What does this occupation involve?

Develop programs to control machining or processing of materials by automatic machine tools, equipment, or systems. Day to day that includes work like write programs in the language of a machine's controller and store programs on media, such as punch tapes, magnetic tapes, or disks and determine the sequence of machine operations, and select the proper cutting tools needed to machine workpieces into the desired shapes.

Which skills can support a resume for this occupation?

O*NET rates Programming, Monitoring, Operations Monitoring, Active Learning, and Complex Problem Solving among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What other job titles cover this work?

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including CAD CAM Programmer, Computer Numerical Control Machinist, CNC Machinist, and Computer Numerical Control Programmer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.

Which qualifications may be relevant to this occupation?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 41% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?

Start with a task you actually did, such as write programs in the language of a machine's controller and store programs on media, such as punch tapes, magnetic tapes, or disks. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

Resume evidence worksheet for Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers

For the occupation "Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers", a strong resume should make the core work easy to see: develop programs to control machining or processing of materials by automatic machine tools, equipment, or systems.

Start with work you have actually done:

Write programs in the language of a machine's controller and store programs on media, such as punch tapes, magnetic tapes, or disks.
Determine the sequence of machine operations, and select the proper cutting tools needed to machine workpieces into the desired shapes.

Then build each line from your evidence. For each line, name what you did, who or what depended on it, the relevant tool or scope, and what proves the work happened.

How do you turn this occupation's work into resume evidence?

Choose one task you actually did. Answer the four questions in plain language before trying to make the sentence sound polished.

Evidence prompt 1
Revise programs or tapes to eliminate errors, and retest programs to check that problems have been solved
Evidence prompt 2
Analyze job orders, drawings, blueprints, specifications, printed circuit board pattern films, and design data to calculate dimensions, tool selection, machine speeds, and feed rates
Evidence prompt 3
Write instruction sheets and cutter lists for a machine's controller to guide setup and encode numerical control tapes

Ask these four questions about the task you chose

What did you personally do, rather than what the team or job was responsible for?
Who or what depended on the work?
What tool, system, process, or constraint shaped the work?
What changed, finished, became easier, or proves the work happened?

Build the line: [what you did] + [who or what it served] + [tool, process, or scope] + [what changed or proves it]. Use only the parts your own experience supports.

What should the top third make easy to find?

Do not turn this into a long summary. Use it as a priority check before a reader reaches the rest of the page.

Target: [Use the posting's exact job title]
Show one relevant example: One result, artifact, decision, or responsibility from your own history that answers a worksheet prompt below.

Which knowledge areas should you prove rather than list?

O*NET highlights Computers and Electronics, Mechanical, and Mathematics for this occupation. Do not paste those labels into a Skills section. Choose one only if you used it, then name the decision, explanation, artifact, or result that proves it.

Where did you use Computers and Electronics, and what decision, explanation, or artifact can you point to?
What did you explain, produce, or change that required Mechanical?
Which example from your history demonstrates Mathematics without relying on a bare label?

How can you place those answers in a resume?

This is a fillable worksheet, not a finished resume. The role material comes from O*NET; brackets mark the facts and evidence you still need to supply.

Rendered in the Standard template by the same engine that exports your PDF. See all 5 templates, or start this resume free.

What else is this job called?

Use relevant alternatives as search terms, then compare the responsibilities before deciding whether a posting describes the same work.

CAD CAM Programmer
Computer Numerical Control Machinist
CNC Machinist
Computer Numerical Control Programmer
CNC Programmer
Programmer
CNC Lathe Programmer
CNC Machine Programmer

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation in total. The eight above are a starting point, not a keyword list to paste into a resume.

What do people in this job call themselves?

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

CAD CAM Programmer (Computer-Aided Design Computer-Aided Manufacturing Programmer)
Computer Numerical Control Machinist (CNC Machinist)
Computer Numerical Control Programmer (CNC Programmer)

Common questions

What does this occupation involve?: Develop programs to control machining or processing of materials by automatic machine tools, equipment, or systems. Day to day that includes work like write programs in the language of a machine's controller and store programs on media, such as punch tapes, magnetic tapes, or disks and determine the sequence of machine operations, and select the proper cutting tools needed to machine workpieces into the desired shapes.
Which skills can support a resume for this occupation?: O*NET rates Programming, Monitoring, Operations Monitoring, Active Learning, and Complex Problem Solving among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What other job titles cover this work?: O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including CAD CAM Programmer, Computer Numerical Control Machinist, CNC Machinist, and Computer Numerical Control Programmer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.
Which qualifications may be relevant to this occupation?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 41% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?: Start with a task you actually did, such as write programs in the language of a machine's controller and store programs on media, such as punch tapes, magnetic tapes, or disks. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

What jobs are closest to this one?

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

Source and use notes

O*NET describes the occupation. It does not know your experience or set the requirements for a specific employer.
Use only the tasks, skills, tools, and qualifications that your own history supports and the posting actually calls for.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.