Civil engineers design, build, and maintain major infrastructure projects, from stand-alone buildings to roads and highways, bridges, airports, stadiums, theme parks, and water and sewerage systems. There are two types of civil engineers — consultants and contractors — that determine what your day-to-day might look like. Consultants generally work in a standard office environment, designing projects with the assistance of software like AutoCAD and Rivet. Contractors often work on site, implementing designs in a more hands-on way and supervising the actual construction.
To become a civil engineer, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree. From there, you can choose a specialization, undertake fieldwork, or pursue a master’s degree. In some states, you’ll need to be professionally licenced, which requires a degree accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, civil engineers can look forward to a median wage of $93,720 and healthy employment prospects.
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As a civil engineer, you’ll be responsible for planning and overseeing construction projects. This can include verifying project requirements, evaluating building sites, approving materials, and overseeing construction. This requires a large and diverse skill set, including everything from big-picture creative thinking, to software and mathematical skills, to attention to detail. Make sure you understand what skills are most relevant to the position you’re applying for and tailor your resume accordingly.
The best way to back up your accomplishments is with hard numbers and metrics. This helps provide context for your achievements — for example, letting hiring managers know the scope of projects you’ve designed or the size of teams you’ve led — as well as an objective measurement of exactly what you did and the positive impact it had on the company.
When listing your skills at the end of your resume, you want to focus on hard skills only. As a civil engineer, you’ll be using a range of project management and design software like AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Fireworks, and Microsoft Access, all of which are fine to include in a simple list.
If you’re applying for entry level civil engineer positions, chances are you’re a recent graduate or career changer without a lot of paid experience. But that doesn’t mean the experience you have isn’t relevant! By emphasizing your experience with educational, volunteer, and personal engineering projects, as well as transferable skills, your resume can explain exactly what makes you a strong candidate for the position.
Volunteer experience can be just as relevant as paid work experience, especially if you’re short on the latter. When including volunteer work, list it the same way you would any other experience, starting with an action verb and focusing on your accomplishments, not job duties. You can put this in a separate volunteer section or alongside your paid work experience.
As a recent graduate, you can make up for a lack of paid experience by including university projects and activities. This can go in a separate projects section or in your education section (which can go at the top of your resume if that’s your most recent and relevant experience). Remember to focus on your accomplishments, using metrics if possible.
As a structural engineer, it’s your job to make sure any project is safe and capable of withstanding factors like wear and tear, general use, and external elements. You may also be tasked with improving the structural integrity of existing buildings. This means you’ll need an analytical mind and an aptitude for problem solving alongside a solid understanding of relevant legal, environmental, and safety regulations and budgetary requirements.
The more you can tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying for, the higher your chances of success. Start with the easiest ways — like including the exact job title in your resume title — and make sure your skills list and work experience is relevant to the position. That means focusing on structural engineering experience and technical skills.
If you’re applying for a job like structural engineer that requires a lot of hard skills, make sure your skills section is clutter-free and easy for hiring managers to skim. This may mean using subcategories for things like technical skills, certifications, and techniques, or whatever else makes sense for your experience.
Design engineers are tasked with conceptualizing, developing, and managing projects — which doesn’t mean their role is a purely creative one. As well as design prowess, you’ll need solid technical know-how and market understanding, as the role involves mathematical modelling and designing products that are profitable and meet the needs of your clients. As a design engineer, you’ll be working on different types of projects, from electronics to textile manufacturing.
Starting each bullet point with a strong action verb keeps the focus exactly where it should be — on what you accomplished. Verbs like Designed, Developed, Analyzed, and Reviewed clearly state exactly what you did, making it easy for hiring managers to understand your skills and experience and evaluate whether you’re a good fit for the design engineering role.
If you’re applying for a mid-level or more senior responsibilities, recruiters are going to be looking for evidence of career progression. You can show that you’ve been promoted by listing your titles separately under a single company heading. If your title hasn’t changed but your responsibilities have, make sure you emphasize that through your bullet point accomplishments.
As an architect, you’ll be working primarily on buildings and related structures. You may be involved in designing a skyscraper from scratch, building a new extension for a house, or restoring an older building for conservation. Whatever the project, you’ll need the ability to work closely with clients to build relationships and understand their needs as well as technical design skills and software expertise.
Architects need a lot of transferable skills, including communication and attention to detail. Soft skills like these don’t belong on your skills list, but you can easily demonstrate them through your bullet points. Remember to back up your accomplishments with clear metrics so you aren’t just relying on recruiters to accept a potentially unreliable self-assessment.
If you’ve achieved anything particularly impressive — like an industry award, publication in a trade journal, or promotion ahead of schedule — make sure your bullet points explicitly state that. Make sure these are worthy of inclusion — Employee of the Year in a two-person firm may not be worth bragging about, but it is in a company with thousands of employees.
There are two ways of demonstrating skills on your resume. One is through your bullet points. For example, to emphasize your experience with a specific software, you could say you “developed 25 highly efficient structural designs using AutoCAD Civil 3D.” The other is through a simple list in a skills or additional section at the bottom of your resume. What’s the difference? Lists are easier for hiring managers to skim and should only be used for hard skills — types of construction and engineering, software, or certifications. Bullet points are great for showing how you’ve used those skills in action and are the only way to list soft skills like communication and attention to detail.
To find out exactly what skills you should be listing, you can pull skills directly from the job description, jump into our list of top skills and keywords, or use our free Targeted Resume tool.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Civil Engineer job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
Structuring your bullet points doesn’t need to be complicated. There’s actually a pretty simple formula — start with a strong action verb, mention your accomplishment, then follow it up with any applicable metrics.
Why start with an action verb? Action verbs frame your accomplishments in a positive, proactive light. They also help you focus on what matters, which is what you actually achieved, and not simply what duties you were assigned.
You should choose your action verbs according to the type of skill or accomplishment you’re trying to highlight. If a job description mentions creativity a lot, start your bullet points with verbs like Designed and Created. Reviewed and Analyzed show attention to detail, while Implemented and Delivered show you taking a leading role. To highlight civil engineering skill sets, use action verbs like "Conceptualized", "Implemented", "Estimated" or "Designed" which showcase your technical experience.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
