Laying the Foundation: Resume Tips for Hardscaping Job Seekers
Breaking into the hardscaping industry can be exciting, especially if you’re passionate about creating stunning outdoor spaces. But just like any other profession, landing a job in hardscaping requires a strong resume that grabs employers’ attention.
Here are some tips from a few industry veterans to help you craft a resume that stands out.
Get the Basics Right
Frank Bourque, a Landscape and Hardscape Business Consultant and the founder and host of the Landscape & Hardscape Business Success Summit, started his first landscaping and hardscaping business more than 20 years ago. In the first six years, Bourque grew the business to more than 100 employees. He estimates that he has hired hundreds of people since then and said he has learned a lot about what makes a candidate successful in the application process and beyond.
First and foremost is to get the basics right on your resume. This means ensuring your contact information is up to date and accurate.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of people could have been good candidates. But, believe it or not, some people forget the right contact information. So, they didn’t have the right address or the right phone number. It wasn’t the right email and it was hard to get a hold of them,” Bourque said. “We had no way of knowing how else to reach them.”
Your resume is your first opportunity to show your communication skills and attention to detail. A clear, well-organized resume indicates you’re professional and serious about the job.
Make sure to proofread for errors, avoid content that doesn’t add value, and keep the layout simple.
As Bourque says, how you do anything is how you do everything. A messy resume or a resume that has inaccurate details might signal to an employer that you’ll bring the same approach to your work.
Trevor Fearn, the VP Operations at CornerStone Wall Solutions Inc., said the length of your resume is also a seemingly basic detail that is critical to get right.
“If you have a resume, it needs to be on one page. Period. Here’s the thing. Most people don’t care that you worked at the county fair when you were 15. I think some people feel like they need their whole life on the resume,” Fearn said. “The reality is, if it’s two pages, most people don’t read beyond the first page anyway. Tailor and fit your resume the best you can to the job that you’re going for. It’s okay to leave some things out.”
Tailor Your Resume to the Job
One of the most important things you can do is customize your resume for each job you apply for. Tailoring your resume means researching the company and the position, then tweaking your resume to reflect how your skills and experiences align with what they’re looking for.
“When you end up looking at 30 resumes over the course of a few days just something a little unique stands out. Something tailored to the position really, really pops right out right away,” said Travis Hilldore, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Pathfinder Systems. “I want to see that they even spent 5 minutes on our website to be able to say, ‘I feel that this skill will help you guys in this way.’”
Highlight Transferable Skills
Hilldore said he is always looking for people who are flexible and who know how to keep communication open.
“As a small business, our marketer talks to our sales associate who talks to our accountant,” he said. “We need somebody who’s not shy about picking up a phone and making a phone call, asking for help, working with other colleagues and problem solving. Someone who is just able to keep that dialogue going. That’s big.”
Hilldore said this doesn’t require any experience in the hardscaping industry. Communication and teamwork are transferable skills. Having a resume that talks about working with other departments or even about how they have picked up the phone to solve a problem would stand out to him.
“I don’t think people need a lot of work experience in hardscaping, but they definitely have to demonstrate how the skills that they have can apply to what they’re applying for,” Bourque said.
“Show what’s related to the industry that you would have done, even if it’s just working outside.”
Use Action Words
Another way to make your resume stand out is to ensure that you use action words to describe your previous experience. You should not just list the previous job’s description. Instead, show your results or your process.
“Use verbs that show initiative like, ‘I’ve assisted people to do this,’ or ‘I’ve built’ or ‘I’ve organized,’” Bourque said. “Those are very important for an employer because they want to see that the person has taken some kind of an action.”
Hilldore echoed the importance of sharing skills through action words. He said he is often more interested in how the candidate approached a problem rather than the problem or task itself.
“On their resume, they can write just a quick blurb on their previous role saying, ‘I was challenged with this. This is how I either taught myself or found resources to teach me how to tackle it. This is how I approach the problem. This is how I resolved the problem,’” Hilldore said.
Employers want to know if you’re coachable, enthusiastic, and willing to learn. Even if you don’t have extensive experience, showing that you are ready to dive into new challenges can make a huge difference.
“If you’re coachable, then we can teach you anything. It’s okay not to know everything. But it’s especially great when we can see that people want to learn,” Bourque said.
A standout resume for the hardscaping industry doesn’t just list skills—it showcases your passion for the work, your ability to learn and adapt, and your readiness to contribute to a team.
By keeping your resume clear, concise, and tailored to the job, you’ll increase your chances of landing that dream job in the hardscaping industry. And remember that a great attitude and a willingness to grow can sometimes matter more than years of experience!