The main goal of a production planner is to maintain manufacturing operations on maximum performance and to address hiccups along the way. They must improve productivity and minimize risks. That’s why it is crucial to reflect your organizational and time management skills on your resume.
As a production planner, you will determine the materials needed for a series of products, the workforce, and the equipment required. You will also schedule shifts for employees according to the project’s needs. Since you will be monitoring operations performance, you might also have to create reports and statistics. Hence, you should mention your data interpretation skills on your resume.
Production planners often work under the supervision of production managers, so you might have to send those reports to them. To become a production planner, you don’t need a bachelor’s degree. However, secondary education is often preferred. You can also highlight your educational background in your resume with industry certifications.
Now that you know about production planners, it’s time to explore some resume examples. Below, you will see two resume templates and some insightful tips to develop a successful resume for the manufacturing industry.
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A production planner manages manufacturing materials and goods. Their role is to meet production goals in terms of workforce, availability of materials, timeliness, etc. This way, the organization can maximize production and reduce delays. In your resume, you should highlight your knowledge of quality control principles.
As a production planner, you will monitor production flows to ensure they follow organizational standards. It is also your responsibility to delegate tasks and assign shifts for employees.
As a production planner, you might have to work under pressure and follow tight schedules. That’s why having excellent organizational and time management skills is crucial. In your resume, you can talk about previous projects in which you maximized production while delivering operations on time.
Senior production planners play a more prominent role in terms of manufacturing scope. They research customers’ demands and decide on how to manufacture products based on their needs. They analyze data to evaluate the number of products and materials needed for production.
Senior production planners also evaluate the products’ quality before they are released to the public. Therefore, it might be a good idea to mention your familiarity with quality control on your resume.
Senior production planners forecast customers’ demands based on raw data. Hence, they must interpret numbers to make data-driven decisions. This allows them to reduce risks and increment the organization’s customer base.
As a data-driven professional, there’s no better way to exemplify your achievements than with metrics. You can talk about your experience incrementing a company’s customer base, or maximizing production levels. It is crucial to back your achievements with data to impress potential employers.
We reached out to hiring managers at leading manufacturing and production companies like Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and 3M to get their insights on what a winning production planner resume looks like. The following tips incorporate their advice and will help your resume stand out.
Hiring managers want to see that you have a deep understanding of the supply chain process. Highlight your experience with:
Bad examples simply list generic phrases like 'supply chain management'. Instead, quantify your impact with specific examples:
A resume summary for a Production Planner role is optional, but it can be a valuable addition if you want to provide context or highlight key skills and experiences that may not be immediately apparent from the rest of your resume. As a Production Planner, your summary should focus on your ability to optimize production processes, manage inventory, and ensure timely delivery of products.
However, it's important to keep in mind that a summary should not simply repeat information that is already included elsewhere in your resume. Instead, it should provide a high-level overview of your most relevant qualifications and experiences. Additionally, avoid using an objective statement, as these are generally considered outdated and ineffective.
The work experience section is the heart of your resume. It's where you highlight your relevant experience and accomplishments to show hiring managers you have the skills to excel in the production planner role.
Let's break down how to write an effective work experience section step-by-step, with examples of what to do (and what to avoid).
Even though this is a highly technical position, you still need to have excellent communication skills. This way, you can become the bridge between employees and stakeholders and avoid inconveniences along the way. How are you going to demonstrate that in your resume? By improving your resume’s readability.
You can simplify your resume by using several bullet points with strong action verbs. The right action verbs will precisely illustrate your experience and make you seem more reliable. You can also use them to mention your achievements. In the following list, you will find some of the most relevant action verbs we’ve gathered for your production planner resume.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
As a production planner, you must have excellent problem-solving skills, so it’s important to reflect that in your resume. You can talk about previous challenges you faced and how you addressed them. If you want to highlight your skills section try to include competencies like computer literacy, quality control, math, and manufacturing resource planning.
Sometimes your potential employer might have specific skills they’re seeking, so it’s always a good idea to check their job posts to find relevant skills to add to your resume. You can also check our list of skills for production planners based on our research.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Production Planner job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
