Where to begin with your Budtender resume

According to Forbes, there are already 428,059 full-time jobs supported by the cannabis business in the US. The number of jobs created by the industry last year reached six digits for the first time. A report published by Leafly suggests the sector added 107,059 new employment in 2021 after adding 32,700 jobs in 2019 and 77,300 employees in 2020.

To put that into perspective, Leafly stated in the report, "America's whole financial sector added 145,000 jobs last year." "From coast to coast, the building industry added 165,000 employment."

In the US, a Budtender makes an average pay of $37,941.That amounts to $16.28 per hour. But just like bartenders, budtenders also make a decent amount of earnings in tips!

Budtenders, also referred to as bud tenders, are the face of the contemporary marijuana industry and are employed at both recreational and medical cannabis dispensaries. 

If you want to start a career in this exciting industry you need to develop a CV that demonstrates your product expertise and people skills in order to land a rewarding job as a budtender in the lucrative cannabis market. You should also read up on how to get hired & impress a dispensary.
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What should go on a budtender resume?

It's a common misconception that budtenders are just potheads who simply use marijuana and spend every day searching for the cheapest prices on buds. In reality, this is a professional sales position representing recreational cannabis shops and medical marijuana dispensaries as a spokesman.

If you're trying to land a job at one of these marijuana dispensaries, the following should be on your budtender resume:

• A resume summary or opening statement.
• A detailed listing of all relevant work experience, including volunteer work and internships.
• A section on education and certifications where you should list any literature you have about cannabis use and degrees, certificates, and/or licenses pertaining to cannabis.
• A list of the skills you believe, would be useful to the business you plan to join.

A resume for a job as a budtender should also include a cover letter that summarises the key aspects of your CV.

Now let's examine these components in more detail as a typical resume template.
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Unmudl Tip
Although a formal degree is not required to work in the marijuana sector, companies may ask you to submit to a background check and verify your licensing. Make sure you have the necessary licenses in your city before applying to a company if you want to work as a budtender.

Budtender resume template

There are six key areas of a well-written resume. Take a look at a very basic budtender resume template below which we'll dissect in detail and help you customize for your credentials.

1. The Header: Basic Information

FIRST AND LAST NAME

Email: daniel.budtender@gmail.com

Phone: XXX XXX XXXX

Address: 1234 Marijuana Drive, LA, CA 90001

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/danial.budtender

2. Objective/ Intro/ Summary

Dedicated professional with [Number of years] years of cannabis industry expertise. Please consider using my [Relevant skills] to fill your opening for a budtender. A reliable person seeking to serve patients and clients by offering valuable assistance and insights in order to further the objectives of [Company's name].

3. Employment History

CURRENT OR MOST RECENT JOB TITLE

Employer Name, Location: Start Year–End Year

• For each entry in your job history, use three to five bullet points to summarise your duties and accomplishments.
• To communicate your accomplishments, include concrete figures and information in your bullet points (For example, the types of products you sold, and the average number of sales you made per week)
• Start each bullet point with strong resume action verbs to make a stronger impression on recruiters and provide useful context (For instance, enhanced, maximized, improved, analyzed, collaborated, communicated, conducted, coordinated, developed, examined, executed, implemented, led, managed, oversaw, performed, planned, resolved, verified, etc)
  

EARLIER JOB TITLE

Employer Name, Location: Start Year–End Year

• If you are no longer employed by a company, mention your previous employment on your resume using verbs in the past tense.
• Be as specific as you can (For example, list the actual names of cannabis products you sold, the weights you worked with, or the software you used to track inventory). This type of information adds a lot of weight to your resume.

4. Education and Certifications

CERTIFICATE TITLE

Issuing authority, Location: Date of certification

Briefly describe your certification highlighting anything you learned that could directly impact this job as well as any licenses obtained (if any) due to certification.

DEGREE TITLE

University/Community College etc, Location: Start Year–End Year

In the education section of your resume, mention your greatest level of education, such as a master's or bachelor's degree.

Include your high school name, graduation year (if applicable), GPA (if it's 3.5 or higher), and relevant coursework on your resume if you don't have a degree.

