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Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer resume example

A resume for a Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer needs to show the work itself: install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves. Day to day that means work like this: test electrical circuits or components for continuity, using electrical test equipment; comply with all applicable standards, policies, or procedures, such as safety procedures or the maintenance of a clean work area. 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.

  • HVAC Mechanic
  • Refrigeration Mechanic
  • Refrigeration Technician
  • Refrigeration Tech
  • Service Technician
  • Service Tech
  • A/C Tech
  • Air Conditioning Technician
  • HVAC Installer
  • HVAC Service Tech
  • HVAC Specialist
  • HVAC Tech
  • Refrigeration Operator
  • A/C Installer-Servicer
  • A/C Mechanic
  • A/C Service Tech
  • A/C Specialist
  • Commercial HVAC Service Tech

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

What people in this job call themselves

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

  • A/C Tech (Air Conditioning Technician)
  • HVAC Installer (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Installer)
  • HVAC Mechanic (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Mechanic)
  • HVAC Service Tech (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Service Technician)
  • HVAC Specialist (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Specialist)
  • HVAC Tech (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Technician)
  • Refrigeration Technician (Refrigeration Tech)
  • Service Technician (Service Tech)

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.

  • Test electrical circuits or components for continuity, using electrical test equipment.
  • Comply with all applicable standards, policies, or procedures, such as safety procedures or the maintenance of a clean work area.
  • Study blueprints, design specifications, or manufacturers' recommendations to ascertain the configuration of heating or cooling equipment components and to ensure the proper installation of components.
  • Discuss heating or cooling system malfunctions with users to isolate problems or to verify that repairs corrected malfunctions.
  • Connect heating or air conditioning equipment to fuel, water, or refrigerant source to form complete circuit.
  • Adjust system controls to settings recommended by manufacturer to balance system.
  • Recommend, develop, or perform preventive or general maintenance procedures, such as cleaning, power-washing, or vacuuming equipment, oiling parts, or changing filters.
  • Inspect and test systems to verify system compliance with plans and specifications or to detect and locate malfunctions.
  • Repair or replace defective equipment, components, or wiring.
  • Install or repair self-contained ground source heat pumps or hybrid ground or air source heat pumps to minimize carbon-based energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.
  • Install, connect, or adjust thermostats, humidistats, or timers.
  • Install auxiliary components to heating or cooling equipment, such as expansion or discharge valves, air ducts, pipes, blowers, dampers, flues, or stokers.

30 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.

  • Test electrical circuits or components for continuity, using electrical test equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Comply with all applicable standards, policies, or procedures, such as safety procedures or the maintenance of a clean work area, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Study blueprints, design specifications, or manufacturers' recommendations to ascertain the configuration of heating or cooling equipment components and to ensure the proper installation of components, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Discuss heating or cooling system malfunctions with users to isolate problems or to verify that repairs corrected malfunctions, 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.

  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Alerton Ascent Compass
  • Atlas Construction Business Forms
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Building automation software
  • Computer aided design CAD software
  • Computerized maintenance management system CMMS
  • Contact management systems
  • Cworks CMMS
  • Data logging software
  • Database software
  • Delta Controls inteliWEB
  • Facility energy management software
  • Graphics software

30 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

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

  • 4-wire resistance sensors
  • Acetylene torches
  • Adjustable widemouth pliers
  • Adjustable wrenches
  • Air compressors
  • Air flow hoods
  • Air flow sensors
  • Air velocity meters
  • Air volume test equipment
  • Allen wrenches
  • Alternating current AC line splitters
  • Ammeters

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.

  • HVAC installation
  • refrigeration
  • troubleshooting
  • preventive maintenance
  • EPA 608
  • wiring

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. 01Operations Monitoring
  2. 02Critical Thinking
  3. 03Troubleshooting
  4. 04Installation
  5. 05Reading Comprehension
  6. 06Repairing
  7. 07Active Listening
  8. 08Complex Problem Solving
  9. 09Quality Control Analysis
  10. 10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

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

  • Mechanical
  • Building and Construction
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Computers and Electronics
  • English Language
  • Public Safety and Security
  • 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.

  • 68%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
  • 20%Less than a High School Diploma
  • 7%Some College Courses

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 Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer do?
Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves. Day to day that includes work like test electrical circuits or components for continuity, using electrical test equipment and Comply with all applicable standards, policies, or procedures, such as safety procedures or the maintenance of a clean work area.
What skills should a Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer put on a resume?
O*NET rates Operations Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Troubleshooting, Installation, and Reading Comprehension 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 Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Alerton Ascent Compass, Atlas Construction Business Forms, Autodesk AutoCAD, and Building automation 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 Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including HVAC Mechanic, Refrigeration Mechanic, Refrigeration Technician, and Refrigeration Tech. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 68% 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.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installer 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.