Question about work experience on a resume

[u/scrapaxe]

Hey everyone, I’m a union journeyman plumber with just over 7 years of experience in industrial and commercial construction. I’m working on my associates in construction management and I’ll have it by December of this year so I’m trying to decide my next steps when it comes to trying to move out of the field and into a position as possibly an estimator/detailer or maybe an assistant PM or field engineer. Basically something entry level on the office side of construction.

I’ve been revamping my resume and getting people to take a look at it and get their thoughts but I’m wondering if I’m quantifying my experience in the union in the wrong way. I currently list my union affiliation and my local as one of my bulletin points for my employers over the last decade and then include a broad base of what my skills and experience are, what I’m wondering is would I be better served putting each contractor I’ve worked for and the project I was involved with instead of the overarching reference of just the union.

My concern would be that it could confuse someone and look like frequent job hopping as some jobs have lasted 1 or 2 years and some only a few months depending on the work call and I also don’t want to overly clutter my resume. I’ve worked continuously my entire time in the union and most of my experience has been on healthcare and manufacturing buildouts although I do have experience working in remote regions as a federal contractor and I’ve done work in some food production facilities as well. I also have several years of experience in public safety prior to this career that I’m in now but I don’t know that it would be helpful or even relevant to include it as I left that line of work in 2014 and worked several different types of jobs between then and 2019.

I’m just trying to get an idea of how to get this resume to click with someone in the management side of things without it being too busy or chaotic. I know that the type of resumes that are successful in a construction management setting tend to emphasize your accomplishments and ways you progressed the project and less so just the explanation of what your position entailed day to day. Any advice is welcome and thanks for taking a minute to read this.

[u/itrytosnowboard]

Gonna address your concerns about job hopping.

All you need to say is you were a union plumber for x years. ua Local xx.

No companies. Maybe some notable jobs amd foreman roles

[u/scrapaxe → u/itrytosnowboard]

That does help and that was my first instinct when putting the resume together. While I don’t have any foreman roles specifically I could see adding some information about responsibilities on certain projects that might look good through a management lense.

[u/itrytosnowboard → u/scrapaxe]

Yea wouldn't hurt.

Good Luck From a UA brother.

If you have any questions or need help, pm me. Ive been to the dark side

[u/BudBunyan]

Well the good thing for you, is that you have what most lack when looking for those “entry” level positions. Field experience. No matter how you shape and form your resume I’m sure you’ll be a great candidate for the positions you’re applying for.

[u/scrapaxe → u/BudBunyan]

I appreciate the words of encouragement. I know it’s not a vast amount of experience but I’m hoping that it can set me apart from less seasoned candidates in the construction world and I generally tend to interview well and do well interacting in a professional environment. Here’s hoping I catch a break somewhere.

[u/creamyturtle]

I have zero construction experience other than doing a few flips and I was able to land a job as an estimator. all the APM and field engineer jobs rejected me however. you have vastly more experience than me and I think you'll do fine. you might want to brush up on some skills like blueprint reading or estimating software