5. Skills

List 3-6 bullet points of hard and soft skills relevant to the position you're applying for (for instance, bud trimming, knowledge of marijuana strains and products, people skills)

6. Additional Information

Include other sections on your resumes, such as those listing any charity work, honors and awards, extracurricular activities, hobbies, foreign languages, or publications, to effectively conclude your resume.
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Now let’s start putting together your resume

Sections 1, 3, and 4 are fairly straight forward and you just need to fill out the relevant details so we are going to be focusing on Sections 2 and 5.

Section 2: Objective/ Intro/ Summary

Have you ever wondered how hiring managers select which resumes to go through and which ones to discard?

Employers scan resumes for a maximum of 5–6 seconds before determining whether or not they are relevant.

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Unmudl Tip
To prevent formatting issues and make it simple for employers to understand your budtender resume, use a suitable resume font like Times New Roman, Arial, or Georgia.

They look for factors like your educational background, professional accomplishments, and particular abilities. And odds are good that you won't get the interview unless they can tell right away that you're relevant.

If you do this correctly, your resume summary will be a huge blinking "Hire Me" sign.

And this is where the Objective or Summary right below the Basic Information section comes in. They always start by reviewing this section. Think of this as your introduction. 

Now, you might be asking what the difference between Objective and Summary is.

• Objective: If you're new to the field, a budtender resume objective demonstrates your enthusiasm for the field and your desire to join the industry. If you are new to the industry you should also review our Budtender Study guide for 2022.
  
  Example:
  ‍I recently graduated with a degree in botany and would love to work for CannabisAreUs Inc. to help it grow in Colorado. I completed a summer internship at the Pot Head Cannabis Co. where I weighed out and rolled marijuana products and observed the manager as she interacted with clients.
  
  I have earned a Budtender Basics Certification. This taught me to thoroughly understand the client's requirements in order to prescribe the right cannabis strains and dosages. I'm new to the field, but I'm eager to learn and would want to add something to the CannabisAreUs Inc. team.
  

• Summary: A Professional Summary should be included if you are an experienced worker or are applying for a managing position.
  
  Example:
  ‍A seasoned budtender with a Cannabis Budtender Certification, I spent more than four years working at a number of CannabisAreUs dispensaries, where I dealt with more than 200 marijuana strains and had an 80% plus client retention rate. ‍
  
  ‍I had to weigh and pack shipments as well as advise consumers in selecting the marijuana strain that was best for their requirements. Looking to help BudBoy LLC grow its clientele in California right now.
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  Both are excellent opening statements, but what actually draws the eye to them?

In the Objective example, the applicant's prior internship experience was listed in this resume for a budtender, demonstrating their desire to work in this field.

This Summary statement is also perfect for a resume for a budtender because it clearly includes performance numbers that demonstrate their strong work ethic.

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Unmudl Tip
Include the names of the company's products and other industry-related keywords from their job description on your resume because employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to find the best candidates by searching for relevant keywords.

Section 5: Skills

The most effective method of showcasing your skills as a bartender involves more than just handing out customers their marijuana; the qualifications to work at a dispensary may be considerably more stringent than you realize. These are essential skills for a budtender resume.

Budtender Soft Skills

• Awareness of marijuana strains, their effects, and their usefulness for medicinal purposes
• Complete understanding of state-specific cannabis laws
• Demonstratable customer service skills
• Demonstrable interpersonal skills
• Building relationships
• Communication
• Customer service
• Ethical conduct
• Interpersonal skills
• Punctuality

Budtender Hard Skills

• Experience with POS systems
• Stock keeping and inventory management
• Understanding different measuring systems
• Basic math skills
• Computer/ MS Office skills
• Keeping inventory
• Maintaining product knowledge
• Math skills
  

Don't just list these skills; go into detail about them and demonstrate how you used them with real-life examples. If done correctly, it ought to resemble this sample of a budtender resume:

• I used my considerable knowledge of more than 200 cannabis strains to pinpoint the unique requirements of various clients and create products specifically for them. This primarily helped me build great rapport with clients and made them repeat customers.
• Worked extensively on the POS systems for Shopify, Revel, and Lightspeed in accordance with CA MMJ laws and regulations.
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Unmudl Tip
If you want to freshen up your cannabis knowledge before your interview, one of the best resources is Cannabis 101, The basics by Leafly.

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