safe working arrangements were maintained across the work or team, including projects at height where relevant. |
| Client and team contact | Give examples of polite communication, tidy working and dependable teamwork under supervision. | Show how expectations were agreed, finish queries were resolved and colleagues or subcontractors were coordinated without disrupting the programme. |
How to write a painter decorator CV
Build a clear, practical CV
Aim for one or two pages and arrange your employment in reverse-chronological order. Start with your name and contact details, then add a personal statement, key skills, employment history, education and relevant training. Interests or volunteering can follow when they offer useful evidence of creativity, care or teamwork.
| Section | Include | Leave out |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Experience level, strongest evidence and target position | Empty claims such as "excellent decorator" |
| Skills | Preparation methods, application techniques and working practices you can demonstrate | Techniques copied from an advert but never used |
| Experience | Employer, title, dates, project scope, actions and results | Long lists of routine duties |
| Education | Exact titles, providers and dates for completed training | Unfinished study presented as complete |
| Extras | Brief, relevant interests or volunteering | A photo, date of birth or unrelated personal details |
Write the personal statement after drafting the rest of the CV. You will then know which evidence deserves the opening lines. If you are new to the trade, draw on training, supervised projects, punctuality and transferable customer service. With more experience, lead with the properties or projects handled, the standard of finish, workload and level of responsibility.
Give prominent space to surface preparation, paint mixing, application techniques, attention to detail, time management and teamwork when they match your background. Genuine expertise in decorative techniques or environmentally friendly coatings may also be worth mentioning. Keep the skills list selective, and support it through employment, training or project evidence.
For each job, identify the surfaces or project involved, explain your contribution and state the result. Under education, copy the exact awarded title and provider. Label current study as ongoing and give the expected completion date. Match your genuine experience to the work, methods and conditions in the vacancy. If an advert asks for a relevant licence or role-specific qualification, include the exact detail only if you hold it.
Finally, inspect the first half-page. A supervisor should quickly understand your level, practical strengths and most recent evidence. A painter decorator CV template can organise the page, but its wording should describe your own work rather than repeat a generic painter decorator CV sample.
Personal statement examples
Careful painter decorator with four years of experience preparing and finishing interior and exterior surfaces across refurbishment and maintenance projects. Skilled in surface repair, paint application and material calculation, with a record of completing occupied-property work neatly and communicating clearly with clients and other trades. Seeking a position where consistent finishes, punctual delivery and tidy handovers are valued.
I am a hard-working painter looking for a new challenge. I am good at decorating, can work alone or with other people and learn quickly. I have done many jobs and would be an asset to any company.
Writing your experience
Treat each experience bullet as evidence. Start with an accurate action verb, identify the work and its scale, then state the result. Useful measures may include rooms completed, properties covered, surface area, turnaround time, material variance or snagging items resolved. Take figures from job sheets, quotations, handover records or work that you remember accurately.
Painter decorators may apply paint, wallpaper and other finishes to interior and exterior surfaces. Preparation can include protecting fixtures, removing old paint, levelling surfaces, filling holes and cracks, stripping walls or repairing damaged areas. Depending on your experience, a bullet might also cover stains, varnish, marbling, colour selection, material calculations, equipment care or following project instructions. Do not claim unfamiliar techniques simply because they appear in a vacancy.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Painted rooms for customers. | Prepared and redecorated 18 occupied rooms over six weeks, completing every handover on the agreed day. |
| Responsible for surface preparation. | Stripped, filled and levelled 420 square metres of damaged walls, reducing recorded snagging items from 14 in the first phase to 4 in the second. |
| Helped keep jobs tidy. | Managed daily protection and clean-down across a 12-flat refurbishment, leaving each area ready for the next trade. |
The revised versions connect an action to its scope and outcome. They also give an interviewer something concrete to ask about. Replace every illustrative number with evidence you can defend; figures in a painter decorator CV example do not belong in your application unless they are genuinely yours.
Suitable opening verbs include prepared, repaired, stripped, filled, levelled, mixed, applied, papered, restored, calculated, inspected, coordinated, completed and resolved. Repeating a precise verb is better than choosing a misleading synonym for variety.
