Landing an interview is the first big step on the path to employment. A strong and professional CV is important for catching the hiring manager’s eye and securing that face-to-face meeting. In order to get an idea of the conventional formatting and style of a professional CV, it’s a good idea to check out a CV sample. Use the gardener cv template below to see how your application should be structured and what you should include. The additional CV tips will also help guide you in tailoring your application for the job you’ve got your eye on.
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Gardener CV Template
Tacoma, WA 12345
E: bennysmith@qmail.com T: (555) 324-7819
Professional Summary
Attentive and dedicated gardener with a genuine love for plants and working outside. Possess broad horticultural knowledge as well as ample practical experience caring for plants and maintaining grounds. Expert in the planting and raising of perennial flowers. Have worked in a variety of location types, including private properties, small businesses, schools, and horticultural display gardens.
Work Experience
Groundskeeper
Longmeadow Gardens
August 2014 – Present
• Maintain a wide variety of ornamental trees and shrubs.
• Use knowledge of plants to identify and remedy problems with plants under my care.
• Perform horticultural tasks such as propagating plants and raising seedlings.
• Develop special knowledge of the care and keeping of perennial flowers.
• Assist in the design of new horticultural displays and seasonal flowerbeds.
• Drive company vehicles between work site and locations such as hardware stores and nurseries to obtain necessary supplies.
• Perform general upkeep tasks and simple repairs, such as changing light bulbs, repainting benches, and fixing garden gates.
Gardener
Coastal Community College
January 2013 – August 2014
• Took responsibility for the maintenance of the college grounds, working independently and without direct supervision.
• Mowed lawn on a bi-weekly basis.
• Cleared away trash and maintained stone and gravel paths.
• Weeded, fertilized, and mulched flowerbeds.
• Planted and cared for ornamental flowers, shrubs, and ground coverings.
• Recommended different nursery, resulting in 25 percent savings in plant and supply purchases.
Grounds Worker
Johnson and Jones Landscaping
June 2011 – January 2013
• Worked in a team to maintain yards and gardens of private homes and small businesses.
• Performed a variety of tasks including digging, raking, and mowing.
• Followed instructions from immediate supervisor with speed and accuracy.
• Cooperated with fellow gardeners to accomplish the day’s tasks as effectively as possible.
• Recommended and coordinated local advertising campaign by partnering with neighborhood marching band sales, resulting in 30 percent increase in business.
Education and Training
Certificate in Landscape Horticulture, Coastal Community College – 2014
Horticultural Technician Certification Course – 2015
Skills
• Experience using hand tools such as pruning shears, shovels, rakes, spades, saws, and axes
• Ability to work outside in hot and cold temperatures, as well as unpleasant weather conditions
• Skilled operator of power tools, including lawn mowers, tractors, chainsaws, sod cutters, and electric hedge trimmers
• Wide knowledge of the needs and growing conditions of ornamental grasses, trees, and shrubs
• Possess a valid driver’s license and can drive trucks and other vehicles around work sites
Hobbies and Interests
When not at work, I am a dedicated baker and enjoy spending my time in the kitchen trying out new bread and cake recipes. I am very interested in giving back to my community and am an active member of the PTA of my son’s elementary school, as well as a volunteer coach for the local Little League soccer team. On nice summer days, I enjoy spending my time outdoors, fishing for trout, and taking nature photographs.
Gardener CV Questions
A CV should only include information that will help you land a job, but it has a little more flexibility than a resume, so you may add hobbies to yours if they are relevant to the job you are applying for. For a gardener position, there may be some outside interests you can incorporate to help further demonstrate you are a good fit for the job. As you can see in the gardener CV sample, hobbies are typically in paragraph and conversational form.
If you have never written a CV before, you may find it helpful to refer to an effortless Resume Now CV or resume builder. This will help you choose a format for your document and walk you through the different sections step-by-step. Always list your contact information at the beginning of the document so the hiring manager knows how to contact you. Along with your name and general location, include a good phone number and professional-sounding email. Our gardener CV sample is also helpful when constructing your CV.
As with a resume, a CV includes sections such as a summary statement, your work experience, education, and skills. A CV also often includes an achievements section, which is where you use examples to demonstrate how your work experience developed your skills. You can also add a hobbies and interests section for those with relevant pastimes. The order of the sections will vary depending on your specific experience. If you are a master gardener and have a lot of education, you may place this section towards the beginning, but if you do not have much schooling, place the education section near the end. Consult the gardener CV sample for ideas of how to list the sections.
The length of a CV depends largely on how much experience you have. Because it is a detailed overview of accomplishments, a CV is longer for those with years of work history and numerous achievements. For those just starting out, a CV will rarely be longer than one page, but for someone who has won many awards and is an accomplished gardener, it may be two pages or even longer. Our effective gardener CV sample can demonstrate how to tailor your CV based on your background.
Ideally, your first job should relate to gardening in one way or another. However, if you are younger or you are switching industries, you may not have that option. If you do not have much formal work experience, you can use volunteer work, part-time jobs, internships, or academic leadership roles to demonstrate you have the skills and strengths called for in the job posting. Consult the gardener CV sample to get ideas of how you can word your work accomplishments.
Using a Job Description to Create a Standout Gardener CV
A Sample Gardener Description
Job Summary
A green thumb and a passion for the beauty of plants will take you far in a position as a gardener at Thompson’s Children’s Museum. As a member of our team, you will get to work with talented colleagues to maintain our botanical display garden, which has delighted children and family members of all ages for generations. We specialize in growing unique trees and beautiful flowers to pique interest in the natural world, so we are looking for someone with the horticultural knowledge to care for delicate and unusual plants. The ideal candidate is able to cooperate closely with others but also able to work independently and without direct supervision. We provide a competitive wage and a stimulating work environment, as well as free admission for the families of employees and discounts on gift shop items and food from the museum café.
Job Responsibilities
• Maintain grounds, including lawn, flowerbeds, and trees.
• Perform horticultural upkeep tasks such as weeding, mowing, pruning, trimming, planting, watering, and applying fertilizer on a regular basis.
• Install and do simple repairs on outdoor fixtures such as stone paths and retaining walls.
• Cooperate and communicate with team members to complete tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Job Skills
• Must be able to use power tools such as chainsaws and electric hedge trimmers.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and be able to responsibly operate company vehicles.
• Candidates with horticultural knowledge of flowering shrubs and trees are strongly preferred.
• Working outdoors in all temperatures and weather conditions is required.
• Must be able to lift 50 pounds and stand for long periods of time.
• Ideal candidates have a dependable, hardworking, and trustworthy personality.
How to Employ the Job Description in Your Gardener CV
Your CV should always be tailored to the position to which you’re applying. Using specific terminology shows the hiring managers that you understand their needs and meet their qualifications. As seen in the gardener cv template, the candidate mentioned that he had worked “independently and without direct supervision” in a previous position. This phrase was taken directly from the job description. Using the exact words from the description in your CV also maximizes your chances of hitting crucial keywords that ATS systems pick up before hiring personnel ever see your document.
Highlighting your accomplishments can be done in the same way. The applicant expanded on the job description’s need for someone who can accomplish horticultural tasks to explain that a recommended nursery change provided prior employers with a 25 percent savings. Marketing yourself as a good fit for the company’s culture is also important. For example, the description above is seeking an employee to work at a children’s museum, so mentioning any hobbies and interests that involve working with children, as was done in the gardener cv template, can help your case by implying that you would be a good fit for this environment.