Heavy equipment operator with 8 years running excavators, dozers, loaders and motor graders on highway and utility projects. NCCER certified with a CDL Class A for lowboy hauls, and has moved over 400,000 cubic yards of earth without a property damage incident.
Experience
Heavy Equipment Operator, Bitterroot Earthworks (Billings, MT)
Apr 2021 – Present
Operate Cat 336 excavators, D6 dozers and 140 motor graders on highway widening and subdivision site work
Cut and fill to grade with Trimble GPS machine control, holding finish grade within 0.1 ft across 400,000+ cubic yards
Dig utility trenches up to 14 ft deep with trench boxes per OSHA Subpart P, coordinating 811 locates with pipe crews
Haul equipment on a lowboy under CDL Class A and complete daily walkarounds, with no property damage incidents in 5 years
Equipment Operator, Yellowstone Valley Paving (Laurel, MT)
May 2018 – Mar 2021
Ran wheel loaders, rollers and skid steers on asphalt paving and gravel road jobs
Loaded haul trucks at the aggregate pit, averaging 70 loads per shift
Education
Heavy Equipment Operator Program, NCCER Level 2, Big Sky Operating Engineers Training Center (Sep 2017 – Apr 2018)
Skills
Equipment: excavators, dozers, motor graders, wheel loaders, rollers, skid steers
Licenses: CDL Class A, NCCER Heavy Equipment Operations Level 2, OSHA 30
A strong Heavy Equipment Operator resume shows the projects you delivered, their value, and how you kept them on time, on budget and safe. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
Sections, in order
Summary
Experience
Certifications
Skills
Education
Length: One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Summary: Write two or three lines: your role, your strongest skills, and one result that proves them.
Skills to feature
Project management
Cost estimating
Scheduling (Primavera, MS Project)
Site supervision
Safety compliance (OSHA)
Contract management
Blueprint reading
Subcontractor coordination
Property management
Market analysis
Example bullet points
Delivered a $28M mixed-use build two weeks early and 3% under budget with zero lost-time incidents
Managed 22 subcontractors across 4 concurrent sites using Procore and weekly look-ahead schedules
Closed $45M in commercial lease transactions in 2024, raising portfolio occupancy from 86% to 94%
Tips from recruiters
Name the project type, value and size (square footage or units) for each major project.
List licences and certifications such as PMP, OSHA 30 or a real estate licence.
A projects section works well for construction roles; keep it in reverse chronological order.
Recommended templates
Classic (ATS-friendly): Jake's-style LaTeX classic: small caps and hairline rules
Modern (ATS-friendly): Clean single column with accent headings and rules
Ledger (ATS-friendly): moderncv banking: accent name, bold dates on the right
Heavy Equipment Operator resume FAQ
What should a Heavy Equipment Operator resume include?
A Heavy Equipment Operator resume should show the projects you delivered, their value, and how you kept them on time, on budget and safe. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Experience, Certifications, Skills and Education. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
What is the best resume template for a Heavy Equipment Operator?
Classic, Modern and Ledger work well for Heavy Equipment Operator roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.
How long should a Heavy Equipment Operator resume be?
One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Which skills should a Heavy Equipment Operator put on a resume?
Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for Heavy Equipment Operator roles are Project management, Cost estimating, Scheduling (Primavera, MS Project), Site supervision, Safety compliance (OSHA) and Contract management.
How do I write strong Heavy Equipment Operator resume bullet points?
Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as project value, budget variance and schedule variance. For example: "Delivered a $28M mixed-use build two weeks early and 3% under budget with zero lost-time incidents."