Electrician CV example and what contractors look for

The top third: qualifications and cards first

A contracts manager or agency consultant hiring an electrician is answering one question before any other: is this person qualified for the grade we need, and can they get on site on Monday? If the answer is buried on page two under a hobbies section, the CV goes back on the pile. Put a short block straight under your name and phone number:

• NVQ Level 3 in electrotechnical installation, with the year.
• AM2 practical assessment, with the year.
• ECS card: the card type and its expiry date (for example, gold card, Installation Electrician).
• BS 7671 (18th Edition), with the year you passed and the amendment if you know it.
• Inspection and testing qualification, if you have one.
• Full UK driving licence, and whether you have your own van and tools.

BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, is the UK standard for electrical installations and the one people mean when they say "the 18th Edition". The ECS card, run by the JIB, shows your qualifications and occupation on construction sites. The ECS scheme lists gold cards for skilled Level 3 occupations such as Installation Electrician and Domestic Electrician, and separate cards for apprentices and trainees. Write the card type exactly as it appears on your card, and keep the expiry date current on your CV; an expired card is one of the first things a site manager will ask about.

Say what kind of electrical work you do

"Electrician" covers a lot. A contractor fitting out offices wants to know you can run containment and install distribution boards on a busy site. A domestic firm wants rewires, consumer unit changes and customers who are happy to have you back. A factory wants fault finding on three-phase motors and control panels. Name your main areas in your summary and use the vocabulary of each:

• Domestic: full and partial rewires, consumer unit replacements, kitchen and bathroom circuits, EV charge points, working in occupied homes.
• Commercial: containment and tray, distribution boards, lighting and emergency lighting, fire alarm first and second fix, working to drawings and programme.
• Industrial: three-phase supplies, motor circuits, control panels, planned maintenance, permits to work.
• Testing and inspection: initial verification, periodic inspection, fault finding, certificates and reports.

The National Careers Service lists solar panels and EV charging points among the work electricians can move into. If you have fitted either, give them their own line with the numbers you installed, because adverts for that work use those exact words.

Jobs completed, not a list of duties

Every electrician CV says "installed and maintained electrical systems to current regulations". It tells a reader nothing they did not already assume. Swap duties for the jobs you actually did: the building type, the size of the job, your part in it and anything that shows you worked well with others on site.

Three to five bullets per employer is plenty. If you have worked for one firm for years, group the bullets by job type rather than writing one long list. Where you ran a job or supervised an apprentice, put that first.

Testing, certification and paperwork

Contractors hiring for an approved electrician or supervisor post read the testing lines carefully, because that is where responsibility sits. Say what you test and certify: electrical installation certificates on new work, minor works certificates, periodic inspection reports on existing installations. Say which test instruments you use, whether you sign certificates yourself or prepare them for a supervisor, and which software you fill them in on if the firm uses one.

Be exact. "Completed periodic inspection reports on rented homes" is a claim a manager can check in a phone call. "Experienced in all aspects of testing" invites a question you may not want.

From apprentice to qualified electrician

The National Careers Service lists Level 3 apprenticeships such as Installation and Maintenance Electrician and Domestic Electrician, a college route through electrical installation courses, and an Experienced Worker Assessment for people who already have years of practical work but no formal qualification. Once you have qualified, your CV needs to change shape.

Collapse the apprenticeship into one entry with the employer, dates and two or three lines on the work you did in your final year, when you were closest to working alone. Move your qualifications block to the top. Drop college units and school grades unless the advert asks for them. The apprentice page covers the CV you write before you start; this one is for after.

Self-employed, agency and subcontract work

Many electricians mix direct employment with periods of self-employment or agency work. Do not leave these out or hide them as a gap. Give self-employed work its own entry with dates and a trading name if you have one, then describe the typical jobs and clients, such as landlords, kitchen fitters or a main contractor you subcontracted to. For agency work, one entry per agency is enough, listing the sites or job types under it. A run of short site jobs reads as steady work when it is grouped this way.

Mistakes contractors notice

• Leaving the card type and expiry date off, so the reader has to phone to check.
• Writing "17th and 18th Edition" with no years, which makes a reader wonder if your 18th is current.
• Listing hand tools as skills. Everyone has a multifunction tester; say what you test.
• No driving licence line, when most electrical work involves travel between jobs.
• Hiding self-employed spells, which look like gaps without a line of explanation.
• Claiming inspection and testing experience you have only watched.

Electrician pay

The National Careers Service gives an average of £26,000 a year for a starter electrician and £45,000 for an experienced one. Overtime, call-out work and self-employment can change what you actually earn.