Efficient warehouse operations are a must to keep businesses running smoothly. You achieve that with top-notch inventory management, efficient picking and wrapping of orders, and compliance with all OSHA safety protocols.
Have you picked the right job skills and wrapped them up in a neat overview on your resume?
While you easily manage order sheets and inventory records, putting together a great resume can feel more challenging. Don’t worry. We have the resume template and a quick cover letter generator you need with our forklift operator resume examples that’ll get you on the right track.
Related resume examples
What Matters Most: Your Forklift Operator Skills & Work Experience
Every warehouse has varying needs depending on the products being managed and specific shipping and receiving schedules. For instance, one may require you to handle hazardous materials, whereas another will require food safety with climate-controlled items.
The best way to optimize the skills you put on your resume is by reviewing each job description. That way, whether a company wants you to use a rough terrain forklift or a narrow aisle forklift, you can list a custom set of abilities that stands out.
Here are some of the best forklift operator skills to put on a resume.
9 best forklift operator skills
- OSHA Safety
- Operational Inspections
- Inventory Control
- Order Picking
- Forklift Maintenance
- Pallet Jacks
- RF Scanners
- Scissor Lifts
- Stand Up Forklifts
Sample forklift operator work experience bullet points
Timeliness and accuracy are crucial in warehouse operations to get the best results. However, you may wonder how to show you can perform well on the job.
The best way to do so will be with actionable examples showcasing how you use your abilities in order picking and operational safety to get the best results.
Each example should use metrics, such as productive efficiency or reductions in downtime, to showcase your impact.
Here are a few samples:
- Monitored warehouse and shipment needs in Fishbowl to boost transportation efficiency by 54%.
- Communicated regularly with floor managers to ensure 98% accuracy in merchandise placement.
- Used proper strapping, bracing, and balancing techniques while loading orders to reduce load shifting by 44%.
- Operated cherry pickers while using all appropriate warning lights and signals to reduce workplace accidents by 37%.
Top 5 Tips for Your Forklift Operator Resume
- Optimize with action words
- You’ll need to take timely action when shipments or orders come in on the job. You can show that in your examples by including action words like “operated” or “secured.” For example, you could say how you “secured and balanced all pallets on shelves to reduce safety incidents by 35%.”
- Keep it on a single page
- Just like all work orders should remain concise for easy review in fast-paced warehouse environments, you should do the same on your resume. Keep to a brief, one-page overview of your top inventory management and order-picking skills so hiring managers can see why you’re the best fit during quick reviews.
- One-sentence examples work best
- While there are many steps to aspects like maintaining OSHA safety protocols, hiring managers don’t need all the details to understand your abilities. A simple one-sentence description about how you inspected all aisles and floors for hazards to reduce machinery slips by 57% will go a long way.
- Use proper formatting
- Forklift operators should list their experiences in reverse chronological order. It’ll put your most recent experiences first, emphasizing your most relevant abilities in forklift maintenance and scissor lifts as you’ve grown in your career.
- Proofread thoroughly
- Accuracy is crucial for forklift operators, where loading a single pallet on the wrong truck can significantly delay several customers waiting for their orders. Show how you can perform accurately right away by proofreading your resume to ensure there aren’t any grammatical errors or inaccuracies.
You’ll want to limit your forklift operator resume to three or four jobs. Keep it to the most recent and relevant jobs, such as ones where you used RF scanners or performed forklift maintenance.
A resume objective can work well when you don’t have much forklift operating experience. For example, you could write about how you’re a driven professional ready to apply what you’ve learned while obtaining your OSHA forklift operating certificate to ensure a safe and efficient workplace.
You should customize the job skills and work experiences you list to stand out for each forklift operator job you apply to. For example, consider one company that uses a FIFO inventory method and another that uses LIFO systems. Including storage and order-picking processes related to each on your resume would help you stand out based on each company’s needs.
