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Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster resume example

A resume for a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster needs to show the work itself: place and detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials. Day to day that means work like this: examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed; tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions. 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.

  • Blast Hole Driller
  • Blaster
  • Explosive Technician
  • Powderman
  • Explosive Detection K9 Handler
  • Aircraft Ordnance Technician
  • Ammunition and Explosives Handler
  • Blast Driller
  • Blast Setter
  • Blast Technician
  • Blasting Clay Miner
  • Blasting Coal Miner
  • Blasting Contract Man
  • Blasting Contract Miner
  • Blasting Entry Specialist
  • Blasting Entryman
  • Blasting Gang Miner
  • Blasting Miner

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.

  • Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
  • Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
  • Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.
  • Place explosive charges in holes or other spots; then detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials.
  • Insert, pack, and pour explosives, such as dynamite, ammonium nitrate, black powder, or slurries into blast holes; then shovel drill cuttings, admit water into boreholes, and tamp material to compact charges.
  • Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
  • Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
  • Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
  • Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
  • Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
  • Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
  • Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.

27 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.

  • Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Place explosive charges in holes or other spots; then detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials, 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.

  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Blaster's Tool and Supply Company Blaster's Calculator
  • Datavis DBS Designer
  • DetNet ViewShot
  • ESRI ArcGIS software
  • Global positioning system GPS software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word

Tools and equipment

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

  • Adjustable combination wrenches
  • Air rotary drills
  • Alternating current AC generators
  • Ammonium nitrate fuel oil ANFO loaders
  • Avalaunchers
  • Backhoe-equipped tractors
  • Balance scales
  • Blast hole tubing
  • Blasthole drills
  • Blasting cap crimpers
  • Blasting machines
  • Bobcats

What this job rates as most important

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

  1. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Monitoring
  3. 03Critical Thinking
  4. 04Judgment and Decision Making
  5. 05Operation and Control
  6. 06Operations Monitoring
  7. 07Complex Problem Solving
  8. 08Speaking
  9. 09Time Management
  10. 10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

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

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Law and Government
  • Mathematics
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Administration and Management
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Transportation
  • English Language

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.

  • 63%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 21%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
  • 8%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster do?
Place and detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials. Day to day that includes work like examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed and Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
What skills should a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, and Operation and Control 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 Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Autodesk AutoCAD, Blaster's Tool and Supply Company Blaster's Calculator, Datavis DBS Designer, DetNet ViewShot, and ESRI ArcGIS software. 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 Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Blast Hole Driller, Blaster, Explosive Technician, and Powderman. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 63% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster 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.