Top 12 NDT Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume

In the highly specialized field of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), showcasing the right blend of technical prowess and soft skills on your resume can lift your prospects fast. Hiring teams hunt for people who can think clearly under pressure, communicate findings without fluff, and run instruments with steady hands. The twelve skills below deserve prominent space on your resume if you want to stand out and land the work you actually want.

NDT Technician Skills

1. Ultrasonic Testing (UT)
2. Radiographic Testing (RT)
3. Magnetic Particle Testing (MT)
4. Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT)
5. Visual Testing (VT)
6. Eddy Current Testing (ECT)
7. Phased Array (PAUT)
8. Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD)
9. Digital Radiography (DR)
10. Thermographic Testing (TT)
11. Acoustic Emission Testing (AET)
12. Laser Scanning

1. Ultrasonic Testing (UT)

Ultrasonic Testing uses high-frequency sound waves to hunt down internal flaws, map geometry, and measure thickness without harming the part. You send pulses in, you read echoes out, and you interpret what the waveforms are trying to tell you about integrity and risk.

Why It's Important

UT spots internal discontinuities early, quantifies wall loss, and verifies structural soundness with speed. That combination—depth, precision, and no damage—keeps people safe and assets in service.

How to Improve Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Skills

Better UT comes from sharper interpretation, tight control of variables, and repeatable setups. Move on these:

1. Continuous learning: Refresh theory, wave modes, and technique limits. Seek advanced UT coursework and updated procedures.

2. Deliberate practice: Scan varied alloys, thicknesses, and flaw types. Build a personal library of signals and tricky edge cases.

3. Equipment mastery: Know your instrument’s filters, gates, DAC/TCG, and probes cold. Document preferred setups by application.

4. Standards alignment: Follow applicable codes and procedures (ASTM/ISO/ASME/API as required). Calibrate with traceable blocks.

5. Peer calibration: Review questionable indications with experienced technicians. Compare notes, refine calls.

6. Quality checks: Verify couplant, temperature, wedge delay, and zero routinely. Reconfirm sensitivity before critical scans.

7. Crisp reporting: Write results that are unambiguous and reproducible. Pictures, settings, positions—make it audit-proof.

How to Display Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Skills on Your Resume

2. Radiographic Testing (RT)

Radiographic Testing uses X-rays or gamma rays to reveal internal structure. You capture images that expose porosity, lack of fusion, inclusions, or misruns—without opening the part.

Why It's Important

RT provides a permanent record of internal conditions and detects defects invisible from the outside. Critical when safety factors don’t allow guesswork.

How to Improve Radiographic Testing (RT) Skills

1. Keep learning: Track changes in techniques, image quality indicators, and acceptance criteria. Refresh often.

2. Real-world reps: Practice setups across geometries and densities. Learn to balance exposure, contrast, and scatter control.

3. Quality assurance: Follow recognized guides (for example, ASTM E94 for radiographic examination) and ensure process control from IQI placement to film handling or detector checks.

4. Equipment care: Maintain sources, generators, and detectors with documented intervals. Use traceable calibration and verification.

5. Digital proficiency: For DR, apply system checks for digital detector arrays (such as those described in ASTM E2737). Use consistent viewing conditions.

6. DICONDE discipline: Keep images and metadata in DICONDE-compliant formats (see ASTM E2339) for clean archiving and traceability.

7. Safety first: Stay sharp on radiation protection practices, area monitoring, and dose limits. No compromise.

8. Community and feedback: Engage with professional groups to compare techniques, troubleshoot artifacts, and refine interpretation.

How to Display Radiographic Testing (RT) Skills on Your Resume

3. Magnetic Particle Testing (MT)

Magnetic Particle Testing finds surface and near-surface indications in ferromagnetic materials. You magnetize the part, apply particles, and look for particle build-up where fields leak—classic signs of a flaw.

Why It's Important

Fast, sensitive, and direct. MT excels on weld toes, fillets, and high-stress areas where cracks like to start.

How to Improve Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) Skills

1. Sharpen fundamentals: Refresh magnetization techniques (longitudinal vs. circular), field strength, and direction control.

2. Dial in setups: Calibrate yokes, prods, and benches. Verify field strength and coverage with appropriate indicators.

3. Control conditions: Maintain proper lighting, particle concentration, and contrast. Keep surfaces clean and dry.

4. Match method to geometry: Choose techniques that actually reach target zones. Double shots for complex welds. Demagnetize thoroughly.

5. Follow standards: Apply relevant ISO/ASTM practices and acceptance criteria. Document batch numbers and system checks.

6. Review and refine: Peer reviews catch misses and false calls. Build a photo catalog of indications.

7. Adopt improvements: Where permitted, consider digital capture and reporting to tighten traceability.

How to Display Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) Skills on Your Resume

4. Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT)

Liquid Penetrant Testing exposes surface-breaking defects in non-porous materials. Apply penetrant, dwell, remove excess, develop, inspect. Simple flow, powerful results.

