Home Distiller Resume template
Distiller resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what distillers 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 distillers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Distiller with practical experience in pot still and column still operation, fermentation monitoring and spirit cut selection. Combines production discipline with sensory assessment to produce consistent spirits such as whisky, gin and rum. Keeps detailed batch, quality and excise records to meet regulatory and food safety requirements.
Key skills
- Pot still and column still operation
- Fermentation and distillation monitoring
- Spirit cut assessment (aroma, flavour, quality)
- Distillery equipment cleaning and maintenance
- Food safety and hygiene (HACCP)
- Regulatory compliance (excise and WHS)
- Laboratory analysis (gas chromatography, hydrometer, alcoholmeter)
- Distillery management software (e.g. Whiskey Systems)
- SCADA and HMI control systems
- Microsoft Excel for batch records
- Attention to detail
Experience: example bullet points
- Operated pot stills and column stills to produce single malt whisky and botanical gin, adjusting run temperatures and collection points to maintain consistent spirit character.
- Monitored fermentation and distillation parameters including temperature, pressure and alcohol strength, recording readings to ensure batches met internal quality thresholds.
- Took spirit cuts by assessing aroma and flavour, separating heads, hearts and tails to maximise yield of premium spirit without compromising quality.
- Cleaned and maintained stills, tanks and associated equipment, following food safety and hygiene procedures to prevent contamination and downtime.
- Recorded batch data and maintained production and excise records, ensuring compliance with Australian Taxation Office requirements and passing internal audits without findings.
- Trained two new cellar hands on still operation and cleaning procedures, improving team flexibility across shifts.
Education
Bachelor degree in brewing and distilling, food science, chemical engineering or a related field; alternatively a Diploma of Food Science and Technology or Certificate III in Food Processing (Food Stream) combined with on-the-job training.
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.
- Pot still
- Column still
- Spirit cut
- Fermentation
- Distillation
- Excise records
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)
- HACCP
- WHS
- Whiskey Systems
- SCADA
- Gas chromatograph
- Hydrometer
- Alcoholmeter
- Distillery management software
- Maturation
- Barrel management
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.