Carpenter CV: example and tips

What builders and contractors look for

A carpenter can work on very different jobs: new detached houses, renovating old homes, extensions, prefabricated elements, large commercial buildings or small jobs for private customers. The employer therefore wants to see quickly what you have done most of, how large the projects were and whether you worked alone or in a team. According to utdanning.no, carpenters build timber houses and other timber structures, fit out buildings, renovate and restore, and read drawings and specifications. Those are the same words that appear in job ads.

Norwegian ads often use the words for carpenter and joiner (snekker) interchangeably. Use the job title from the ad at the top of your CV, and give your certificate its correct name under education. Several large contractors use applicant tracking systems that sort applications by the words in the ad, so those words should appear in your CV where they match what you have done. If you paste the ad into Selja, this is done for you. Read more in our guide to an ATS-friendly CV. These words come up often:

• Journeyman's certificate in carpentry, ideally with the year.
• New builds, renovation, extensions and added storeys.
• Timber framing, roof trusses, cladding, insulation and weatherproofing.
• Fitting windows, doors, floors, mouldings and kitchens.
• Installing prefabricated elements and modules.
• Reading drawings and work specifications.
• Independent, accurate and committed to health, safety and quality.
• A category B driving licence, often with a trailer.

Formal requirements: the journeyman's certificate, HMS card and scaffolding

The journeyman's certificate is the most important proof in a carpenter's CV. According to utdanning.no, the carpentry trade takes two years at school and two years in a company. After Vg1 bygg- og anleggsteknikk (building and construction), students move on to the Vg2 carpentry programme and then continue as apprentices. According to the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Udir), the apprenticeship ends with a journeyman's test that lasts at least five working days. List the certificate at the top of your education section, for example “Journeyman's certificate in carpentry, 2021”. If you hold a master craftsman's certificate (mesterbrev) in carpentry, put it even higher.

If you have worked as a carpenter for a long time without the certificate, you can take it as an experienced worker through the praksiskandidat scheme. Udir then requires varied experience in the trade at least 25 percent longer than the normal training period. For a trade with two years at school and two years in a company, that means at least five years. In that case write something like “Praksiskandidat, journeyman's test planned for spring 2027”, so the employer can see where you stand.

Arbeidstilsynet, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, requires everyone doing building, construction and assembly work to have an HMS card, a construction ID card, and it is the employer's responsibility to make sure the card is valid. Still mention that you have held an HMS card, so it is clear that you know your way around a building site. If you assemble, dismantle, alter or inspect scaffolding higher than two metres, Arbeidstilsynet says you must be able to document your training with a certificate of competence, and the required number of hours increases with height. List the scaffolding course with the height and year, for example “Scaffolding course, 5 to 9 metres, 2024”. Personnel lifts require documented safety training, so include your lift course too.

Example of a summary for a carpenter CV

The summary is the three to five sentences at the top of your CV. It should state your certificate, how long you have worked, what you are best at and what you are looking for. Here is a made up example you can use as a pattern:

Example: “Carpenter with a journeyman's certificate from 2018 and eight years of experience in new builds and renovation of detached and terraced houses. Have led a team of four carpenters and two apprentices, and handled customer contact and ordering of materials on projects worth up to NOK 6 million. Confident with timber framing, roof work and weatherproofing the building envelope. Hold scaffolding and lift courses and a category BE driving licence. Looking for a permanent role with responsibility as site foreman.”

If you are an apprentice, your summary can cover what you have worked on and when you will take the journeyman's test. Replace the numbers with your own, and only write what you can explain in an interview. You will find more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points with results: weak versus strong

The most common weakness in a carpenter's CV is a list of tasks that every carpenter has done. Show scope and results instead: how many homes, how many square metres, how many people you were responsible for, and whether the project finished on time. Start each point with a verb in the past tense. If you do not have exact figures, show scope with the number of houses, floors or weeks.

