Top 12 Builder Skills to Put on Your Resume

The construction market moves fast, and hiring teams skim even faster. A resume that shows real, usable builder skills—tools you’ve touched, methods you know, systems you can run—will get traction. The list below zeroes in on a dozen core skills worth spotlighting. Pick what fits your work, prove it with results, and your profile jumps out of the stack.

Builder Skills

1. AutoCAD
2. Revit
3. SketchUp
4. BIM (Building Information Modeling)
5. LEED Guidelines
6. Procore
7. Hilti ON!Track
8. Bluebeam Revu
9. Construction Estimating
10. Primavera P6
11. Rhino 3D
12. Laser Scanning

1. AutoCAD

AutoCAD is the workhorse CAD platform for creating precise 2D drawings and 3D models used throughout planning and construction.

Why It's Important

It delivers accuracy, repeatability, and speed—clean documentation and tight coordination that keep rework down and crews moving.

How to Improve AutoCAD Skills

Sharpening your AutoCAD chops pays back quickly on live jobs.

1. Nail the fundamentals: layers, blocks, xrefs, annotation scales, plotting. Build from a solid base.
2. Templates and standards: create company title blocks, layer states, plot styles, and page setups to lock in consistency.
3. Keyboard muscle memory: commit core shortcuts and custom aliases to muscle memory to cut clicks.
4. Precision first: snaps, tracking, constraints, and object properties—draw it right the first time.
5. Dynamic Blocks: parametric blocks reduce drafting time and slash errors.
6. Sheet Set Manager: manage multi-sheet packages, fields, publish routines—batch work like a pro.
7. Automate: explore scripts, LISP, and tool palettes to speed repetitive tasks.
8. Stay current: skim release notes and add features that actually help your workflow.
9. Practice on real details: door schedules, wall sections, shop drawing markups—practice the work you do.

How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume

2. Revit

Revit is a BIM platform for model-based design, coordination, and documentation across disciplines.

Why It's Important

You catch clashes earlier, standardize details, and share one source of truth with architects, engineers, and trades—less friction, fewer surprises.

How to Improve Revit Skills

Builders who think in models deliver cleaner field outcomes.

1. Start with core modeling: families, views, schedules, sheets, view templates, phases—get the basics tight.
2. Template discipline: office templates with view filters, object styles, and title blocks save hours and keep drawings uniform.
3. Content libraries: curate reliable manufacturer and internal families; parameter naming rules matter.
4. Worksharing and cloud: practice cloud worksharing and permissions (e.g., BIM Collaborate Pro) to avoid model conflicts.
5. Dynamo: simple scripts for renaming, parameter population, and repetitive geometry can transform your speed.
6. Coordination: export, link, and federate models; run clash checks and issue tracking with a consistent process.
7. QA routines: schedule-based audits (unconstrained elements, warnings, unplaced rooms) keep models healthy.

How to Display Revit Skills on Your Resume

3. SketchUp

SketchUp is a fast, intuitive 3D modeling tool used for concepting, visualization, and quick feasibility checks.

Why It's Important

It lets you sketch ideas, test options, and communicate intent with clients and crews without getting bogged down.

How to Improve SketchUp Skills

Speed and clarity, without the mess.

1. Model clean: groups and components always; tag and outliner discipline to avoid sticky geometry chaos.
2. Precision habits: inference locking, exact input, model units, and the Tape Measure to keep dimensions honest.
3. Extensions: add tools like V‑Ray (rendering) and the SketchUp STL extension (fabrication) when needed.
4. Shortcuts and toolbars: customize for the tools you hammer daily.
5. Import/export smarts: manage DWG imports, purge junk, and set export settings for Revit, CAD, or IFC handoff.
6. Styles and scenes: present clean views, update scenes, and animate simple walkthroughs for stakeholders.

How to Display SketchUp Skills on Your Resume

4. BIM (Building Information Modeling)

BIM is a digital process that connects geometry, data, time, and cost so teams can plan, design, build, and operate with shared context.

Why It's Important

Better decisions earlier. Tighter coordination. Fewer RFIs. Stronger handover. It reduces waste and uncertainty at every stage.

How to Improve BIM (Building Information Modeling) Skills

Think beyond software—dial in process.

