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Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender resume example

A resume for a Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender needs to show the work itself: set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. Day to day that means work like this: set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines; examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges. 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.

  • Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
  • Cabinet Maker
  • Machine Operator
  • Sander
  • Sander Operator
  • Boring Machine Operator
  • Knot Saw Operator
  • Lathe Operator
  • Molder Operator
  • Router Operator
  • CNC Wood Lathe Operator
  • Adzing and Boring Machine Operator
  • Artificial Log Machine Operator
  • Automatic Clipper
  • Automatic Nailing Machine Operator
  • Automatic Profile Shaper Operator
  • Balloon Sander
  • Band Nailer

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.

  • Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
  • Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.
  • Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
  • Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
  • Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
  • Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
  • Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.
  • Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
  • Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
  • Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.
  • Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.

25 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.

  • Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications, 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
  • Adobe Creative Cloud software
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Apple macOS
  • AS/400 Database
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Computer aided design and drafting CADD software
  • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
  • Computerized numerical control CNC software
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP software

27 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.

  • Adjustable hand wrenches
  • Automatic panel saws
  • Bench grinders
  • Biscuit jointers
  • Boring bars
  • Boring machines
  • Case clamps
  • Claw hammers
  • Combination squares
  • Computer terminals
  • Computerized numerical control CNC boring machines
  • Conveyor feeders

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. 02Operation and Control
  3. 03Quality Control Analysis
  4. 04Monitoring
  5. 05Critical Thinking
  6. 06Equipment Maintenance
  7. 07Speaking
  8. 08Troubleshooting

Knowledge areas

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

  • Mechanical

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.

  • 73%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 21%Less than a High School Diploma
  • 5%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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender do?
Set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. Day to day that includes work like set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines and Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.
What skills should a Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender put on a resume?
O*NET rates Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring, 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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. 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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing, Cabinet Maker, Machine Operator, and Sander. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 73% 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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tender 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.