What skills should a Transportation Security Screener put on a resume?

O*NET rates Monitoring, Speaking, Active Listening, Coordination, 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 Transportation Security Screener list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Applicant tracking software, Email software, Linux, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Office 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 Transportation Security Screener work?

O*NET records 19 titles for this occupation, including Security Screener, Transportation Security Officer, TSO, and TSA Screener. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Transportation Security Screener need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 85% 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 Transportation Security Screener 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.

Transportation Security Screener resume example

A resume for a Transportation Security Screener needs to show the work itself: conduct screening of passengers, baggage, or cargo to ensure compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. Day to day that means work like this: inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation; search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons. 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.

Security Screener
Transportation Security Officer
TSO
TSA Screener
Airline Security Representative
Airport Baggage Screener
Airport Screener
Airport Security Screener
Bag Checker
Baggage Inspector
Baggage Screener
Baggage Security Checker
Biometric Screener
Flight Security Specialist
Notification Specialist
Passenger Screener
Screener
Security Inspector

O*NET records 19 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.

Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.
Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.
Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification.
Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems.
Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches.
Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur.
Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment.
Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.
Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them.
Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives.
Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering.
Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors.

26 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.

Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems, 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.

Applicant tracking software
Email software
Linux
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Oracle Java
Oracle Taleo
Rapiscan Threat Image Projection
Slack
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.

Backscatter imaging units
Black lights
Body imaging scanners
CastScope machines
Chemical detection testing kits
Desktop computers
Explosive detection systems
Explosive trace portals
Handheld metal detectors
Laptop computers
Magnifying loupes
Millimeter wave imaging units

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.

Applicant tracking
Oracle Taleo

What this job rates as most important

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

01Monitoring
02Speaking
03Active Listening
04Coordination
05Critical Thinking
06Social Perceptiveness
07Judgment and Decision Making
08Persuasion
09Reading Comprehension
10Service Orientation

Knowledge areas

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

Public Safety and Security
Customer and Personal Service
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.

85%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
11%Some College Courses
4%Less than a High School Diploma

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 Transportation Security Screener do?: Conduct screening of passengers, baggage, or cargo to ensure compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. Day to day that includes work like inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation and Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.
What skills should a Transportation Security Screener put on a resume?: O*NET rates Monitoring, Speaking, Active Listening, Coordination, 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 Transportation Security Screener list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Applicant tracking software, Email software, Linux, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Office 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 Transportation Security Screener work?: O*NET records 19 titles for this occupation, including Security Screener, Transportation Security Officer, TSO, and TSA Screener. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Transportation Security Screener need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 85% 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 Transportation Security Screener 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.