Top 12 Lineman Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's hiring climate, a lineman’s resume has to work hard. It should show skill, judgment, and the grit to handle real-world conditions. Employers scan for core abilities that match the hazards, the tools, and the pace of line work. Name them clearly. Prove them with brief, concrete detail. That’s how you get past the pile.

Lineman Skills

1. Pole Climbing
2. Electrical Safety
3. Circuit Switching
4. Transformer Installation
5. Conductor Stringing
6. Hot Stick
7. Bucket Truck Operation
8. Underground Systems
9. OSHA Regulations
10. Voltage Testing
11. Fiber Optics
12. Emergency Response

1. Pole Climbing

Pole climbing means ascending and descending utility poles with climbers, body belts, and fall protection to install, maintain, or repair energized and de-energized equipment. It’s controlled movement plus constant hazard awareness.

Why It's Important

It’s the direct path to the work. Safe, efficient climbs keep crews productive, outages short, and injuries off the report.

How to Improve Pole Climbing Skills

Build strength, sharpen technique, and make safety automatic.

1. Conditioning: Train core, legs, and grip. Short intervals. Real carry loads. Stability work for hips and ankles.
2. Technique reps: Practice gaff placement, body position, and step rhythm on various pole conditions (new, weathered, wet).
3. Fall protection mastery: Drill with belts/strap systems and full fall-arrest. Smooth transitions around obstructions and attachments.
4. Gear care: Inspect gaffs, straps, and hardware before every climb. Keep surfaces clean and dry; sharpen and contour gaffs per spec.
5. Scenario practice: Work in rain, wind, cold. Simulate limited clearance, crossarms, and hardware congestion.
6. Peer critique: Have a seasoned hand watch your climb. Small form tweaks pay off fast.

Consistent reps plus meticulous gear habits make climbs safer and faster.

How to Display Pole Climbing Skills on Your Resume

2. Electrical Safety

Electrical safety for linemen is disciplined compliance with safe work practices around energized systems: approach distances, grounding, PPE, lockout/tagout, and verification before touch.

Why It's Important

Because contact, arc, and step potential don’t forgive. Good habits prevent shocks, burns, and falls.

How to Improve Electrical Safety Skills

1. Train and refresh: Regular courses, tailboards, and scenario drills. Update when procedures or equipment change.
2. PPE done right: Proper class gloves, daily checks, leather protectors, FR clothing, eye and head protection—worn and maintained correctly.
3. Test before touch: Verify de-energization and grounds. Treat lines as live until proven otherwise.
4. Work zones: Respect minimum approach distances and maintain clear communication with spotters.
5. Emergency readiness: First aid/CPR, shock response, and rescue plans practiced until they’re muscle memory.

How to Display Electrical Safety Skills on Your Resume

3. Circuit Switching

In line work, circuit switching means executing switching orders—opening, closing, tagging, and verifying device status—to isolate equipment, reroute power, and restore service safely.

Why It's Important

Switching keeps crews out of harm’s way, contains faults, and gets lights back on without creating new hazards downstream.

How to Improve Circuit Switching Skills

1. Procedure fluency: Know device types (reclosers, sectionalizers, gang switches) and site-specific sequences cold.
2. Read the one-line: Trace feeds, ties, and backfeeds. Confirm expected status at every step.
3. Point-and-call: Verbalize steps, tag clearly, and cross-check with a second qualified person for critical moves.
4. Verification: Test for absence of voltage and confirm grounds before declaring a zone safe.
5. Post-event review: Analyze switching logs and SCADA data to spot timing issues and improve future sequences.

How to Display Circuit Switching Skills on Your Resume

4. Transformer Installation

Transformer installation covers mounting, proper connections, phasing, grounding, fusing, and commissioning so voltage is stepped safely and loads see what they should.

Why It's Important

Right-sized, correctly connected transformers protect equipment, improve reliability, and keep customers happy. Mistakes can be loud, hot, and expensive.

