Home Boarding Kennel Operator Resume template
Boarding Kennel Operator resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what boarding kennel operators actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most boarding kennel operators should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Boarding Kennel Operator with hands-on experience caring for dogs and cats in short stay kennels and catteries. Comfortable running the full daily round, from feeding and medication to cleaning, exercise and record keeping, and dealing with owners at check in and check out. Looking to work somewhere that treats animal welfare, hygiene and clear records as the standard, not the extra.
Key skills
- Animal care and handling
- Feeding and medication administration to individual instructions
- Cleaning and disinfection of kennels, runs and exercise yards
- Dog exercise, socialisation and behaviour monitoring
- Kennel operations and staff supervision
- Inventory and stock control
- Bookings and customer enquiries
- KennelBooker
- Gingr
- Xero
- Microsoft Excel
- Record keeping and vaccination documentation
- Safety and compliance awareness
- Written communication
Experience: example bullet points
- Fed, watered and medicated up to 40 boarders a day following individual owner and vet instructions, keeping the daily care sheet accurate for every animal.
- Cleaned and disinfected kennels, runs and exercise yards between boarders, cutting the turnaround on a vacated run from 30 minutes to 15.
- Managed bookings, deposits and owner enquiries through KennelBooker and Xero, keeping the calendar full through peak holiday periods.
- Trained two casual staff in feeding routines, medication handling and cleaning standards, so the same routine ran whether or not I was on shift.
- Monitored dogs during exercise and the morning round for stress, injury or illness, escalating concerns to owners and their vet the same day and logging every observation.
Education
Year 12, or a Certificate III in Animal Care Services (ACM30122) or Certificate III in Companion Animal Services if you take the formal pathway. Most operators learn the practical side on the job under an experienced kennel hand or owner, and many add first aid for animals along the way.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- boarding kennel
- cattery
- kennel hand
- animal care
- companion animal services
- Certificate III in Animal Care Services
- C5 vaccination
- F3 vaccination
- council animal keeping permit
- state companion animal legislation
- infection control
- dog handling and restraint
- medication administration
- KennelBooker
- Gingr
- Xero
- Microsoft Excel
- Work Health and Safety
- bookings and record keeping
- customer service
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.