Electrician CV Example (Australia)

Electrical contractors and facility managers in Australia hire for three things: your state electrical licence, the kind of work you have done, and your safety record. A supervisor or an owner reading your CV, often on a phone between jobs, wants to see the licence class and state in the first line, then commercial, residential, industrial or mining experience, the systems you have installed and whether you can read drawings and run apprentices.

The Sample CV below is for a licensed electrician with eight years in commercial construction and industrial maintenance in south-east Queensland. The bullets name specific installations (main switchboards and distribution, cable tray, lighting control, motor control and drives), give the size of the jobs, and mention inspections, test and tag and safety results, since those are what a contractor worries about most.

Tailor it to the employer. Commercial contractors want new builds, cable tray and drawings; industrial plants and mines want motor control, PLCs and fault finding; residential companies want service calls, solar and customer contact; maintenance roles want diagnosis and uptime. Keep it to two pages and list every ticket. The US counterpart of this page is the electrician resume example, written for American contractors on Letter paper; the Brief template keeps a trade CV compact.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample CV are fictional. Written for applicants in Australia; the page for applicants in the US is the electrician resume example.

Electrician sample CV

Drawn at A4 proportions, the paper an Australian CV is printed on.

Brayden Scholz

Electrician, Queensland Electrical Work Licence, Commercial and Industrial

Logan Central, QLDbrayden.scholz@example.com0491 574 551

Summary

Licensed electrician with eight years in commercial construction and industrial maintenance across south-east Queensland. Led the electrical fit-out of a 7,000 square metre distribution centre that passed every inspection the first time, and run crews of up to four apprentices. Clean work, clear communication with other trades and no lost-time injuries in eight years.

Experience

Electrician and Leading Hand, Lockyer Industrial Electrical Pty Ltd

– Present

Ipswich, QLD

  • Led electrical installation for a 7,000 square metre distribution centre: 1,600 amp main switchboard, distribution boards, cable tray and LED lighting with DALI control; passed every certifier and Electrical Safety Office inspection on the first visit.
  • Run crews of two to four apprentices, setting out work from drawings each morning and checking it before rough-in and final.
  • Installed, commissioned and fault-found motor control centres and variable speed drives for a food processing plant expansion, including the changeover during a single weekend shutdown.
  • Eight years with no lost-time injuries; run the weekly toolbox talk on isolation, lock-out and tag-out, and keep the crew's test and tag register.
Apprentice Electrician, Bremer Valley Electrical

–

Ipswich, QLD

  • Completed a four-year apprenticeship across residential, commercial and service work, with the Certificate III through block release at trade college.
  • Installed conduit, cable tray and cabling, and terminated switchboards on commercial fit-outs and school refurbishments.
  • Ran service calls with the supervising electrician, fault finding and replacing circuit breakers, RCDs and fittings in homes and small shops.

Education

Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician (UEE30820)

Bremer Trades College, Ipswich, QLD

Skills

  • Commercial installation and fit-out
  • Main switchboards and distribution
  • Cable tray, conduit and cabling
  • Reading electrical drawings and schematics
  • Motor control and variable speed drives
  • Lighting control (DALI)
  • Fault finding
  • AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules
  • Test and tag (AS/NZS 3760)
  • Isolation, lock-out and tag-out
  • Leading apprentices

Certifications

  • Electrical Work Licence (Electrical Mechanic), Electrical Safety Office, Queensland,
  • Construction Induction (White Card), Queensland Government accredited provider,
  • CPR and Low Voltage Rescue (refreshed annually), Registered training organisation,
  • High Risk Work Licence, Elevating Work Platform (WP), Workplace Health and Safety Queensland,

Start yours from this example

Opens this sample in the editor, in one of the templates below. Swap in your details, then tailor it to each vacancy in about two minutes.

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How an Australian CV differs

An electrician's CV in Australia is built around the state licence, because without one you cannot do electrical work at all. Queensland issues the Electrical Work Licence through the Electrical Safety Office; New South Wales a Qualified Supervisor Certificate through Fair Trading; Victoria an A Grade licence through Energy Safe Victoria; and the other states their own, with mutual recognition between them. Behind the licence sits the Certificate III in Electrotechnology and a four-year apprenticeship, then the tickets a site demands: a White Card, CPR and low voltage rescue, working at heights, an EWP licence and, for a mine, the site's own inductions. The CV is two pages of A4, no photo, with referees named at the end.

For a electrician in Australia

  1. Licence class and state first

    Write the licence as the state issues it: Electrical Work Licence (Qld), Qualified Supervisor Certificate (NSW), A Grade (Vic), with the number on request. A contractor's licence, if you hold one, goes next to it.

  2. Certificate III and apprenticeship

    Give the Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician, the trade college and the year, and the employer and length of your apprenticeship. They show how you earned the licence.

  3. Tickets with dates

    White Card, CPR and LVR (refreshed yearly), working at heights, confined space, EWP and forklift. List each with the year, since a site will not let you start with one lapsed.

  4. Mines and industrial sites

    For a Queensland mine, say whether you hold a current Coal Board Medical and the Standard 11 induction; for other states, the site inductions you hold. These are often the first question a mining contractor asks.

