What Should I Include on a Project Engineer Resume?

The type of information that should be featured on a project engineer resume largely depends on whether or not the applicant already has professional engineering experience, or is an engineering graduate with academic experience only. Certain sections of the resume, such as the header at the top, should include standard contact information regardless of whether the applicant is a professional, student or graduate. However, the experience section which makes up the main body of the resume should be tailored according to the applicant's status at the time of applying.

The information included at the top of a project engineer resume should include the basics of any CV: full contact information, including the applicant’s home address, email address, and phone number. The applicant’s engineering credentials should follow his or her name at the top of the resume; for example: CPEng for Chartered Professional Engineer, BE or BEng for Bachelor of Engineering, and ME or MEng for Master of Engineering. If the applicant has not yet graduated, he or she should include “Class of (year)” following the abbreviated degree or program.

If the applicant is or has been employed in an engineering capacity, he or she should include a “Work Experience” section below the contact information on a project engineer resume, beginning with the most recent related work experience. Applicants should list the title they held in their position, the name of the engineering firm, and the duration of their employment there. The project engineer resume should also list the applicant’s specific professional accomplishments, each beginning with a verb. For example, “led a team of (X) engineers” instead of “strong team player.” This will then set that applicant apart from other applicants who may have held the same position and title, but don’t appear to have contributed as much to the organization they worked for by comparison.

Engineering students or graduates who have not yet had professional engineering experience should also include measurable achievements on their project engineer resume, even if those accomplishments are exclusively academic. In addition to just listing the courses taken and curriculum covered, students or graduates should also include their grades and the applicable skills they learned in their courses. For references, a student or graduate should include a combination of both professors or engineering instructors, as well as past employers. This will give prospective employers a combined overview of both the applicant’s engineering acumen and professional demeanor, even if he or she not yet had the opportunity to demonstrate both within the same job.