Companies are full of essential data. That data helps with the company’s decision-making, product or service building, and many other elements. Data scientists use that data to help Instagram let you share a story, control the software in a car, and much more. But, data is often extremely messy and not in a format that can be analyzed or used easily. That’s where a data engineer comes in.
As technology grows, data engineers are highly sought after now more than ever. In fact, interviews for data engineers have increased by 40% last year. Companies are spending more on engineers to maintain a proper data infrastructure.
Data engineers are the key to giving data scientists the info they need to use data. They do this by creating pipelines where the data converts into easy-to-understand information for data scientists to use.
To get your resume noticed, you’re going to want it to look neat, organized, and full of relevant experience. You’ll also want to showcase some key technical skills like Python, Java and SQL. Today, we’ll be showing you a few examples of good resumes that will land you your next data engineer job in 2023. Plus, we’ll offer some additional suggestions to make your resume stand out even more.
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A data engineer is responsible for making data consumable for data scientists and data analysts. They collect and process raw data into usable formats so that other team members can interpret it. Data engineers play a huge role in the data science team because they create systems that optimize data collection, storage, and analytics. If you want to impress your potential employer, back up your data engineering achievements with metrics.
Data engineers should be familiar with multiple programming languages like R, Python, C#, and SQL. Data engineers use these programming languages for data modeling and developing systems for data collecting and interpretation.
ETL is a data integration process in which data is collected from multiple sources, transformed, and loaded into a target database. This process is done to ensure data quality and accessibility. As a data engineer, you should be familiar with this technique.
Employers are looking for data engineers with experience managing data and have the stats to support it. Your job history should include the different kinds of programs and data you’ve worked with. It also should explain the impact that your work has had on the company or its products. If you know the numbers (i.e. percentage of operating costs, results in savings, etc), then list them; show employers that your skills can bring their company value.
Employers need to know which skills you’re most experienced with and if they match with what the company is looking for. This template displays those skills not only in the skills section but also throughout the experience. It explains how those skills were used in their jobs.
If you look at the bullet points, numbers and percentages are used to show the impact the worker’s performance had on the company. Demonstrating the ability to save on costs, increase revenue, or save on production time are great selling points for your resume.
The Senior Data Engineer is responsible for supervising the data integration process. Additionally, they develop data models and scripting to optimize data integration. Another important duty for senior data engineers is to maintain the data warehousing environment and ensure data is accessible to everyone. It is crucial to highlight your experience in the field in your resume to emphasize seniority.
As a senior data engineer, you are usually responsible for overseeing the rest of the team to ensure data integration quality. That’s why this is such an important thing to mention in your resume. You can highlight your leadership skills by mentioning previous projects in which you supervised other team members.
Data engineers should provide solutions to improve efficiency and quality in the data integration process. You can mention in your resume your techniques for achieving these results, such as cleansing data regularly and integrating it into multiple departments.
Senior data engineers need to do more than just use software to manage data. They need to be able to lead and guide junior data engineers as well. They need to show positive results in their work and show that they can instruct others how to do so too. For this job, your resume needs to explain what software you used, how it benefited the company, and preferably how many people you’ve managed or mentored.
Throughout nearly every bullet point, you’ll see an action verb that effectively demonstrates their skill sets. Words like “developed”, “integrated”, and “designed” are all crucial elements to this position.
A senior role means you have to be in charge of a small team. You will have to demonstrate the ability to lead and train others to succeed in a similar, yet lesser, role. This resume has examples of mentoring others and what programs were used while mentoring. It helps, even more, to say how many junior associates you’ve managed.
As a Big Data Engineer, you'll be working with massive datasets and developing complex data processing systems. The industry is rapidly evolving, so highlighting your capacity to adapt and stay current on trends is important. In your resume, emphasize your experience with the latest big data technologies and tools, as well as your ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams. Keep in mind that the hiring manager is looking for someone who can develop innovative solutions and contribute to the company's data-driven decision-making process.
In today's market, many employers are seeking professionals with diverse skill sets. Be sure to showcase your proficiency in programming languages, data modeling, and analytics tools. This will show that you're a well-rounded candidate who can tackle the unique challenges of a Big Data Engineer role.
Big Data Engineers must be proficient with a variety of tools and platforms. Showcase your experience with specific technologies, such as Hadoop, Spark, or Kafka, and highlight any projects where you implemented these tools to create data-driven solutions.
