Home Tunneller Resume template
Tunneller resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what tunnellers actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most tunnellers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Tunneller with hands-on experience in civil construction and underground mining, specialising in drilling, blasting, ground support and heavy plant operation. Works safely in confined conditions and to tight alignment tolerances, with a focus on keeping tunnel headings advancing on schedule.
Key skills
- Drilling and blasting
- Tunnel boring machine (TBM) operation
- Roadheader operation
- Rock bolting, mesh and shotcrete installation
- Ground support and strata control
- Survey setout and alignment
- Reading engineering drawings and specifications
- Ventilation, lighting and dewatering systems
- Work Health and Safety (WHS) compliance
- Total station and Leica geosystems software
- Rock bolting rigs and shotcrete equipment
- Plant and equipment operation
Experience: example bullet points
- Drilled and blasted rock faces to advance tunnel headings, consistently meeting daily advance targets on a major rail project.
- Operated tunnel boring machines and roadheaders to excavate underground passages, coordinating with surveyors to maintain alignment within tolerance.
- Installed rock bolts, mesh and shotcrete for ground support, reducing loose rock incidents on site.
- Set up and maintained ventilation, lighting and dewatering systems, keeping the work face safe and operational.
- Interpreted survey setouts and engineering drawings to align tunnel drives with design specifications, avoiding costly rework.
Education
Certificate III in Civil Construction (Tunnel Operations) or Certificate III in Mining and Resources (Underground), typically gained through a traineeship, with site-specific competency tickets such as confined space entry, working at heights and gas testing.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Work Health and Safety (WHS)
- Safe Work Australia
- Australian Standards
- AS 1725
- Tunnel boring machine (TBM)
- Roadheader
- Shotcrete
- Rock bolting
- Survey setout
- Leica
- Total station
- Confined space entry
- Working at heights
- Gas testing
- Ventilation
- Dewatering
- Ground support
- White Card
- Certificate III in Civil Construction
- Certificate III in Mining and Resources
- Dogging
- Rigging
- First aid
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.