1. Standards first: naming conventions, LOD/LOI targets, file structures, and BEPs that everyone follows.
2. Common data environment: use a cloud platform (e.g., Autodesk Construction Cloud) with permissions, reviews, and version control.
3. Federation and clash: aggregate trades on a cadence; track issues with owners and assignees until closed.
4. 4D/5D workflows: link models to schedule and cost for constructability planning and what‑if scenarios.
5. Lean integration: map value streams, remove handoff friction, and lock in pull planning tied to model data.
6. Upskill the field: give supers and foremen model access on tablets, with simple views, filters, and measure tools.
7. Handover data: plan asset data and COBie/owner requirements early so turnover isn’t a scramble.

How to Display BIM (Building Information Modeling) Skills on Your Resume

5. LEED Guidelines

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) sets performance targets for sustainable design and construction.

Why It's Important

Energy, water, materials, air quality—hit the marks and you lower operating costs, reduce impacts, and boost long-term value. Demand for high-performance buildings isn’t fading.

How to Improve LEED Guidelines Skills

Make certification achievable, not painful.

1. Know the rating system: focus on LEED v4.1 requirements (and track v5 updates) for your project type.
2. Early scorecard: lock targets at kickoff; assign credits to accountable parties and keep a live tracker.
3. Energy and envelope: prioritize envelope performance, HVAC right‑sizing, and commissioning for reliable points.
4. Water strategy: specify high-efficiency fixtures, smart irrigation, and metering—easy wins with measurable impact.
5. Materials plan: EPDs, HPDs, recycled content, regional sourcing, and certified wood—procurement needs a checklist.
6. Indoor environmental quality: low‑emitting products, ventilation verification, daylight targets, and clean IAQ plans during construction.
7. Documentation discipline: submittal language and templates that gather the right proofs the first time.

How to Display LEED Guidelines Skills on Your Resume

6. Procore

Procore is a construction platform for managing drawings, RFIs, submittals, daily reports, financials, and field coordination.

Why It's Important

One place for the truth—fewer email or spreadsheet gaps, faster decisions, tighter cost control.

How to Improve Procore Skills

Turn features into habits.

1. Get certified: complete role-based learning paths and practice in a sandbox environment.
2. Configure projects right: permissions, default workflows, custom fields, numbering schemes, and distribution groups from day one.
3. Submittals and RFIs: standard logs, review steps, and due dates—automate reminders so nothing stalls.
4. Drawings discipline: upload, slip‑sheet, and hyperlink; keep markups layered and documented.
5. Field first: train supers on mobile for daily logs, observations, photos, and inspections—offline mode matters.
6. Financials flow: set up budgets, change events, commitments, and pay apps so forecasts stay honest.
7. Dashboards and reports: build role-specific reports; schedule them to hit inboxes before meetings.
8. Integrations: connect scheduling, estimating, and accounting systems to cut double entry.

How to Display Procore Skills on Your Resume

7. Hilti ON!Track

Hilti ON!Track is a tool and asset management system for tracking equipment, calibrations, maintenance, and utilization across jobsites.

Why It's Important

Lost tools and dead batteries burn hours. Clear ownership, service schedules, and site transfers keep work flowing.

How to Improve Hilti ON!Track Skills

Treat assets like mini projects.

1. Tag everything: consistent labels, QR/RFID tags, and category rules—no gray areas.
2. Governance: define custodians, check-in/out rules, and site transfer procedures; audit monthly.
3. Maintenance plans: time- or usage-based service intervals with alerts; log certifications and calibrations.
4. Mobile fluency: train field teams on scanning, offline use, and photo notes; keep it simple.
5. Geofencing and locations: map storage cages, trucks, and zones so movement is traceable.
6. Reporting: track utilization, idle assets, and loss trends; retire or redeploy based on data, not gut feel.
7. Integrate: connect with project and accounting systems to align costs and availability.

How to Display Hilti ON!Track Skills on Your Resume

8. Bluebeam Revu

Bluebeam Revu is a PDF toolkit tailored for AEC—markups, measurements, takeoffs, and live collaboration.

Why It's Important

It shrinks review cycles, preserves a clean audit trail, and gets everyone literally on the same page.

How to Improve Bluebeam Revu Skills

Small habits, big gains.

1. Keyboard shortcuts: learn the ones you hit every hour—rotate, align, callout, highlight, snapshot.
2. Profiles: build a lean interface with only the panels and tools you use; export and share with the team.
3. Tool Chest: create standardized symbols and markups with subject/status metadata for easy reporting.
4. Sets and slip‑sheeting: keep plan revisions tidy with automatic versioning and hyperlinking.
5. Measurement mastery: calibrate, set scale, use spaces and layers; save takeoff legends and column setups.
6. Batch tools: batch link, batch sign, batch compare—automation beats click marathons.
7. Studio: run Sessions for fast markups and Projects for controlled document management.