As a Big Data Engineer, the roles you apply for might need specific expertise in different areas. Carefully read the job description and tailor your resume to highlight your skills and accomplishments that are most relevant to the position. This will help you stand out as a strong candidate.
As a Big Data Engineer, you'll play a crucial role in designing, building, and maintaining the data infrastructure that supports large-scale data processing and analytics. Recently, the demand for Big Data Engineers has skyrocketed due to the increasing importance of data-driven decision-making in companies. Crafting an effective resume is essential for this industry, as it's your chance to showcase your skills and experience to potential employers who'll be looking for candidates with expertise in big data technologies and techniques.
A well-crafted Big Data Engineer resume will help you stand out and demonstrate your understanding of the latest industry trends, such as machine learning and real-time analytics. Companies typically look for candidates with experience in a variety of big data tools and technologies, so it's important to highlight your proficiency in these areas on your resume.
Be sure to emphasize your experience with the latest big data tools and technologies, such as Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, and NoSQL databases. Include these in your skills section and provide specific examples of projects you've worked on using these tools in your work experience section.
Big Data Engineers need to be adept at building and optimizing data pipelines, so highlight your experience in designing, building, and maintaining data processing systems. Include specific details about the types of data you've worked with, the volume of data processed, and any performance improvements you've achieved.
Big Data engineers need to have experience with various software engineering and design programs. They also need to work with other departments to effectively process big data. This resume shows experience interacting with other departments of companies to gather their data and achieve goals from it. It also shows how large the data is to emphasize the data this person had to work with.
Because you’d be working with data from many sections of a business, you’ll need to communicate how much data you’re working with. This resume tells the number of teams they’ve worked with, and the costs or processes reduced as a result.
In this template, the skills section lists much essential software relevant to the position. Throughout the experience section, it explains how these skills have been used to cut costs, achieve revenue growth, and increase profit margins. It also tells how some of the software was used to reach these metrics.
As a Data Warehouse Engineer, you play a critical role in managing and optimizing the storage and retrieval of large volumes of data. In recent years, the demand for skilled data engineers has grown significantly, with companies increasingly relying on data-driven decision-making. The ability to showcase your experience and expertise in data warehousing on your resume is crucial in this competitive field.
Your resume should reflect your mastery of data warehouse concepts, ETL processes, and popular technologies such as SQL and cloud platforms. It's important to demonstrate your understanding of industry best practices and your ability to quickly adapt to evolving trends in data management.
As a Data Warehouse Engineer, you should emphasize your proficiency in tools and technologies such as SQL, ETL, and cloud platforms like AWS or Microsoft Azure. Include specific projects or tasks where you've implemented these technologies to solve real-world problems.
In your resume, focus on showcasing specific data warehouse projects you've worked on and their outcomes. Highlight how your work has driven business improvements or provided valuable insights, and include measurable results, such as storage optimization or query performance enhancements.
A data warehouse engineer works on the backend development of a company’s data warehouse. This includes everything from building and managing data warehouse strategies, executing those strategies, and overseeing the technical design of data warehouse projects. It’s a specialized and deeply technical role, and it requires deep expertise in project deployment and knowledge of all things data. When crafting your resume, don’t forget to highlight your strengths in those areas.
As you’ll be working closely with data, you’ll want to show that you have the requisite experience and familiarity in the business intelligence arena. If you have a track record of working up through increasing levels of responsibility, be sure to demonstrate that in your work experience section. Show how you excelled in roles, going from an analyst to a developer to an engineer. If you were promoted ahead of schedule, note that as well. You can even include projects that showed you went above and beyond your project scope.
Since data warehouse engineering is a technical discipline, you’ll want to highlight projects and experiences that clearly showcase your technical abilities. If the job listing includes languages that you should be fluent in, such as SQL or Java, make sure to incorporate those in your skills section. Going a step beyond, you can even expand on this in detail by describing projects where you used those languages. Additionally, if you’re received any certifications or participated in coding boot camps in the past, you should have that written on your resume as well.
Data warehouse engineers are essentially managers providing support to the data warehouse. They troubleshoot current procedures, strive to improve data organization, fix performance issues, translate data analysis into good data design, and collaborate with other data workers. A successful data warehouse engineer resume displays your higher-level skills and your effectiveness on teams.