How to Improve Transformer Installation Skills

1. Pre-job planning: Confirm kVA sizing, voltage ratings, impedance, tap settings, and clearances. Verify hardware is correct before rolling.
2. Rigging discipline: Use appropriate lifting points and balanced loads. Protect bushings and finish.
3. Connections and phasing: Follow nameplate and utility standards. Double-check vector group and phase rotation.
4. Grounding and bonding: Low-impedance, corrosion-resistant connections with proper clamps and conductors.
5. Protection: Size fuses, surge protection, and secondary protection per spec. Check oil level and seals on fluid-filled units.
6. Commission smart: Perform ratio, polarity, and insulation resistance checks. Document readings and as-built details.

How to Display Transformer Installation Skills on Your Resume

5. Conductor Stringing

Conductor stringing is the controlled pulling, sagging, and clipping-in of wire or cable between poles or towers while protecting clearances and conductor integrity.

Why It's Important

It’s the backbone of overhead systems. Good stringing reduces losses, resists weather, and prevents gallop or contact with structures and vegetation.

How to Improve Conductor Stringing Skills

1. Equipment readiness: Inspect pullers, tensioners, sheaves, travelers, and grips. No nicks, no flat spots, no guessing.
2. Plan the path: Identify crossings, roadways, and hazards. Set guards and assign spotters.
3. Control tension and sag: Use temperature-corrected charts and tension recorders. Verify final sag with field measurements.
4. Protect the conductor: Use proper sheave sizes and fleet angles. Avoid sharp bends and contamination.
5. Clip-in discipline: Clean hardware, apply correct torque, and ensure spacer/damper placement where required.
6. Maintain and audit: Service equipment on schedule and review jobs to refine setup and communication.

Following tight procedures makes for smooth pulls and clean lines.

How to Display Conductor Stringing Skills on Your Resume

6. Hot Stick

A hot stick is an insulated, tested live-line tool that lets linemen operate equipment and perform tasks at a distance from energized parts.

Why It's Important

Distance plus insulation equals survival. Hot sticks cut exposure and enable safe live-line work when conditions allow.

How to Improve Hot Stick Skills

1. Inspection and cleaning: Wipe down, check surface finish, and look for cracks or contamination. Follow test intervals without fail.
2. Storage and handling: Keep dry, shaded, and protected in proper racks or cases. No sharp edges. No tossing in the truck.
3. Right tool, right head: Match attachments to the task—hooks, cutters, sockets—so movements stay precise.
4. Technique drills: Practice smooth, deliberate motions to avoid bounce and unintended contact. Work up from ground-level training to live scenarios under supervision.
5. Documentation: Track serials, test dates, and defects. Take unfit sticks out of service immediately.

How to Display Hot Stick Skills on Your Resume

7. Bucket Truck Operation

Bucket truck operation means safely positioning an aerial device, managing load, and working aloft with tools and materials to service overhead plant.

Why It's Important

It puts you where the work is with speed and stability. Done poorly, it adds risk; done well, it boosts productivity and safety.

How to Improve Bucket Truck Operation Skills

1. Pre-use inspections: Hydraulic leaks, controls, emergency lowers, outrigger pads, harness anchor points—check them all.
2. Setup discipline: Level the truck, deploy outriggers correctly, verify clearances (lines, trees, structures, traffic).
3. Fall protection: Harness on, lanyard secured to approved anchor, 100% tie-off aloft.
4. Tool management: Tether critical tools, organize the bucket, and plan material movement to minimize repositioning.
5. Communication: Hand signals or radios with the ground crew. Confirm moves before they happen.
6. Emergency practice: Drill ground-controlled lowers and rescue procedures regularly.

How to Display Bucket Truck Operation Skills on Your Resume

8. Underground Systems

Underground systems include cables, conduits, vaults, pedestals, terminations, and switchgear installed below grade for power and communications.

Why It's Important

They resist storms, clean up streetscapes, and cut outage exposure—but faults get hidden and tight spaces raise different risks.

