Top 12 Shipping Clerk Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today’s fast-moving logistics world, a shipping clerk keeps the gears from grinding. The right skills on your resume don’t just look good. They tell a story: you can move freight without friction, keep orders tidy, and hit delivery windows without breaking a sweat.
Shipping Clerk Skills
- Inventory Management
- Order Processing
- FedEx Ship Manager
- UPS WorldShip
- Pallet Jack Operation
- Barcode Scanning
- Microsoft Excel
- SAP ERP
- Quality Control
- Hazardous Materials Handling
- Customs Regulations
- Oracle SCM
1. Inventory Management
Inventory management, for a Shipping Clerk, means tracking stock, reconciling counts, and aligning orders with what’s actually on the shelves so the right items head out at the right time.
Why It's Important
It keeps orders accurate, cuts delays, and prevents stockouts and bloated storage. Less firefighting, more flow. Happier customers, lower costs.
How to Improve Inventory Management Skills
Make it tight, make it visible, keep it honest.
Use a system with real-time tracking: Barcode-driven, clearly structured item masters, and location control.
Cycle counts and audits: Frequent small checks beat rare big ones. Reconcile variances fast.
FIFO/FEFO: Ship older or earlier-expiring stock first. Label lots and dates clearly.
Forecasting and reorder points: Base on history, seasonality, and lead times. Adjust buffers for critical SKUs.
Supplier alignment: Confirm lead times, packaging, ASN accuracy, and shipment frequencies.
Lean principles: Reduce touches, shorten travel paths, standardize kanbans where practical.
Continuous improvement: Track errors, find root causes, update SOPs, and train to the new standard.
How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume
2. Order Processing
Order processing covers picking, packing, paperwork, labeling, and release to carrier. The full handoff, clean and traceable.
Why It's Important
Accuracy and speed decide customer trust. When orders flow, support tickets don’t pile up and carriers stay on schedule.
How to Improve Order Processing Skills
Automate where possible: Import orders, validate addresses, auto-apply service levels and rules.
Real-time inventory checks: Prevent backorders and substitutions by validating availability at pick time.
Standard work instructions: Visual SOPs at packing stations. Clear label and document requirements by carrier and destination.
Communication: Status updates and exceptions flagged early to customers and internal teams.
Measure and improve: Track pick accuracy, order cycle time, and rework. Attack bottlenecks.
How to Display Order Processing Skills on Your Resume
3. FedEx Ship Manager
FedEx Ship Manager centralizes label creation, rate shopping, tracking, and pickups so repeated shipments feel almost automatic.
Why It's Important
It trims clicks, reduces data entry errors, and keeps carrier paperwork compliant. Faster labels, fewer headaches.
How to Improve FedEx Ship Manager Skills
Quick Ship profiles: Save presets for common lanes, packaging, and services.
Integrate systems: Connect orders and inventory to auto-populate addresses, weights, and references.
Stay sharp: Use tutorials and practice advanced features like batch processing and return labels.
Set defaults: Dimensional units, drop-off types, billing preferences—lock them in.
Maintain the address book: Clean, standardized entries speed up processing and prevent delivery mishaps.
Use reports: Spot surcharges, late pickups, and address corrections to cut cost and delay.
Lean on support: Escalate tricky international or special-service questions early.
How to Display FedEx Ship Manager Skills on Your Resume
4. UPS WorldShip
UPS WorldShip is desktop software that handles label generation, customs docs, tracking, and billing for UPS shipments.
Why It's Important
It standardizes UPS shipping, eliminates redundant typing, and tightens accuracy so parcels get out the door on time and on spec.
How to Improve UPS WorldShip Skills
Automate imports: Use import/export tools to pull orders from your system and push tracking back.
Customize views: Show only the fields you use. Save layouts per role or task.
Integrate with inventory/ERP: Reduce manual weights, dimensions, and addresses with direct data feeds.
Batch processing: Group similar shipments to speed label runs and pickup scheduling.
Keep it current: Update software to capture service changes and security patches.
Train and refresh: New features sneak in; short sessions prevent bad habits and rework.
How to Display UPS WorldShip Skills on Your Resume
5. Pallet Jack Operation
Operating a pallet jack—manual or powered—means moving heavy pallets safely and smoothly through tight warehouse lanes.
Why It's Important
It protects people, product, and deadlines. Safe moves prevent injuries and breakage while keeping docks flowing.
How to Improve Pallet Jack Operation Skills
Safety first: Wear proper PPE, inspect before use, understand stopping distances, and respect weight limits.
Load correctly: Center the weight, keep the load stable, and secure stretch wrap or straps before travel.
Plan your path: Clear obstructions, mind slopes, corners, and cross traffic. Never rush blind turns.
Maintain equipment: Check hydraulics, forks, wheels, and brakes. Tag out faulty gear immediately.
Train and refresh: Short refresher training reduces risky shortcuts and reinforces safe habits.
How to Display Pallet Jack Operation Skills on Your Resume
6. Barcode Scanning
Scanning captures data instantly from labels and cartons, feeding systems with clean, scannable truth.
Why It's Important
It speeds throughput and slashes errors in receiving, picking, and shipping. Less typing, fewer mistakes.
How to Improve Barcode Scanning Skills
Right hardware: Use reliable scanners that read both 1D and 2D barcodes under warehouse lighting.
Solid software: Validate inputs in real time and flag mismatches immediately.
Good labels: High-contrast, damage-resistant, sized correctly, printed with proper quiet zones. Follow accepted barcode standards.
Technique and ergonomics: Train on angles, distance, and device handling to cut fatigue and rescans.