One good way to showcase some of the work you’ve done with a company is to explain a project you’ve done. This sample lists a project, explains what was done during it, and the detailed, numeric results that came from it.
If you’ve been with a company for a while and were promoted at any point, list it. Employers like to see growth and a hard-working mindset. This sample lists one work title that later changed to a promoted title, while also detailing the accomplishments in the roles.
As an entry-level data engineer, you'll primarily focus on designing, building, and maintaining data pipelines and infrastructure to support data analytics. The industry has seen a surge in demand for data engineering professionals, thanks to the increasing importance of big data and data-driven decision-making. When crafting your resume for this role, keep in mind that employers are looking for a mix of technical skills, adaptability, and eagerness to learn in a rapidly evolving field.
Hiring managers often review many applications for any given position, so it's crucial to make your resume stand out by emphasizing your relevant experience and education. Additionally, don't forget to showcase your problem-solving skills and ability to work in a team, as data engineers often collaborate with data scientists and analysts.
In your resume, emphasize any projects, internships, or coursework that showcase your experience working with data and technology. This not only demonstrates your familiarity with the field but also highlights your practical experience, making you an attractive candidate for the role.
As an entry-level data engineer, you'll need to have a strong grasp of programming languages like Python or Java, as well as experience with databases and big data tools like Hadoop, Spark, or SQL. Make sure to include these skills in your resume, as they are essential to performing well in the role.
If you’re just starting in the data field, it’s important to list as many relevant skills and experience as possible. Activities that were done while at university are useful to add (plus, use projects if you don't have much formal work experience!). This sample does just that: it lists work experience that uses skills relevant to data engineers. It also details experience taken while being a student through extracurriculars.
This sample lists completed projects done during school and in internships, detailing what metrics were accomplished. Projects are a great substitute to work experience, provided they're extremely relevant to the role.
Throughout the education, certifications, skills, and projects, you see keywords and skills that are necessary to excel in this field. Even without much work experience, this sample demonstrates the capability to get the job done right.
An Azure data engineer uses Azure software to take large amounts of unstructured data and structure it in such a way that it can be digested and used to make decisions to benefit the company. To become an Azure data engineer there is a 3 level certification process that you should complete. You can find the tests for the certifications on the Microsoft website. Beyond certification, you need to have strong analytical skills and a strong background in using Azure for data engineering.
This is a basic requirement for this position. Ensure that you clearly list the certification you have achieved using the software. Beyond that, feel free to include any other certification you have for a similar software in data engineering. Extra certification will signify your commitment to the data engineering field.
There are a couple of relevant Azure programs that you would use as a data engineer. Ensure you at least list all the industry standard software. Also, ensure you keep updating your tools section as new versions of Azure programs come out.
As an AWS data engineer, you will handle the engineering, transfer, and storage of data using AWS cloud services. Recruiters will expect an educational background in I.T. or a related field and will expect you to be an expert in relevant AWS software.
Beyond listing the AWS tools you are experienced with, show recruiters the extent of your skill set by including your competency using each tool. This applicant uses competency ratings like ‘Advanced’ and ‘Experienced’.
Impress recruiters by including metrics that illustrate your workload capabilities and how much data you have handled in previous positions. If you had quantifiable success as a result of your data engineering, include those numbers as well.
A GCP (Google Cloud Platform) data engineer uses GCP software to synthesize data and make it possible to use that data to make decisions that are beneficial to the company. You must be certified and you should keep in mind that the test needed is known to be difficult. So staking your time and studying the software is important.
There is very little chance you will get hired for this position without proper certification. Ensure you get GCP certified and that your certification is clearly listed in your resume. Also, ensure you include any GCP-related tools in your tools section.
Beyond certification, what will separate you from your competitors is the amount of experience you have as a GCP data engineer. This applicant has over 5 years of working as a GCP data engineer. That is bound to impress recruiters.
As a hiring manager who has worked with companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to recruit data engineers, I know what it takes to create a resume that stands out. I've reviewed hundreds of resumes and have seen firsthand what works and what doesn't. In this article, I'll share some of my top tips for crafting a data engineer resume that will impress potential employers and help you land your dream job.