  5. Referees named and a driver's licence

    Name two referees with their role and phone, usually your current supervisor and a previous one, and say you hold a manual driver's licence if the job involves a van or a site vehicle.

Every CV in Australia

A4 paper
Australia prints on A4. A Letter-sized PDF prints short on A4 and tells a recruiter the CV came from a US template.
Two to three pages
Australian CVs run longer than UK ones: two pages is normal and three is accepted for experienced applicants. One page suits a first job.
No photo
No photo, date of birth or marital status. Australian employers do not expect them, and anti-discrimination law makes most prefer not to see them.
Dates as DD/MM/YYYY
Day first where a full date appears, month and year for each role. The US month-first order reads wrong to an Australian recruiter.
Australian English
Australian English follows British spelling: organise, programme, centre, licence, specialise.
Suburb and state, not a street address
"Parramatta, NSW" is enough on the contact line. A full address is not expected, and the US-style ZIP line never is.

More on applying in Australia, with every CV example for it, on the Australia page.

Templates for the electrician CV

All templates

Every template exports on A4. The previews are drawn on Letter; the editor sets the page size when you export.

How the CV changes with experience

The same electrician CV, written at three levels: a profile and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first post in the title

First-year electrical apprentice with a Certificate II in Electrotechnology pre-apprenticeship, a White Card and a manual driver's licence. Reliable, careful with tools and keen to learn from a licensed electrician.

  • Completed a Certificate II pre-apprenticeship covering safety, basic circuits and conduit at trade college.
  • Worked summers as a labourer for a residential builder on the Gold Coast.
  • Hold a White Card, a manual driver's licence and my own hand tools.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

Licensed residential electrician with five years on new homes, service calls and rooftop solar for a Newcastle contractor, trusted to work on my own with customers.

  • Wire new homes from rough-in to fit-off for a volume builder, about 40 houses a year.
  • Handle service calls, switchboard upgrades and EV charger installations.
  • Accredited solar installer with 150 rooftop systems commissioned.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programmes

Electrical supervisor and licensed contractor with fifteen years running large commercial projects and electrical crews across Queensland.

  • Run electrical crews of up to twenty on projects over A$6 million.
  • Plan labour and materials, and coordinate with builders, certifiers and the Electrical Safety Office.
  • Train and mentor apprentices through to their licence.

Skills to put on the electrician CV

Hard skills

AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules
Work that passes inspection the first time saves a contractor time and money, and the Wiring Rules are what the inspector tests against.
Reading drawings
Setting out from drawings lets you lead others on a commercial site, and supervisors ask about it.
Switchboards and distribution
Main switchboard and distribution work is where commercial contractors need licensed hands most.
Fault finding
Finding faults quickly is valued in service, maintenance and mining roles.
Motor control, VSDs and PLCs
Control work opens industrial and mining roles, which pay more and ask for it by name.
Test and tag and safety systems
Contractors are audited on test and tag, isolation and lock-out, and a crew member who keeps the register is a lower risk.

Soft skills

Safety discipline
A contractor is judged on its safety record, and eight years without a lost-time injury makes you the easy hire.
Reliability
Crews and programs depend on everyone turning up ready, and a supervisor rings your last boss to check.
Working with other trades
Coordinating with plumbers, carpenters and the builder keeps a job moving and keeps you asked back.
Teaching apprentices
An electrician who trains well builds the contractor's next crew, and leading hand roles go to them.

Mistakes that cost electrician interviews

  1. Licence not in the first line

    Put your licence class and state after your name. Contractors screen for it before anything else, and some will not open a CV without it.

  2. No type of work

    Say whether you work residential, commercial, industrial, mining or service. Each needs different skills and each contractor hires for one.

  3. Leaving out safety and tickets

    A clean safety record and current tickets make you a lower risk to hire. List the White Card, CPR and LVR, heights and EWP with the year.

  4. Vague job descriptions

    Wired buildings says little. Give the size of jobs and the specific systems, such as a 1,600 amp main switchboard or VSD commissioning.

  5. A US-style page with a journeyman licence

    Journeyman, master electrician and the National Electrical Code mean nothing to an Australian contractor. Use the state licence, AS/NZS 3000, Australian spelling and the ticket names a site uses.

Questions about the electrician CV

What should an electrician put on a CV in Australia?

Licence class and state, type of work, systems installed, job sizes, safety tickets with dates, the Certificate III and apprenticeship, and any crew leadership. Name two referees.

How do I write an apprentice electrician CV?

List your pre-apprenticeship or Certificate II, any construction or labouring jobs, the White Card and driver's licence, and the tools you own. Show reliability and willingness to learn, and name a teacher or employer as a referee.

Does my electrical licence work in another state?

Yes, under mutual recognition, though you must apply to the new state's regulator before you start work there. Say on the CV which licence you hold and that you are eligible for mutual recognition.

Should I include my vehicle and tools?

Briefly, if the employer expects you to have them. Many service roles supply a van and want a clean manual driver's licence; say you have one.

How do I show leadership as an electrician?

Mention crews you run, apprentices you train, jobs you set out from drawings and coordination with builders, certifiers and the safety regulator.

How long should an electrician CV be in Australia?

Two pages of A4 is right for nearly every electrician, and a single page suits a first-year apprentice. Paste the advert into Resume Master and it rewrites the CV against it in about two minutes.

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