Lighting and layout: Bright, glare-free stations with adjustable stands or wearable options.
Upkeep: Clean lenses, update firmware, and replace worn cables or batteries promptly.
Mobile options: Where it fits, phones or rugged handhelds with scanning apps add flexibility.
How to Display Barcode Scanning Skills on Your Resume
7. Microsoft Excel
Excel organizes, calculates, and visualizes shipping data—SKUs, orders, carrier costs, and KPIs—without fuss.
Why It's Important
It’s the quick glue between systems. Perfect for reconciliations, audits, and fast analysis when you can’t wait for an IT queue.
How to Improve Microsoft Excel Skills
Core formulas: VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, SUMIF/SUMIFS, TEXT functions for labels and references.
Tables and named ranges: Structured references keep sheets stable and easy to filter.
PivotTables and charts: Summarize order accuracy, pick rates, and carrier spend.
Data cleaning: Flash Fill, Power Query, and data validation to prevent messy imports.
Macros: Automate repetitive label lists, pick sheet formatting, and export routines.
How to Display Microsoft Excel Skills on Your Resume
8. SAP ERP
SAP ERP ties inventory, orders, shipping, and billing into one source of operational truth.
Why It's Important
It streamlines logistics, reduces duplicate work, and makes tracking and compliance simpler.
How to Improve SAP ERP Skills
Automate inputs: Use workflow and automation tools to cut manual entry and mismatches.
Carrier integration: Connect for label generation, tracking, and status updates directly in the process.
Role-based training: Short, targeted learning paths for the transactions you touch daily.
Fiori dashboards: Tailor tiles for shipments due today, exceptions, and ATP visibility.
Analytics: Monitor pick-pack-ship cycle time, perfect order rate, and freight cost per order.
How to Display SAP ERP Skills on Your Resume
9. Quality Control
Quality control means verifying correct items, quantities, packaging, labeling, and documentation before anything leaves the dock.
Why It's Important
It staves off returns, damage claims, and compliance snags. Customers remember trouble-free deliveries.
How to Improve Quality Control Skills
Standard checks: Use checklists for fragile goods, counts, lot/serial capture, and seal verification.
Training: Teach packaging methods, dunnage selection, and labeling rules by carrier and destination.
Tech support: Barcode scans and photos at pack-out create traceable proof and reduce disputes.
Routine audits: Sample orders, track defects by type, and fix processes at the root.
Feedback loops: Pull insights from returns, claims, and customer notes to refine SOPs.
Supplier partnership: Clarify specs and inbound packaging standards to prevent damage before it starts.
How to Display Quality Control Skills on Your Resume
10. Hazardous Materials Handling
Handling hazmat means correct classification, packaging, marking, labeling, documentation, and segregation so dangerous goods move safely and legally.
Why It's Important
It protects people and the environment, prevents accidents, and ensures compliance. Penalties for mistakes can be severe.
How to Improve Hazardous Materials Handling Skills
Know the rules: Keep current with applicable regulations (e.g., 49 CFR in the U.S., IATA DGR for air, IMDG Code for ocean).
Required training: Complete and maintain hazmat employee training per regulations (initial and recurrent). Include function-specific tasks.
Approved packaging: Use UN-rated packaging and the right inner/outer combinations for each class and packing group.
Accurate documentation: Prepare shipping papers correctly and include Safety Data Sheets (SDS) as needed. Use correct Proper Shipping Names and UN numbers.
Marking, labeling, and placarding: Apply all required hazard labels and marks. Verify compatibility and segregation rules.
Emergency readiness: Maintain spill kits, emergency numbers, and an incident response plan. Drill periodically.
Continuous review: Audit hazmat shipments, log errors, and update procedures when regulations change.
How to Display Hazardous Materials Handling Skills on Your Resume
11. Customs Regulations
Customs regulations set the rules for cross-border trade—classification, valuation, origin, restrictions, duties, and documentation.
Why It's Important
Compliance avoids fines and holds. It keeps international orders from stalling in a warehouse you don’t control.
How to Improve Customs Regulations Skills
Master the basics: Know HS classification, incoterms, customs value, and country-of-origin rules.
Documentation discipline: Commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin—complete, consistent, and legible.
Automate where you can: Use systems to auto-fill repeated data, validate addresses, and store tariff codes.
Pre-clear prep: Share accurate data early with brokers or carriers to reduce holds and queries.
Restricted party and embargo checks: Screen parties and destinations before shipping.
Stay current: Track tariff changes, free trade agreements, and embargo updates that affect your lanes.
Partner with experts: Work closely with customs brokers and internal compliance teams; escalate gray areas before shipping.
How to Display Customs Regulations Skills on Your Resume
12. Oracle SCM
Oracle SCM supports order fulfillment, inventory visibility, shipping execution, and analytics across the chain.
Why It's Important
It connects the dots from order to dock, cutting latency and error while improving on-time delivery.
How to Improve Oracle SCM Skills
Automate data flows: Reduce manual keying with integrated order, inventory, and shipping data.
Mobile execution: Use handheld workflows for picks, packs, and staging to boost accuracy.
Training and SOPs: Create quick-reference guides for common tasks and exception handling.
Tailor workflows: Configure steps to match your shipping process—holds, inspections, and carrier selection rules.
Use analytics: Monitor exceptions, carrier performance, and cost-to-serve. Act on the patterns.
Integrate adjacent systems: Tie in ERP, WMS, TMS, and CRM for clean handoffs and fewer gaps.
Iterate: Review metrics monthly and refine configurations as volumes and products change.
How to Display Oracle SCM Skills on Your Resume
