What skills should a Floor Layer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening and Speaking 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 Floor Layer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor, CPR Software FloorCOST Estimator for Excel, Facebook, Flooring Technologies QFloors, and Focus Floor Covering 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 Floor Layer work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles, Floor Covering Contractor, Floor Coverings Installer, and Flooring Installer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Floor Layer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 90% 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 Floor Layer 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.

Floor Layer resume example

A resume for a Floor Layer needs to show the work itself: apply blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors. Day to day that means work like this: sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering; cut flooring material to fit around obstructions. 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.

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles
Floor Covering Contractor
Floor Coverings Installer
Flooring Installer
Vinyl Installer
Flooring Mechanic
Tile Installer
Tile Setter
Asphalt Tile Floor Layer
Commercial Installer
Composition Floor Layer
Composition Floor Setter
Composition Tile Layer
Cork Floor Installer
Epoxy Installer
Floor Cover Layer
Floor Covering Layer
Floor Installer

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.

Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.
Form a smooth foundation by stapling plywood or Masonite over the floor or by brushing waterproof compound onto surface and filling cracks with plaster, putty, or grout to seal pores.
Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
Cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches.
Roll and press sheet wall and floor covering into cement base to smooth and finish surface, using hand roller.
Apply adhesive cement to floor or wall material to join and adhere foundation material.
Determine traffic areas and decide location of seams.
Lay out, position, and apply shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors, walls, and cabinets, following guidelines to keep courses straight and create designs.
Remove excess cement to clean finished surface.

14 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.

Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint, 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.

Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor
CPR Software FloorCOST Estimator for Excel
Facebook
Flooring Technologies QFloors
Focus Floor Covering Software
Measure Square FloorEstimate Pro
Microsoft Office software
On Center On-Screen Takeoff
Pacific Solutions FloorRight
Project visualization software
Radio frequency identification RFID software
Textile Management Systems RollMaster
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.

Adhesive spreaders
Adhesive syringes
Adjustable wedges
Appliance sliders
Automatic plasma arc welding machines
Aviation snips
Bar scribers
Base molding lifters
Broad knives
Bubble levels
Butane torches
Chalk line markers

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.

Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor
CPR Software FloorCOST Estimator for Excel

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
02Speaking

Knowledge areas

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

Building and Construction
Customer and Personal Service
Mathematics
Mechanical
Production and Processing
Design

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.

90%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
6%Less than a High School Diploma
4%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

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 Floor Layer do?: Apply blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors. Day to day that includes work like sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering and Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
What skills should a Floor Layer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening and Speaking 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 Floor Layer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor, CPR Software FloorCOST Estimator for Excel, Facebook, Flooring Technologies QFloors, and Focus Floor Covering 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 Floor Layer work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles, Floor Covering Contractor, Floor Coverings Installer, and Flooring Installer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Floor Layer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 90% 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 Floor Layer 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.