Writing a Civil Engineering Resume

How To Craft The Perfect Resume For Civil Engineering Jobs

The best civil engineering resume will use one of these three most common resume formats: chronological resume format, which focuses on work experience, the functional resume format, which highlights skills and the combination resume format, which combines both experience and skills. A civil engineer candidate will most likely want to use the chronological resume format due to their extensive work history.

Regardless of the resume format you choose, the best resumes will include the following sections:

• Header - contact information
• Resume summary or career objective
• Skills section
• Work experience
• Education

1. Contact information

   The resume header contains all your contact information, including your full name, address, phone number, and email address. You may also include a link to your LinkedIn profile. Be sure that all your contact information is correct so a hiring manager may contact you to schedule an interview.

2. Resume summary or objective

   The next section of your resume will be the resume summary or resume objective. This is a short 2-3 sentence paragraph. If you have an extensive work history, then you will want to write a resume summary and highlight your most significant work achievements and skills. However, if you are a recent graduate or have little work experience, consider writing a resume objective instead. In a resume objective, you can state your overall career goals. Regardless of whether you write a resume summary or resume objective, you will provide the hiring manager with a small glimpse into how well you would fit into the position.

3. Skills section

   Civil engineers need a good mix of hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills typically focus on work-related technical skills, such as being able to understand and draw blueprints. Soft skills say more about your personality and how you would fit into the work environment. Problem-solving is one example of a soft skill.

   Here are some examples of civil engineering skills you may want to include on your resume:

   • AutoCAD Civil 3D software
   • Construction/infrastructure
   • Project management
   • Critical thinking
   • Revit software
   • Organizational skills
   • Problem-solving
   • Teamwork

   Study the job description for any keywords you can use within your resume. Many job applications are run through applicant tracking systems (ATS) which scan for specific resume keywords and judge each application accordingly. If you use the right keywords from the job description, you are more likely to get past this system and be labeled a qualified job candidate, thereby, getting your resume read by an actual recruiter.

4. Work experience

   Your work experience section is perhaps one of the most important resume sections. It can show off your expertise and civil engineering disciplines.

   You don’t necessarily need years of experience to work as a civil engineer. There are civil engineering internships and other entry-level positions for an engineer-in-training that can grant you critical civil engineering experience. As long as you know, the fundamentals of civil engineering and can demonstrate that knowledge in your job application, you’ll find yourself landing interviews in no time.

   For each job that you do list in the work experience section, be sure to add 4-6 resume bullet points using active verbs to showcase your skills and accomplishments. Also include the company name, your job title and dates of employment, which will show your years of experience as a civil engineer.

5. Education

   Most civil engineers need at least a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering to be considered for a civil engineering position. You will also need a license to apply to senior positions, such as the Professional Engineer (PE) license, which can be listed in the education section as well.

   Unless you have graduated within the last year and have a 3.5 GPA or higher, don’t include your GPA within your civil engineering resume. Recruiters are far more interested in your work experience and skills than a GPA you earned years ago.