Career AdviceCVsCV Tips

Warehouse operative CV tips and guidance

By Monster Contributor

Thanks to the rise in online shopping, there’s ever more demand for warehouse operative staff, which means if you’re accurate, fit and healthy and have great attention to detail, you should have no trouble finding your next job. That said, there’s a lot of competition out there for warehouse work, so a good CV is without a doubt your best way of securing an interview.

Let’s look at what information you need to include on your CV to impress hiring managers. We’ve also created a free warehouse operative CV sample which you can download and use as a template.

Tips for writing a warehouse operative CV

The most important thing to remember when you write your CV is to show how your skills and experience make you the right person for the job. You’ll likely be competing with a fair number of other candidates for your next position, so your CV has got to make you stand out from the crowd (and that’s before we consider formatting and grammar), all while fitting onto two pages or less.

Let’s look at how you can do this.

1. Use your personal statement to highlight key experience

A personal statement is a short paragraph at the top of your CV that gives an overview of who you are and your career so far (find out how it’s different from a cover letter here). Start your personal statement with a succinct sentence like: “Warehousing operative with 20 years’ experience...” then go on to mention anything particularly relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Are you qualified to operate a forklift? Put it in there. Have you supervised teams? Write it down. Are you fluent in a foreign language? This could be essential for manager roles in some warehouses. Study the job ad again to work out if there are any special skills the company is looking for and put those front and centre when writing your personal statement.

2. Structure your CV logically

You’d be surprised just how many CVs hiring managers receive that are disorganised, unclear or contain irrelevant information. Use your employment history to highlight your warehouse-relevant roles, starting with the most recent. Where possible, highlight achievements rather than simply listing job responsibilities – anything that offers concrete evidence of your ability to excel in the job will certainly impress.

For example, if you are applying for an FLT operator role, make sure you bring this experience to the fore in your CV. Yes, you might have carried out cleaning or some maintenance work in a previous job, but if it’s not really relevant to your current application, it’s less important to include.

It’s also worth including information about your personal interests and hobbies too – hiring managers are always looking for interested and interesting people.

3. If this is your first warehouse operative job…

If you’re applying for your first warehouse job and haven’t got direct experience don’t worry – we all have to start out somewhere! Use your employment history to highlight any transferrable skills. Perhaps you did some heavy lifting seasonal work? Stacked shelves at a supermarket? Picking, packing and moving products is not so different from this either.

If not, think about anything you did at school or college which could help. Maybe you got top marks in a class for your accuracy on a piece of work – anything that shows off your attention to detail will count in your favour.

4. Highlight achievements

Hiring managers are looking for the very best, so if you can provide concrete examples of your achievements, this will also go a long way. Perhaps you won an employee of the month award, or were commended for being in the top 10 fastest pickers at your last job. Whatever the achievement, don’t be shy about mentioning it.

5. Include qualifications and any relevant skills

Warehouse work usually requires GCSEs (or equivalent) in numeracy and English skills, but as you progress through your career you’ll likely acquire more qualifications. Perhaps you’ve trained as a forklift truck operator, completed a First Aid course or trained with warehouse database software such as Oracle SCM – all worth mentioning in your skills section.

See all warehouse jobs on Monster.

Warehouse Operative CV Example

Simone Lafferty
email@address.co.uk
07712 345 678
Example Street, Example Town, Example City, EX4 3PL

~~~~~~~~~~ PERSONAL STATEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~

I am a skilled and flexible warehouse operative with three years’ experience working in large-scale operations with fast-moving targets and deadlines. I enjoy working in high pressure environments, collaborating closely with colleagues to meet goals – although I am also comfortable working alone. Past line managers have commended me for my attention to detail and spatial awareness – I have made suggestions on how goods could be better stored to save space in multiple occasions.

I am now looking to move up in my career, take on more responsibility and learn new skills in a new environment.

CORE SKILLS

  • Excellent picker and packer, with keen eye for detail
  • Experienced using handsets for locating goods
  • Strong spatial awareness
  • Working towards FLT licence

~~~~~~~~~~ EMPLOYMENT HISTORY ~~~~~~~~~~

Warehouse operative section leader

Nile | Northumberland | www.monster.co.uk
MM.YY > MM.YY

One of the world’s largest online retailers.

  • Christmas temp role
  • Picking and packing goods at high volume

Achievements

  • Consistently met or exceeded targets for packing
  • Managed a team and helped new starters adjust, providing guidance on how to improve speed

Warehouse operative

Nile | Wolverhampton | www.monster.co.uk
MM.YY > MM.YY

One of the world’s largest online retailers

  • Temporary role job following my GCSEs which was converted into a full-time position
  • Picking and packing a diverse range of items
  • Role progressed to monitoring deliveries

Achievements

  • Consistently met and exceeded targets for picking and packing
  • Was named employee of the month on two occasions
  • Youngest employee at the branch to take on a supervisor position

~~~~~~~~~~EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS~~~~~~~~~~

10 GCSEs including Maths (C), Science (B), English (C)

Wolverhampton Secondary School

~~~~~~~~~~PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT~~~~~~~~~~

  • Nile supervisor training course (2017)
  • FLT driver’s certificate (currently training for this qualification)

~~~~~~~~~~ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND PROFICIENCIES ~~~~~~~~~~

  • Polish (basic)

~~~~~~~~~~PERSONAL INTERESTS~~~~~~~~~~

  • Keen fisher who competes in local competitions
  • Gym – health & fitness
  • Travel
  • Spending time with my family and walking the dog

Reference available on request

Download this warehouse operative CV template for free in Word.

Get Hired for Warehouse Work

Ready to show your warehouse operative CV to hiring managers? Let us help! Upload your CV to Monster for free and make it visible to recruiters. They will contact you with great job opportunities. Let the jobs come to you!