Data engineers need a wide range of technical skills to be successful in their roles. Make sure to highlight the specific tools and technologies you have experience with, such as:
Don't just list the tools, but also provide specific examples of how you've used them in your previous roles. For example:
Developed and maintained data pipelines using Airflow to process over 10 TB of data daily, ensuring timely and accurate delivery of data to downstream systems.
Unless you’re just starting your job search, make sure your resume conveys your ability to work with a team. As important as it is to have the right skills, it’s equally important to be able to communicate with other teams to get the data you need. The experience you have should explain how you collaborate with others using your knowledge to achieve goals that improve the company somehow.
Employers hire people that can take data, analyze it for others, find problems, and create solutions. Then you’ll need to prepare reports with this information. Is your resume prepared to demonstrate this?
If not yet, here’s some suggestions to get your resume looking flawless:
A resume summary for a Data Engineer role is optional, but it can be a valuable addition if you want to provide context or highlight details that may not be immediately clear from the rest of your resume. It's especially useful if you're making a career change and your past experience doesn't directly align with the Data Engineer role you're targeting. Remember, your resume itself is already a summary of your qualifications, so there's no need to simply repeat information that's already covered elsewhere.
When crafting your summary, focus on including relevant keywords and skills that are specific to the Data Engineer role and industry. This can help your resume perform better with applicant tracking systems (ATS) and catch the attention of hiring managers. Keep your summary concise, typically no more than a paragraph or a few sentences. Avoid using generic soft skills or corporate buzzwords like "proven track record" or "team player." Instead, showcase your unique value proposition and the specific expertise you bring to the table.
The work experience section is the most important part of your data engineer resume. It's where you show hiring managers how you've applied your technical skills to real-world projects and challenges. Use this section to highlight your most relevant and impressive accomplishments, using specific examples and metrics to back them up.
Your education section is a critical part of your data engineer resume. It shows hiring managers that you have the necessary academic background and training to excel in the role. In this section, we'll break down the key steps to write an effective education section that showcases your qualifications.
Strong verbs help emphasize the accomplishments you’ve made. When detailing your experience, start with a strong action verb and include metrics to truly show how much of an impact your actions had on your job.
Because you’ve worked with many software programs, you’ll more than likely have several verbs you can use to strengthen your bullet points. Try to include verbs that are team-related, involve problem-solving, or accomplishment-focused.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
Below is a guided process on how to write a resume that will land you your next data engineer job in 2022. These steps will help your resume communicate to recruiters that you have the skills and aptitude to maintain proper data infrastructure.
Resumes submitted online are usually scanned by resume screeners known as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). To ensure that your resume is easily readable by the ATS, write it in Word or Google Docs format. Afterward, save the resume in PDF since this is the most preferred format by data engineer recruiters.
Just after your name followed by contact information (address, city, and phone number), remember to also include the job title 'Data Engineer'. This will customize your resume to the highly specialized role. Be sure to include links to your website and online profiles such as LinkedIn and GitHub.
Creating a data engineer resume that gets noticed requires the right skills. Hiring managers are looking for you to be able to know and use fundamental data management tools and to learn new tech as necessary.
If you have several skills for this job, analyze the job description. Which skills seem the most necessary to include in your resume? Can you describe how you used the skills they’re looking for in your previous work experience? Did you achieve something using some of the software? These are the skills you’ll want to focus on using the most.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Data Engineer job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
You should use bullet points to describe your achievements in your Data Engineer resume. Here are sample bullet points to help you get started:
Developed pricing strategy for a digital subscription service by segmenting potential users by behavioral and psychographic attributes from survey data
Analyzed 1500+ responses to a consumer survey to evaluate brand perception and customers' willingness to pay
Generated insights on customer churn and renewal rates from data tables with 100M rows in SQL
Identified $5MM savings opportunity by developing cost reduction model and facilitating 20+ client stakeholder interviews across 5 different locations to define and collect business process key performance metrics
Cut projected time for data analysis by one week by developing reusable ETL components using Pentaho Kettle
For more sample bullet points and details on how to write effective bullet points, see our articles on resume bullet points, how to quantify your resume and resume accomplishments.
Notice how the first word in the bullet point is an action verb, “designed”. The bullet point fully describes the task accomplished alongside a metric (10 hours saved). Other action verbs you can use include “maintained”, “coded”, “engineered” and “deployed”.Designed Tableau dashboard to visualize core business KPIs, saving 10 hours per week of manual reporting work.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