How to Display Bluebeam Revu Skills on Your Resume

9. Construction Estimating

Estimating determines total project cost before the shovel hits dirt—materials, labor, equipment, subs, overhead, and risk.

Why It's Important

It sets margins, wins work, and guides execution. Good estimates are maps; bad ones are traps.

How to Improve Construction Estimating Skills

Accuracy beats optimism.

1. Standardize: a consistent WBS, assemblies, and checklists reduce omissions.
2. Reliable data: maintain current production rates, vendor quotes, and cost databases; time-stamp everything.
3. Digital takeoffs: calibrate drawings, use area/linear counts, and attach assumptions directly to items.
4. Scope clarity: define inclusions/exclusions and alternates; align with specs and addenda immediately.
5. Value engineering: compare material options and means/methods without gutting performance.
6. Risk and contingency: quantify uncertainty—logistics, market volatility, long lead items, weather.
7. Post‑mortems: compare estimate to actuals; adjust rates and factors based on real results.

How to Display Construction Estimating Skills on Your Resume

10. Primavera P6

Primavera P6 is an enterprise scheduler for planning, sequencing, and controlling complex projects.

Why It's Important

Critical path clarity, resource balancing, and clean progress tracking keep deadlines—and costs—under control.

How to Improve Primavera P6 Skills

Build schedules that stand up to scrutiny.

1. Structure first: set calendars, coding structures, and a clear WBS before adding activities.
2. Logic over dates: drive the plan with relationships, not hard constraints; keep float real.
3. Resources and costs: load labor/equipment, set rates, and track usage for credible forecasts.
4. Baselines: freeze snapshots at milestones; compare variances visually and numerically.
5. Layouts and filters: craft views for executives, supers, and subs—different audiences, different needs.
6. Schedule quality: check open ends, long lags, negative float, and high durations; apply a quality checklist.
7. Progress discipline: update actuals on a cadence; lock data dates; document changes.
8. Earned value: tie performance to cost and schedule indexes for early warning signals.

How to Display Primavera P6 Skills on Your Resume

11. Rhino 3D

Rhino 3D is a versatile modeler for complex geometry—freeform surfaces, solids, meshes, and precision tooling.

*NURBS: Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines, a mathematical model that renders curves and surfaces in computer graphics.

Why It's Important

When shapes get tricky—curves, custom fabrication, nonstandard assemblies—Rhino handles it without blinking.

How to Improve Rhino 3D Skills

Model with intention.

1. Core tools: master snaps, gumball, history, sub‑object selection, and precision input.
2. Organization: layers, named views, blocks, and worksessions to keep large models sane.
3. Parametric power: pair Rhino with Grasshopper for patterning, optimization, and quick iterations.
4. Architectural add‑ons: tools like VisualARQ streamline walls, doors, documentation, and IFC export.
5. Fabrication‑ready: clean topology, tolerances, and export settings for CNC, 3D print, or shop drawings.
6. Render and review: materials, lighting, and quick renders to communicate build intent before cutting steel.

How to Display Rhino 3D Skills on Your Resume

12. Laser Scanning

Laser scanning captures millions of precise 3D points to create accurate site or building conditions for design, coordination, and QA.

Why It's Important

Reality in high definition. You reduce site visits, measure once, and design against what actually exists.

How to Improve Laser Scanning Skills

Plan the scan, then scan the plan.

1. Choose the right gear: match range, accuracy, and speed to the job; consider payloads for tight interiors versus long-range exteriors.
2. Capture strategy: preplan stations, use targets or survey control, and ensure sightlines for overlap.
3. Registration workflow: practice cloud‑to‑cloud and target‑based registration; validate residuals and tighten tolerances.
4. Clean data: crop noise, classify, decimate responsibly, and segment point clouds for easier downstream use.
5. Software fluency: get comfortable in processing tools (e.g., ReCap, RealWorks, Cyclone) and deliverables (RCP/RCS, E57).
6. BIM integration: align to project coordinates and link point clouds into authoring tools for as‑built modeling and clash.
7. QA and safety: document control points, capture logs, and photo notes; follow site safety and equipment care rigorously.
8. Share smart: host scans in a common data environment so teams can view, measure, and comment without heavy files.

How to Display Laser Scanning Skills on Your Resume