Why It's Important

PT is sensitive to tight cracks and seams that other methods can skate past. Cost-effective, quick, and highly revealing when done right.

How to Improve Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Skills

1. Surface prep: Cleanliness drives sensitivity. Remove contamination that blocks or holds penetrant. Dry thoroughly.

2. Right system, right job: Match penetrant type (fluorescent or visible), sensitivity level, remover, and developer to material and defect size.

3. Time control: Use correct dwell and development times per the procedure and product data sheet. Reference applicable standards (such as ASTM E1417/E165).

4. Removal discipline: Strip only the excess, not the flaw-held penetrant. Choose the correct removal method for the system.

5. Lighting and environment: Confirm UV-A intensity and ambient white light for fluorescent exams, and white light levels for visible exams (see guidance such as ASTM E2297).

6. System performance checks: Verify system sensitivity with known comparators (e.g., TAM panels) at required intervals (ASTM E1417 references).

7. Training and currency: Keep procedures tight and people current. Refresh inspection techniques and interpretation pitfalls.

How to Display Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Skills on Your Resume

5. Visual Testing (VT)

Visual Testing is foundational. Direct viewing, aided visual, remote visual—if you can see it, you can often solve it faster. Magnifiers, mirrors, borescopes, drones; the eyes get a serious upgrade.

Why It's Important

VT catches obvious issues early and cheaply. It also primes other NDT methods by highlighting where to focus and what to watch.

How to Improve Visual Testing (VT) Skills

1. Hone observation: Build checklists that force attention to edges, transitions, and stress concentrators. Slow down on first pass.

2. Use the right optics: Select lenses, scopes, and cameras that fit geometry and access. Stabilize, focus, and document.

3. Light it right: Control angle, intensity, and color temperature. Rake lighting exposes surface texture and crack mouths.

4. Measure consistently: Add scales, gauges, and references to images. Make comparisons apples-to-apples.

5. Stronger reports: Adopt structured templates and consistent photo labeling. The next inspector should understand your findings without calling you.

6. Standards and procedures: Verify lighting levels, access, and acceptance criteria per governing codes.

How to Display Visual Testing (VT) Skills on Your Resume

6. Eddy Current Testing (ECT)

Eddy Current Testing uses electromagnetic induction to reveal surface and near-surface flaws in conductive materials. Lift-off, geometry, and conductivity all play roles—so does your setup finesse.

Why It's Important

ECT is fast, clean, and great for thin materials, heat exchanger tubes, and crack detection without couplant or contact liquids.

How to Improve Eddy Current Testing (ECT) Skills

1. Calibrate with purpose: Use traceable reference standards that mimic your target defects and alloys. Recheck when conditions shift.

2. Pick smart frequencies: Lower for depth, higher for small flaws. Use multi-frequency mixes to separate signals and fight noise.

3. Choose the right probe: Absolute vs. differential, surface vs. bobbin/array—match probe to geometry and flaw mechanism.

4. Clean signals: Apply filtering, lift-off compensation, and phase rotation. Optimize gain and balance for clear separation.

5. Surface prep matters: Remove coatings or stabilize them, minimize gaps, and keep motion steady to prevent spurious responses.

6. Train interpretation: Practice reading impedance planes and strip charts. Build a defect atlas specific to your parts.

7. Combine methods: Confirm ambiguous calls with PT, UT, or other modalities when the procedure allows.

How to Display Eddy Current Testing (ECT) Skills on Your Resume

7. Phased Array (PAUT)

Phased Array UT uses electronically steered transducers to sweep angles, focus dynamically, and render images that expose flaws with striking clarity—even on tough geometries.

Why It's Important

PAUT compresses inspection time, broadens coverage, and improves sizing. It also delivers records you can review later for audits or trending.

How to Improve Phased Array (PAUT) Skills

1. Deepen the theory: Understand beam steering, focal laws, and probe/wedge selection. Know what your sector scan is truly seeing.

2. Hands-on practice: Build and verify focal law sets for your common weld joints and components. Validate against known reflectors.

3. Procedure fluency: Align with governing codes (for example, ASME Section V or API/ISO procedures where applicable). Document essential variables.

4. Simulation and modeling: Use modeling tools to anticipate coverage and dead zones before you scan.

5. Data discipline: Standardize color palettes, gates, and views. Annotate positions so re-exams match perfectly.

6. Keep current: Refresh on advanced techniques like TFM/TFD when permitted, and understand their procedural requirements.

How to Display Phased Array (PAUT) Skills on Your Resume

8. Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD)

TOFD times diffracted waves from flaw tips, providing highly accurate through-thickness sizing. Lateral wave, backwall, and tip signals tell a clean story when set up right.

Why It's Important

Speed, sizing accuracy, and broad coverage. TOFD is a workhorse for welds and thick sections where precise height measurement matters.

How to Improve Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) Skills

1. Set it up scientifically: Choose probe frequency and separation for the thickness and expected defect types. Dial in wedge delay accurately.