• Weak: “Worked on new builds.” Strong: “Erected timber frames, roof trusses and cladding on 12 detached houses in a new housing estate, from finished slab to weathertight house.”
• Weak: “Renovation.” Strong: “Renovated five bathrooms and three kitchens in a 1920s apartment building, replacing floor joists where the old ones had rotted.”
• Weak: “Responsible for apprentices.” Strong: “Supervised three apprentices through their training, and all three passed the journeyman's test at the first attempt.”
• Weak: “Installing elements.” Strong: “Installed wall and roof elements for 40 flats, and kept to the schedule throughout the seven weeks of assembly.”
• Weak: “Customer contact.” Strong: “Handled day to day contact with private customers on 15 jobs a year, from site visit and quote to handover.”
• Weak: “Followed health and safety rules.” Strong: “Carried out weekly safety rounds as safety representative on a project with 25 people on site, with no lost time injuries.”

Courses, certificates and tools worth including

Group your courses and certificates in a separate section with names and years. That way the builder can quickly see that you can start without much extra training. Only include what you actually have, and what is relevant to the job.

• Journeyman's certificate and any master craftsman's certificate in carpentry, with years.
• Scaffolding course with height and year, and a course in using lifts.
• HMS card, and courses in working at height and fall protection.
• A hot work course, if you have worked on roofs or weatherproofing.
• Safety representative training and first aid.
• Software you have used, for example for drawings, time sheets, deviation reports and site checklists.
• A category B or BE driving licence, and C1 if you drive a lorry with materials.

Apprentice, or carpenter with long experience

If you are applying for an apprenticeship, your school, work placements and attitude are what count. Say what you did during in-depth vocational training (yrkesfaglig fordypning), which projects you took part in during Vg2, and what you have done on your own, such as a summer job, helping out at a cabin or working at a builders' merchant. Also say that you turn up on time and take health and safety seriously. That is what many training companies look for first. Our guide to a CV for recent graduates has more advice for a CV with little experience.

If you have long experience, your CV should show breadth and responsibility. Group projects by type, for example new builds, renovation and commercial buildings, and highlight projects where you were foreman, dealt with customers or ordered materials. If you have run your own business, list it as a separate job with the number of jobs and customers. Older roles can be cut to one line. If you are aiming for foreman, project manager or site manager, figures for budgets, progress and team size are what set you apart. Keep the CV to one or two pages, as explained in our guide on how long a CV should be.

Common mistakes in a carpenter CV

Read through your CV with the ad beside it. The requirements you meet should be easy to find. These mistakes come up again and again:

• The journeyman's certificate is far down the page, or has no year.
• Scaffolding and lift courses are missing, even though the job involves working at height.
• Only tasks, with no number of homes, size or responsibility.
• No distinction between new builds, renovation and service work, even though the ad makes that distinction.
• The driving licence is missing, even though the job requires driving a company vehicle.
• Gaps in the CV with no explanation. If you have had a period without work, see our guide to gaps in your CV.

Create your carpenter CV in under a minute with Selja

A renovation job asks for different words from a job installing elements or doing service work for private customers. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have. In under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job. Selja picks out the keywords from the ad, for example weatherproofing, roof work or customer contact, and works them in where they match your projects. That way you can apply for more jobs without rewriting your CV each time.

Selja never adds certificates, courses or experience you do not have. If the ad asks for something your CV does not show, for example a scaffolding course, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. It is free to start: check your CV for free, or take a free ATS check against the ad. Get started when you are ready.

The application and next steps

The cover letter for a carpentry job can be short. Explain why you want to work for that particular firm, what kind of projects you are best at, and when you can start. Mention a project the firm has done, if you know of one. If you are applying for an apprenticeship, motivation matters most. See our guide on how to write a cover letter for the structure, or our example of a job application for a template.

If you are invited to an interview, you will often be asked about safety, how you plan a working day and how you handle disagreements with customers or other trades on site. Practise with the interview questions for the role. If you want to know whether the pay you are offered is reasonable, the free pay check shows figures from Statistics Norway (SSB).