Freight Broker Resume Examples and Tips

A freight broker acts as a mediator between shippers and freight carriers, negotiating freight rates, making sure internal and external customer requirement are met, and developing and executing cost-effective transportation models. For this job, you should have excellent networking and communication skills, business acumen, and a knack of meeting sales targets.

To nab the right freight broker job, submit the right resume, using our expert resume examples and tips.

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Freight Broker Resume Sample

Top 4 Characteristics of a Best-in-Class Freight Broker Resume

  1. Summary In a few sentences, create a summary statement of your best work experiences and skills to date, including the total number of years you’ve worked. For example, “Resourceful freight broker with 12+ years’ experience managing long-haul loads and providing reliable motor carriers to shippers.”
  2. Skills Go through the job description carefully and match job-specific skills with your skillset. Feature hard skills such as proficiency with specific freight inventory software or shipment tracking as well as soft skills such as negotiation abilities, a problem-solving approach or customer service.
  3. Work history For each previous job, highlight major responsibilities and instances where you displayed impressive performance. For example: “Approved spot requests and qualified carriers to coordinate emergency pickup and deliveries” or “Initiated shipper and carrier contracts for companies shipping over $1 billion in freight.”
  4. Education List your top credential (e.g., high school diploma, GED or college degree) as well as any additional training or certifications you have in logistics, sales, business management or transportation field, such as completion of a program to be a Certified Transportation Broker (CTB).

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Find the Right Template for your Resume

Give your resume a solid presentation that fits your job, using these professional templates.

Qualified

This organized, straightforward template adds a hint of color. Each section heading is placed on the left for quick scanning.

Refined

This simple yet effective template uses clean dividing lines to organize sections, with the job applicant’s name displayed prominently in bold at the top.

Bold

This layout injects some creativity, with a mix of color and black resume fonts for the job seeker’s name, and a subtle shade of gray for section headings.

For more layouts that suit your needs, visit our resume templates page.

Do’s and Don’ts for Your Resume

  • DO emphasize soft skills. Success in this job will heavily depend on how well you work with others and the attitude you bring to work, so include soft skills that center on these areas, such as multitasking, relationship building, and negotiation skills. Feature them in your skills section and show how you put them into action in previous jobs (e.g., “Built and sustained customer relationships, growing client list from 50 to 100 customers”). For more skill tips, see our Resume Skills page.
  • DO customize your resume for different jobs. Every job has different priorities and requirements, so create different versions of your resume to address each job. The best way to tailor your resume is to update each section based on the needs and requirements of the specific job. For example, If the job posting stresses tasks such as “pricing strategies” or “inspecting vehicles,” mention any experience or skills you have in these areas in your resume. Our article How to Create a Targeted Resume provides more in-depth advice.
  • DO quantify your achievements. Broker work is all about the bottom line, so give potential employers a full understanding of how you can improve a company’s bottom line by describing your accomplishments through numbers and metrics. For instance, improve on a vague statement such as “Managed shipping and carrier relationships, increasing company revenue” by writing “Managed shipping and carrier relationships, increasing company revenue by 15% over previous year.”
  • DON’T submit your resume before reviewing it. Your employers and clients will count on you to be accurate — apply that same quality to your resume. Review your document a few times to ensure that all your information is correct, and that any grammatical or spelling errors have been done away with. If you use our Resume Builder to create your resume, our tools can check your document for you.
  • DON’T make your resume too long. Most employers generally spend only a few seconds reviewing most resumes, so make those seconds count by emphasizing only your most relevant skills and job achievements, and limiting the work history to 10 years at most. Use short, punchy phrases and bullet points rather than long, flowery sentences. Ideally, your resume should be 1-2 pages.
  • DON’T try to hide gaps in your work history. A long gap between jobs might not look ideal, but stating the truth about your employment history is much better than trying to camouflage work gaps with fibs or lies. Be prepared to discuss these gaps with recruiters in your cover letter or job interview — most employers will understand time off due to personal reasons or economic downturns. Better yet, show how you’ve taken on additional training or side jobs during time away from your career.