Include safety, housekeeping and communication when they affected the result. You might describe maintaining equipment, protecting a work area, reporting a hazard, arranging access with a client or coordinating with another trade. If a project involved working at height, identify the setting and task without implying that every decorating position has the same conditions. Customer service, accurate quotations and tidy handovers deserve space when they were part of your work. Three or four substantial bullets under a recent role usually say more than ten routine duties.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
Formal Level 2–4 qualifications are optional for entry to painter and decorator work in the UK if you have learned the relevant skills through experience and can decorate business or domestic premises proficiently. When applying through this experience-based route, make your competence visible through project details, techniques and outcomes rather than expecting the reader to infer it.
For someone seeking a first paid job, completing a painting and decorator course is preferred and can strengthen the CV. Record its exact title, provider and completion date. Label current study as "in progress" and include the expected completion date without presenting the award as complete.
A Painting and Decorating apprenticeship is an optional route. It may last 21–36 months and range from Level 2 to Level 4, depending on experience and qualification level. Entry conditions vary by college and company. The average entry benchmark is five GCSEs at grade 3 (D) or above, including English and maths. An initial assessment or an employment contract within the industry may also apply. These are possible conditions for apprenticeship applicants, not universal entry rules for the trade.
One specific apprentice position pairs the job with the two-year Painter and decorator (level 2) training course. That detail applies to the cited position rather than every apprenticeship. The supplied route guidance describes people completing a Level 2 apprenticeship or Level 3 apprenticeship as fully qualified tradespeople who can apply for workplace projects.
Place completed trade training above older general education when it is more relevant. Copy every award title exactly, name the provider and show the dates. Include genuine apprenticeships, vocational training and industry accreditations that help an employer assess your suitability. Tailor the section to each advert, but do not add a licence, certificate or other credential unless you genuinely hold it.
Common mistakes to avoid
AvoidListing duties such as "painted walls" without showing the size, pace or result of the work.
InsteadTurn the duty into evidence. State the property or project type, the area or number of rooms completed and a result you can defend, such as meeting the handover date or reducing snagging callbacks.
AvoidBurying practical decorating skills beneath a long personal statement or generic claims about being hardworking.
InsteadPlace a compact skills section near the top. Name techniques you have genuinely used, such as surface preparation, paint mixing, wallpaper hanging or specialist finishes.
AvoidUsing a broad phrase such as "all painting work" instead of explaining preparation and finishing methods.
InsteadShow the process where relevant: assess the surface, protect the work area, strip or repair it, apply the finish and leave the area tidy.
AvoidIgnoring safety evidence when describing site work, particularly projects involving work at height.
InsteadMention genuine examples of protecting work areas, using equipment responsibly, maintaining tidy work areas and reporting hazards. For work at height, describe only the project circumstances and experience you can substantiate.
AvoidGiving no evidence of reliability or coordination with clients and other trades.
InsteadAdd defensible examples of meeting handover dates, arriving to schedule, sequencing work around other trades or resolving a client's finish query professionally.
AvoidAdding impressive-looking numbers that cannot be checked or explained at interview.
InsteadUse only figures you can defend. Room counts, surface areas, job volumes, material quantities, timescales and snagging records work well when they come from your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Aim for one to two pages, with the most relevant evidence near the top. One page may suit a new entrant, while an experienced painter decorator may need two pages for projects, results and specialist techniques.
Use relevant training, supervised practical work, placements, volunteering or transferable property-maintenance experience. State what you personally prepared, repaired or finished, and do not present informal practice as paid employment.
No. Under British CV conventions, leave out both. Use the space for contact details, a concise personal statement, relevant skills and reverse-chronological experience.
A role-specific qualification is optional for UK role entry. If you rely on experience instead, make the setting, techniques and standard of your work easy to assess; if you have relevant training, give its exact title, provider and completion date.
Mention it when the project involves work at height and you have genuine experience to discuss. Give brief context, such as the type of project and your responsibilities, without adding unsupported credentials.
Use figures you can explain, such as rooms completed, surface area covered, projects delivered, time saved, material quantities controlled or callbacks reduced. Add the setting and outcome, and never invent a number to strengthen a bullet.
From example to application
Turn this painter decorator example into a CV that sounds like you.
Keep the structure that works. Tailor the details around your experience, strengths, and the role you want.