Gem and Diamond Worker resume example

A resume for a Gem and Diamond Worker needs to show the work itself: fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools. Day to day that means work like this: examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs; assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems. 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.

  • Diamond Cutter
  • Diamond Setter
  • Gemologist
  • Lapidarist
  • Diamond Grader
  • Diamond Picker
  • Diamond Polisher
  • Diamond Sawer
  • Facetor
  • Brilliandeer
  • Brilliandeer Lopper
  • Clarity Expert
  • Diamond Assorter
  • Diamond Cleaner
  • Diamond Cleaver
  • Diamond Die Driller
  • Diamond Die Polisher
  • Diamond Driller

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 gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
  • Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
  • Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
  • Examine gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments, to differentiate between stones, to identify rare specimens, or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values.
  • Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
  • Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
  • Examine diamonds or gems to ascertain the shape, cut, and width of cut stones, or to select the cuts that will result in the biggest, best quality stones.
  • Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes.
  • Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
  • Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality.
  • Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
  • Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.

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.

  • Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Examine gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments, to differentiate between stones, to identify rare specimens, or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values, 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.

  • Business accounting software
  • Gem identification databases
  • GemCad
  • Inventory tracking software
  • Jewelry design software
  • Spectrophotometer analysis software
  • 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.

  • Angle grinders
  • Arbors
  • Bead drilling vises
  • Belt sanders
  • Bench refractometers
  • Chipping hammers
  • Crack hammers
  • Cross peen hammers
  • Cutting laps
  • Diamond girding lathes
  • Diamond grinders
  • Diamond saws

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.

  • Business accounting
  • Gem identification databases
  • quality control
  • equipment operation
  • safety compliance
  • assembly
  • process improvement

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. 01Quality Control Analysis
  2. 02Active Listening
  3. 03Speaking
  4. 04Critical Thinking
  5. 05Monitoring

Knowledge areas

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

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Production and Processing
  • English Language
  • Mathematics

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.

  • 58%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 19%Bachelor's Degree
  • 15%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

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 Gem and Diamond Worker do?
Fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools. Day to day that includes work like examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs and Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
What skills should a Gem and Diamond Worker put on a resume?
O*NET rates Quality Control Analysis, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring 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 Gem and Diamond Worker list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Business accounting software, Gem identification databases, GemCad, Inventory tracking software, and Jewelry design 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 Gem and Diamond Worker work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Diamond Cutter, Diamond Setter, Gemologist, and Lapidarist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Gem and Diamond Worker need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 58% 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 Gem and Diamond Worker 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.