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.
Civil engineers plan, design, and create important public infrastructure. Civil engineering can typically be split into three buckets: transportation (designing roadways, traffic signals, etc.), water resources (creating underground pipe systems for water transport, wetland management, etc.), and structural engineering (designing buildings, bridges, etc.). Some civil engineers do a little of everything, while others focus on one specialty.
To become a civil engineer, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or structural engineering is required. A master’s degree may help you land this role, and may be required to earn certain promotions within civil engineering. Moreover, hiring managers will be looking for someone with the right technical skills, such as proficiency in autoCAD, SketchUp, structural analysis, and more. Previous work experience in construction, CAD, or structural design can help you land this role.
Civil engineering is a broad field with the opportunity to specialize in certain projects or types of engineering. For example, a civil engineer who works for a transportation firm may help design roadways, train tracks, and more. To stand out, you’ll want to identify what types of projects you are strongest at, and apply at firms that frequently work on those kinds of contracts.
Civil engineers are unique because they are usually contracted by states, towns, and public agencies to complete infrastructure projects. These projects will have many stakeholders. Civil engineers must be able to understand the importance of each stakeholder and how to communicate with them. On your resume, it’s wise to highlight your knowledge and ability to collaborate effectively with several parties.
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.
An entry-level civil engineer acts as somewhat of an assistant to more experienced engineers. Your main goal in this position is to learn as much as you can from your superiors and slowly prove yourself. Tasks you can expect include doing research, surveying sites, drafting blueprints, creating budgets, etc. You may complete some of these tasks in the office and some may require you to be out in the field.
Civil engineers will need an engineering degree but may also need certifications and/or licenses before they can work. Find out the requirements in your state or country and make sure you are eligible to work before you begin your job search. Here is a strong resume sample.
You are bound to need some kind of license or certification to practice as a civil engineer so make sure your qualifications are clearly listed. Your resume may not be considered if the recruiter cannot tell if you are licensed or not.
You may not have a lot of professional experience so include school projects, activities, and internships to populate your experience section. Concentrate on any projects that included civil engineering.
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.
A design engineer is a multi-faceted and dynamic professional who focuses on the design aspect of the engineering process across many industries. The design engineer works with others on the engineering team to develop detailed and comprehensive designs that function, perform well, and meet the needs of the project at hand. They use software to create scalable and feasible designs, which other engineers will reference to build the item.
To become a design engineer, you will need a degree in engineering. Degrees with engineering specialties such as mechanical engineering or electrical engineering are popular for this role. Hiring managers will be looking for someone with experience creating complex designs. This experience can come in the form of academic projects, internships, or prior work experience. Previous job experience as a CAD drafter or assistant engineer can help you land this role. The ideal candidate for this position will be highly knowledgeable in design principles and software, as well as a great communicator.
Sometimes, it’s better to show than tell. If you’ve completed previous engineering designs in school, at an internship, previous job, or even just on your own time - it’s wise to include these designs, how you created them, and what you accomplished on your resume.
Design engineers of today lean on technology to create precise and accurate designs. A popular software to use for design is autoCAD. It’s important to highlight your knowledge of design software on your resume.
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.
Architects with a few years of experience should use their resume to detail the wealth of experience and skills they’ve developed throughout their career. As mentioned above, great architects are those who can operate at the intersection of artistic design, technical engineering, and social collaboration. Make sure to highlight these skills so that architecture recruiting managers know you have what it takes to succeed.
When crafting your architecture resume, it’s important to include the accomplishments you’ve achieved in past building projects. Architecture is a heavily project-oriented profession, and recruiters want to see tangible proof of your expertise and skills as evidenced in these projects. Make sure to bolster your bullet points with metrics such as the dollar value of project budget, the number of junior architects you successfully led and managed, or the percent building cost you saved for your clients.
It’s useful to show recruiters that you have a demonstrated history of interest and experience in architecture. Try to show a trend of growth, detailing your experience from an architect intern, to junior architect, to full-fledged professional architect. Include more bullet points in your most recent experience to highlight your increased responsibilities and show that you have a well-rounded skill set by including relevant experience, e.g. solving technical building problems, managing a team of junior architects, collaborating with urban planners, pioneering innovative building designs, etc.
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.
A senior civil engineer oversees projects. You may be involved in the research, design, and construction of public-owned projects. You will manage budgets, correspond with the different stakeholders, and inspect the work of subcontractors. As this is a senior position, training junior engineers may also be part of your job.
To qualify for this position you must be licensed in the state or country you want to work in. You also need to be an expert in civil engineering with a degree and multiple years of experience in the field. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.
Compile projects that you have done in the past and create an attractive portfolio to show clients what you and your team have done in the past and what you are capable of.
Show recruiters that you are a hardworking and successful employee by showing promotions in your career. It will also show recruiters your dedication to your profession. This applicant started as a junior civil engineer and moved their way up to a senior civil engineer position.
Civil engineer project managers are in charge of civil engineering projects. In this role, you will lead and supervise the planning and execution of various projects. You will ensure that projects are completed on time, within budget, and to a high standard. You will also ensure that the project is completed without breaking any laws or regulations. You will have a team of professionals answerable to you including engineers, architects, laborers, etc.
Most recruiters will require at least a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and some will require a master's degree or other certification or licenses. You also need to be very knowledgeable about all the laws and regulations in the state or country you want to work in. Recruiters will also need to see many years of experience in the civil engineering field. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.
This is a high-level position and recruiters will want to see your career progression to this point. Show recruiters that you are a hardworking and successful employee by showing a steady upward progressing career. It will also show recruiters your dedication to your profession. This applicant started as a civil structural engineer and has steadily advanced to a civil engineer project manager position.
Recruiters will want to get an idea of the projects you have worked on so they can gauge whether you are a good fit for their firm. Metrics are a great way to give an indication of how big previous projects were, what kind of budgets you managed, how many people you lead, and how many projects you were able to complete in a given period.
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 more related action verbs, visit Engineering Action Verbs.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
If you're a senior-level employee, or you're changing careers to become a Civil Engineer, it's useful to add a paragraph at the top of your resume highlighting your most impressive accomplishments. This is called a resume summary.
Here's an example of a summary that can be used on a Civil Engineer resume.
A resume summary is a totally optional section, and in most cases, it's better to leave it out of your resume than include it. For example, if you're a student or mid-level hire, you should not include a summary, and instead use the space to add to your work experience.
To learn how to write an effective resume summary for your Civil Engineer resume, or figure out if you need one, please read Resume Summary Examples for Job Seekers: When To Include One.
