Engineering Resume Template: Complete Guide + Free Examples

This guide will serve as a blueprint for crafting a complete engineering resume. Learn everything about resume formats, how to choose your skills, and key formatting tips. Let’s get started.

Before writing your resume, you need to understand that all resumes follow one of the three resume formats: chronological, functional and combination. Picking the right format will help you organize your resume’s content by making your strengths shine and your weaknesses less obvious.

The chronological format focuses on your work history section by outlining your most recent roles in reverse-chronological order. You’ll include three bullet points that describe your top achievements in each job. Although this is the most commonly used format, we only recommend you use it if you’ve had 10+ years of relevant experience in engineering.

The functional format minimizes the importance of the work history section, making this an ideal format for recent engineering graduates or trainees with no previous work experience. In functional resumes, the skills section takes center stage and is expanded upon with specific details of how you’ve mastered your respective skills.

The combination format highlights equally your work experience and your skills; one section is not more important than the other. This is an excellent choice for applicants who are changing careers into engineering or vying for a promotion in the same company, for example.

Engineering is a highly technical field with diverse skill sets. Employers want to hire applicants who will rise to any work challenge, whether that is finding solutions for an engineering hazard or making sure multiple departments communicate and work together seamlessly in a project. When creating your skills section, it’s essential to include various skill types that show you’re the strongest and most well-rounded candidate.

Skills are divided into the following categories: soft, hard and technical skills. Hard skills are those that pertain more directly to your job and its tasks. For an engineer, hard skills would include system design, computer science, or statistics.

Soft skills consist of innate characteristics that help you efficiently achieve your tasks. They don’t necessarily have to do with your industry, but they help you be a better employee. Any engineer should include soft skills such as teamwork, presentation skills, good verbal and written communication, scheduling, and organization.

Technical skills fall under the umbrella of digital or technological knowledge. Technical skills have to do with your expertise in tech tools like Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, and Excel.

If you need help finding skills to include in your engineering resume, browse the list below and pick the ones you feel apply to you:

We also recommend browsing the job description and identifying any repeated keywords. These keywords are usually required skills and qualifications. Make a list of the ones you possess and include them in your skill section and throughout your entire resume. Recruiters that are quickly skimming resumes will be on the lookout for these particular skills.

Once you have your complete list of skills, decide how you want to present them on your resume. It is standard practice to include a list of six to eight skills in your resume. In functional resumes, you also need to select three more skills to include in a main skills section. These skills will have three to four bullet points describing achievements and tasks that show your mastery of the respective skills.

Take a look at this example of an expanded skills section in an engineer resume:

Skills

Project management

• Attended project planning meetings to coordinate electrical system designs with various teams in order to resolve design conflicts and ensure delivery deadlines.
• Controlled assigned budget and established company policies to maximize profits by 37%.
• Monitored and analyzed workflow and process and developed solutions to maximize efficiency and productivity.

Your work history should always appear in reverse-chronological order and include your job title, company, location, and dates of employment — no matter the resume format. In chronological and combination resumes, your work history is accompanied by three to four bullet points that outline the key accomplishments you executed in each role.

An excellent way to maximize this outline is by including quantifiable achievements. Whenever you list a task or accomplishment, try to think of ways you can measure it with numbers. Whether it’s the number of clients served, an increase in productivity, or anything else that can be quantified, express it with numbers, percentages, or dollar amounts. Employers love to see how you can impact their business in measurable ways.

Use this engineering work history example to build your own:

Work History

Engineers need to have at least a bachelor’s degree in engineering for entry-level positions, and a master’s degree and proper license to oversee other engineers, sign off on projects and provide services to the public. Including your high school graduation date would be redundant in this case.

Here’s an example of an engineering resume’s education section:

Education

Including licenses and other certifications can be included in an additional custom section titled Licenses. Here you should list your Professional Engineer (PE) license and any further training.

Here’s how to list your engineering license on your resume:

Licenses and Certifications

• Licensed Engineer - NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
• Four years of intern or engineer-in-training experience before taking the PE Exam
• Licensed Industrial and Systems Engineer - NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam (PE)