How to Improve Underground Systems Skills

1. Locate and map: Verify locates, mark conflict points, and keep GIS/as-built records current.
2. Cable handling: Respect bend radius and pulling tension. Use proper lubricants and rollers to avoid sheath damage.
3. Splicing and terminations: Follow manufacturer procedures with clean surfaces, precise stripping, and correct shrink/cure cycles.
4. Fault finding: Apply TDR, thumping, and sectionalizing safely. Ground thoroughly and control step/touch potential in vaults.
5. Confined space readiness: Test atmosphere, ventilate, and monitor. Maintain rescue gear on-site.
6. Preventive maintenance: Inspect vaults, pumps, seals, and cable accessories. Fix water intrusion fast.

How to Display Underground Systems Skills on Your Resume

9. OSHA Regulations

OSHA regulations for linemen set the rules for electrical safety, fall protection, PPE, and safe work practices on transmission and distribution systems.

Why It's Important

Standards turn risky tasks into managed risk. They reduce injuries, prevent fatalities, and create a shared language for safety.

How to Improve OSHA Compliance Skills

1. Know the standards: Study the sections that govern your work and keep pocket references for field checks.
2. Apply consistently: Tie procedures to daily tailboards and job briefs. If conditions change, pause and re-brief.
3. Inspect and document: Record PPE checks, tool tests, and lockout/tagout steps. Paperwork that protects people.
4. Speak up: Report hazards and near-misses. Fix what you can; elevate what you can’t.
5. Coach and verify: Mentor newer hands, and invite audits. Fresh eyes catch weak spots.
6. Mind and body: Fatigue and stress erode judgment—hydrate, rest, and rotate tasks on long restorations.

How to Display OSHA Regulations Skills on Your Resume

10. Voltage Testing

Voltage testing is confirming presence or absence of voltage with approved, calibrated instruments before you touch, ground, or work.

Why It's Important

Assumptions hurt people. Verification keeps crews alive and gear intact.

How to Improve Voltage Testing Skills

1. Right tool, right range: Choose testers rated for the system and environment. Understand CAT ratings and limitations.
2. Prove your tester: Check on a known live source before and after testing the unknown.
3. Sequence matters: Establish, test, apply grounds, retest as needed. No shortcuts.
4. Keep it calibrated: Follow calibration intervals and retire damaged instruments immediately.
5. Technique: Solid contact, no glove compromise, and clear line-of-sight. Control your stance and approach path.

How to Display Voltage Testing Skills on Your Resume

11. Fiber Optics

Fiber optics uses glass or plastic fibers to move data as pulses of light. For linemen, that means installing, splicing, testing, and protecting cables for reliable high-speed communications.

Why It's Important

Communications ride on fiber—utility operations, customers, backhaul. Clean work delivers clean signals.

How to Improve Fiber Optics Skills

1. Handle with care: Respect bend radius, pull tension, and cleanliness. Dust caps on, always.
2. Precision splicing: Calibrate fusion splicers, prep ends meticulously, and manage splice trays without microbends.
3. Test and document: Use light source/power meter and OTDR. Record losses, events, and reflectance for every span.
4. Connector hygiene: Inspect, clean, inspect again. One speck can wreck a link.
5. Protect the plant: Seal enclosures, manage slack, and label routes. Moisture is the enemy.

How to Display Fiber Optics Skills on Your Resume

12. Emergency Response

Emergency response is fast, coordinated restoration after storms, accidents, or equipment failures—making scenes safe, rebuilding, and communicating status as conditions evolve.

Why It's Important

Outages ripple through safety, business, and daily life. Swift, organized response calms chaos and restores normal.

How to Improve Emergency Response Skills

1. Pre-plan: Staging maps, contact trees, material lists, and mutual aid protocols ready before the weather turns.
2. Safety first: Downed lines treated as live, traffic control set, and energized backfeed risks managed.
3. Assess fast, act faster: Triage feeders, isolate faults, and run parallel crews with clear switching orders.
4. Tools and tech: Keep meters, locators, and communications gear charged. Use aerial/remote assessments when conditions are hostile.
5. Communicate: Tight updates to dispatch, clear ETAs to customers, and clean handoffs at shift change.
6. After-action: Debrief what worked and what didn’t. Fold lessons into the next plan.

How to Display Emergency Response Skills on Your Resume