What does a Craft Artist do?

Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft. Day to day that includes work like create functional or decorative objects by hand, using a variety of methods and materials and Cut, shape, fit, join, mold, or otherwise process materials, using hand tools, power tools, or machinery.

What skills should a Craft Artist put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, and Critical Thinking 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 software should a Craft Artist list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes DRAWSTITCH Artistic Sewing Suite, Electric Quilt Quilt Design Wizard, Email software, Embroidery design software, and Facebook. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Craft Artist work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Artist, Designer, Furniture Maker, and Glass Artist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Craft Artist need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 24% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Craft Artist role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Craft Artist resume example

A resume for a Craft Artist needs to show the work itself: create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft. Day to day that means work like this: create functional or decorative objects by hand, using a variety of methods and materials; cut, shape, fit, join, mold, or otherwise process materials, using hand tools, power tools, or machinery. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Artist
Designer
Furniture Maker
Glass Artist
Ceramic Artist
Fiber Artist
Fine Craft Artist
Goldsmith
Hand-Weaver
Art Objects Repairer
Artisan
Calligrapher
China Painter
Colorer
Colorist
Copyist
Craft Worker
Crafter

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Create functional or decorative objects by hand, using a variety of methods and materials.
Cut, shape, fit, join, mold, or otherwise process materials, using hand tools, power tools, or machinery.
Apply finishes to objects being crafted.
Develop concepts or creative ideas for craft objects.
Select materials for use based on strength, color, texture, balance, weight, size, malleability and other characteristics.
Advertise products and work, using media such as internet advertising and brochures.
Set specifications for materials, dimensions, and finishes.
Plan and attend craft shows to market products.
Create prototypes or models of objects to be crafted.
Confer with customers to assess customer needs or obtain feedback.
Fabricate patterns or templates to guide craft production.
Develop product packaging, display, and pricing strategies.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Create functional or decorative objects by hand, using a variety of methods and materials, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Cut, shape, fit, join, mold, or otherwise process materials, using hand tools, power tools, or machinery, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Apply finishes to objects being crafted, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop concepts or creative ideas for craft objects, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

DRAWSTITCH Artistic Sewing Suite
Electric Quilt Quilt Design Wizard
Email software
Embroidery design software
Facebook
Floriani MDQ My Decorative Quilter
John Hesselberth and Ron Roy GlazeMaster
Pattern design software
Sales management software
SmugMug Flickr
Twitter
Web browser software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Alcohol lamps
Allen wrenches
Aluminum silkscreening screens
Angled paint brushes
Artists' air brushes
Artists' paint brushes
Artists' palette knives
Artists' palettes
Bail shaping pliers
Ball mills
Bastard hand files
Bead press machines

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

DRAWSTITCH Artistic Sewing Suite
Electric Quilt Quilt Design Wizard

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Reading Comprehension
03Social Perceptiveness
04Speaking
05Critical Thinking
06Monitoring
07Persuasion

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Fine Arts
Sales and Marketing
Customer and Personal Service
Production and Processing
Design
Mechanical

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

24%Bachelor's Degree
20%Less than a High School Diploma
16%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Craft Artist do?: Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft. Day to day that includes work like create functional or decorative objects by hand, using a variety of methods and materials and Cut, shape, fit, join, mold, or otherwise process materials, using hand tools, power tools, or machinery.
What skills should a Craft Artist put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, and Critical Thinking 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 software should a Craft Artist list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes DRAWSTITCH Artistic Sewing Suite, Electric Quilt Quilt Design Wizard, Email software, Embroidery design software, and Facebook. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Craft Artist work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Artist, Designer, Furniture Maker, and Glass Artist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Craft Artist need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 24% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Craft Artist role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

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

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

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.