Hard Hat Resume is written by Kin Lau.
Background
Kin has worked as a welder and holds an electrical qualification. That background is the reason the guides here go into process, position and material rather than stopping at “MIG, TIG, stick” – those details are what a welding QC or an electrical contractor actually reads, and they are exactly what generalist resume advice leaves out.
It is also why the samples quantify physical work. Cubic yards, logged apprenticeship hours, tonnage rigged, first-pass yield: someone who has not done the work does not know those numbers exist, let alone that they are the persuasive part.
Where this site is written from
Kin is not based in the United States, and the guides are written for a US audience. Rather than hide that, it shapes how they are written:
- Anything that varies by state gets a worksheet, not a number. Licence fees, certification costs, bond requirements and exam fees are set locally and change yearly. The guides explain what the charges are and send you to the body that sets them – your state licensing board, an AWS accredited test facility, your local – rather than quoting figures that would be wrong by the time you read them
- The samples lean on what does not change across borders. A 6G ticket, a load chart, an FF/FL tolerance, an NEC circuit – the technical substance of the trades is the same everywhere, and it is the part most resumes get wrong
- Where a rule is genuinely US-specific – OSHA, NCCCO, AWS, state licensing – the guide says so and says who to ask
What this site is not
Being straight about the limits is worth more than a longer list of credentials:
- Not a licensed US contractor. Licensing is state by state. Your state board is the authority, not this site
- Not a recruiter or a hiring manager. The samples are built around what the people doing the hiring check first – not from having sat on that side of the desk
- Not a lawyer or an accountant. The business and licensing guides explain what the charges are and hand you a worksheet. They do not tell you what to do about your situation
- Not a resume writing service. Most guides here say plainly that the free option is enough for most people, and three of them say not to pay anyone at all at that stage
How the guides are made
- Complete samples, not fragments. Every resume sample is a whole document you can copy, as plain text on the page and as an image you can save
- Nothing behind a signup. No email wall, no download gate
- Numbers that go stale are not printed. Where fees vary, you get the structure and a blank worksheet to take to the phone call
- Affiliate links are marked at the point of the link, and there is a site-wide disclosure. Three guides deliberately carry no affiliate link at all, because recommending a paid service to someone with no experience and no job would contradict what those guides say
Corrections
If something here is wrong, or out of date for your state or your trade, the contact page goes straight to Kin. Corrections are welcome and they get made – a guide that is wrong about a licence requirement is worse than no guide.