Shipping and Receiving Resume: Job Description for Clerks

You ship out resume after resume, but receive nothing back. It must feel hopeless…

But it doesn’t have to be.

We’ve prepared a guide that will resolve all your shipping and receiving resume woes and ensure total customer satisfaction!

This guide will show you:

• A shipping and receiving resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a shipping and receiving clerk resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a shipping and receiving resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for shipping and receiving clerks to get any job you want.

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Looking to work in a warehouse, but in another context? See these guides:

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• 500+ Best Resume Examples for Every Industry

Shipping and Receiving Resume Example

This is how you write a shipping and receiving resume that gets jobs:

1. Choose the Best Format for a Shipping and Receiving Resume

Shipping and receiving experts operate in warehouses to coordinate the flow of merchandise and wares. They are responsible for handling documentation and resolving issues. Any great shipping & receiving resume has to show the above, and great organization skills to boot.

But how do you demonstrate being well-organized through a resume, you might ask.

They won’t invite you to receive a test batch of shipment to organize.

Well, it all starts with knowing how to format your resume:

• Resume header: needs to contain your relevant contact information, meaning your phone, email address, and full name. If you want, you can include your LinkedIn address on your resume, too.
• Resume layout: absolutely crucial for success. Pick a reliable resume font like Cambria or Arial, use spacing on your resume to make reading through it easier, and set the resume margins of 1 inch on all sides.
• Resume format: the reverse-chronological resume works best for shipping and receiving experts. It also makes the most logistical sense, seeing as it won’t waste the recruiter’s time with work you did 15 years ago.
• Resume structure: the best way to go about it is to divide your resume into distinct parts: introduction, work experience, education, other.
• Resume file format: Your resume should come packaged in a neat, one-page-long PDF. Word resumes exist, of course, but only submit them if they’re the only accepted format.

Read more: How Long Should a Resume Be For Different Roles?

2. Write a Shipping and Receiving Resume Objective or Summary

Writing a resume profile (or resume introduction, in other words) is an absolute must.

It’s the shipping manifesto equivalent of your industry. Without it, nothing happens.

Point is, the recruiter is unlikely to read your application for more than a few seconds. So, if you can prepare your resume introduction right, everything will check out, and they’re more likely to keep reading.

If you’ve worked in shipping and receiving before (around 2 years or more), use a resume summary to present your relevant professional achievements in a nutshell. Package them together with numbers for an even better effect.

And, with less experience, opt for a resume objective to illustrate your transferable skills and other merits to convince them you’d bring a bright future to their logistics department either way.

Pro Tip: I know it’s against your nature, but this time around only, a late dispatch can be a good thing. Coming up with the perfect couple of sentences can take long, so you’re free to begin by writing all the other sections first, then coming back with a fresh mind.

3. Boost Your Work Experience Section with a Tailored Shipping and Receiving Job Description

If your work experience section is full of matter-of-fact statements like “helped organize orders” or “prioritized safety in the warehouse,” you might not like what I tell you.

It’s time to throw it all out.

That’s because, with the current projected growth for jobs in logistics, there’s no room for blandness. Each year, 25,000 new candidates pop up. Comprehending that number alone is difficult in itself.

It’s time we did a little inventory control. This is how to write a shipping and receiving job description for resumes:

• Write down the job titles, dates worked, and employer names and locations for your past jobs. Don’t list positions that are too old, though: your resume should go back around 10–15 years.
• Start with the first job, then work your way back from there.
• For each one, write 5 or 6 bullet points detailing your job duties.
• Don’t use passionless language. Instead, through action words and numbered professional achievements, make the tasks you performed seem like the only thing that kept the company above water.

Last but not least, tailor your resume to each job you apply for, and avoid pumping your resume full of irrelevant experience. All the content you add to your resume needs to actually contribute something.

Read more: How to Write the Perfect Job Description for Your Resume

4. Sort Out Your Education Section on a Resume for Shipping & Receiving

Working in shipping and receiving will not require you to present a degree, in general.

Still, though, nearly every job ad will likely say they require that high school diploma.

Not including it on your resume in the form of a dedicated education section is just asking for a return to sender. All of that because of a minor discrepancy.

Here’s how to get it done right and quick:

• If you’ve been in the industry for 5 years or more, list just your highest obtained degree, the school name and location, and graduation year.
• Still completing a degree? You can list that as well—unfinished college is fine on a resume, as long as you make it clear that you haven’t actually obtained that degree (yet or ever). 
• Those below the 5-year threshold will want to bring up extra topics, such as a high GPA (3.5+), relevant coursework, extra school achievements, or extracurricular activities.

Read more: How to List a Minor on a Resume (Major Too)

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

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5. Demonstrate the Right Skills on a Shipping and Receiving Resume

Here is an example list of shipping and receiving skills:

Shipping & Receiving Resume Skills

• Sorting Stock
• Data Entry
• Organization Skills
• Packing
• Loading & Unloading
• Teamwork Skills
• Tracking Inventory
• Record keeping
• Weighing Items
• Printing Labels and Postage
• Damage Inspections
• Reporting Discrepancies
• Attention to Detail
• Processing Orders
• Forklift Operation
• Preparing Documents
• Health and Safety Orientation
• Time Management

Listing all of that would set off fraudulent alarms, though. Don’t even consider copy-pasting this.

Always work smarter if you can. Here’s what you need to do

• Brainstorm a list full of your skills. Sort them by category, like so: soft skills,hard skills, and technical skills.
• Then, open the job posting and search out the resume keywords the company used to indicate what they need from the ideal employee.
• Compare their list with yours, and extract the best matches. Those are the skills that will work best on your resume.

Rinse and repeat the last two points every time you send an application. Targeting your resume is the best way to secure a job in shipping and receiving. Plus, recruiters can easily tell if and when you’ve put in the effort.

Read more: Real Differences Between Soft Skills and Hard Skills

6. Spice up Your Shipping & Receiving Resume with Extra Sections

I promise this shipment of resume spice won’t be a waste of your thyme.

The problem with not adding extra resume sections is that every applicant’s sheet will look just like yours. Following standard operating procedures to the tee.

In that case, even as little as one month of extra work experience can beat you out. Ouch.

And companies don’t want to hire robots—literally and figuratively.

Thus, including anything that makes you stand out can help your chances tremendously.

Try out some of these ideas:

• Your certifications and licenses
• Volunteer work
• Passion projects
• Language skills (this one can be particularly useful, don’t overlook it!)
• Hobbies and interests

Read more: Best Strategies to Make Your Resume Stand Out

7. Seal the Deal with a Professional Shipping and Receiving Cover Letter

We’ve already established that there are so many jobs in this field, you could fill several warehouses full of applicants themselves.

But…

A lot of them won’t send a cover letter for this job.

That’s your opportunity to strike.

For some recruiters, a cover letter is unskippable.

Use that to your advantage, and write yourself a professional cover letter:

• Format the application letter appropriately as your first order of business.
• Start your cover letter by informing them why you’re applying.
• Elaborate on your achievements, skills, and ideas that make you a good match for this position.
• Finish the cover letter by making them an offer they couldn’t refuse, then send a follow-up to the initial e-mail after a week. 

Read more: What Should a Cover Letter Say?

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or feedback for this shipping and receiving resume guide, comment in the section below!

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Sources

• https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/logisticians.htm
• https://www.nj.gov/highereducation/documents/pdf/Supply%20Chain%20Logistics%20Pathways%20Report.pdf