2. Optimize scanning: Maintain constant coupling and travel speed. Use encoders for repeatable indexing and data correlation.

3. Clean the view: Gate lateral and backwall signals properly. Manage dead zones with complementary angle beam when necessary.

4. Calibration and verification: Validate with known reflectors or calibration blocks. Reconfirm sensitivity over long scans.

5. Analyze with care: Apply diffraction-based sizing rules and verify suspect calls with PAUT or conventional UT when procedures permit.

6. Stay aligned with standards: Follow applicable ISO/ASME/API procedures for consistency and acceptance criteria.

How to Display Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) Skills on Your Resume

9. Digital Radiography (DR)

Digital Radiography replaces film with digital detectors and immediate image processing. Faster feedback, cleaner archiving, and powerful tools for interpretation.

Why It's Important

DR speeds decisions, reduces consumables, and enables consistent viewing conditions. When time and traceability matter, it shines.

How to Improve Digital Radiography (DR) Skills

1. System care: Calibrate and maintain detectors and generators on schedule. Track performance drift.

2. Use the right software: Work with DICONDE-compliant NDT viewers and tools designed for radiographic interpretation, not general photo editors.

3. Parameter control: Tune kV, mA, filtration, geometry, and exposure time to balance contrast-to-noise and sharpness. Record exact setups.

4. Detector checks: Perform routine DDAs performance evaluations (for example, as outlined in ASTM E2737 concepts) to ensure consistent image quality.

5. Image enhancement wisely: Apply line pair tools, edge enhancement, and window/level adjustments methodically. Avoid overprocessing.

6. Peer review loops: Establish double-reader reviews for critical calls. Calibrate interpretations against acceptance criteria.

7. ADR where allowed: Explore automatic defect recognition only when procedures authorize it, and validate against human interpretation.

How to Display Digital Radiography (DR) Skills on Your Resume

10. Thermographic Testing (TT)

Thermography visualizes heat flow and temperature differences with infrared cameras. Subsurface problems often reveal themselves as subtle thermal patterns—no contact needed.

Why It's Important

It’s quick, safe, and superb for electrical systems, composites, insulation, and corrosion-under-insulation screening. Minimal disruption, maximum insight.

How to Improve Thermographic Testing (TT) Skills

1. Better cameras, better data: Use appropriate resolution, sensitivity (NETD), and lenses for your targets and stand-off distances.

2. Understand emissivity: Calibrate for surface finishes, paints, and coatings. Use reference tapes or known emissivity values to stabilize readings.

3. Control the environment: Manage wind, sun, and background reflections. Choose inspection windows that raise thermal contrast.

4. Sound technique: Optimize focus, integration time, and palettes. Leverage active heating/cooling methods when passive contrast is weak.

5. Analyze like a pro: Use robust analysis software to trend temperatures, set alarms, and document deltas consistently.

6. Train and certify: Maintain qualification to applicable levels and standards. Refresh with challenging case studies.

How to Display Thermographic Testing (TT) Skills on Your Resume

11. Acoustic Emission Testing (AET)

Acoustic Emission listens for energy released by growing defects under load. Sensors pick up transient waves; patterns and locations tell you where damage is waking up.

Why It's Important

AET detects active damage mechanisms early and during operation or proof testing. That means intervention before failure.

How to Improve Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) Skills

1. Modern hardware: Use sensitive, well-matched sensors and low-noise preamps. Verify coupling quality every time.

2. Signal processing: Apply filtering, clustering, and source location algorithms. Separate genuine events from environmental noise.

3. Training and procedures: Strengthen event classification skills and follow documented load/hold profiles to provoke meaningful signals safely.

4. Smart layouts: Place sensors for coverage and redundancy. Validate locations with pencil lead breaks or other verification checks.

5. Comparative baselines: Build baselines on known-good parts, then watch for deviations under similar loads.

6. Maintain and calibrate: Routine checks of timing sync, sensor health, and coupling ensure trustworthy data.

7. Community exchange: Compare case studies and parameter sets with peers to speed up learning on complex structures.

How to Display Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) Skills on Your Resume

12. Laser Scanning

Laser scanning captures dense 3D point clouds of parts, structures, and spaces without contact. You get precise geometry fast, then compare to design or prior states for changes.

Why It's Important

It delivers high-resolution measurements for fit-up, deformation analysis, and damage assessment—without touching the asset.

How to Improve Laser Scanning Skills

1. Calibrate routinely: Verify accuracy with traceable artifacts. Warm up equipment and confirm stability before critical work.

2. Master the software: Grow fluent in registration, meshing, and deviation mapping. Clean data beats trying to fix chaos later.

3. Tame the environment: Reduce vibration, control temperature swings, and manage reflectivity. Use targets wisely.

4. Plan acquisition: Design scan paths that ensure overlap, line-of-sight coverage, and efficient registrations.

5. Build experience: Practice on challenging surfaces—shiny, dark, thin edges—and learn when to supplement with other methods.

How to Display Laser Scanning Skills on Your Resume