Project Engineer Resume: Examples & Guide [10+ Tips]

Design drawings, specs, and lots of travel are your bread and butter. Your safety focused and you can translate engineering lingo into hardhat-speak. The one thing you can’t do is get a job right now. 

What’s the problem? Your project engineer resume is sagging, crumbling, badly-designed, and over budget.

But there’s a fix.

All you need to do is think about the HR manager. She’s got 100 project engineer applications in her inbox. Each one shows someone who has done the job duties. So—you must show more than job duties. You need to show what you improved.

Sound hard? It’s not. Read on.

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Want more engineering resume samples? Here you go:

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Sample Project Engineer Resume Template

Here’s how to write your own site-ready project engineer resume:

1. Format Your Project Engineer Resume Correctly

Your project engineer resume faces a design challenge. Every engineering job gets swamped with applications. That means hiring teams need to be convinced to read a resume. So—what convinces them? A good resume format that looks professionally-designed will tip the scales in your favor.

To format your resume for project engineer jobs:

• Start with a resume header. Put your name, phone, email, LinkedIn, and online portfolio link in it. Those are the five key personal details in a resume.
• You can skip the street address, but add your town if it’s the same one as the company you’re applying to.
• Create a reverse-chronological resume. That’s a resume type where you list your last job first. It’s the best layout for resumes because hiring managers expect it.
• Use a professional font like Calibri or Arial. The best font size for resumes is 10 to 12 point.
• Name your resume file “Your Name - Job Title - Resume.pdf” A PDF resume file beats MS Word every time because the layout is set in concrete.
• The ideal resume length for entry-level project engineers is one page. Applicants with lots of on-the-job achievements can use a two-page resume or more.

Don’t say “references available.” See our guide: References Available Upon Request—On a Resume or Off?

2. Begin with a Resume Introduction

Don’t assume the manager will read your carefully-prepared resume. According to our HR statistics report, they’ll only spend 6 or 7 seconds on it. Give them a reason to keep reading, with a resume introduction that summarizes the key points of your resume.

We call it a resume profile. Some say it’s an elevator pitch of yourself. But—that’s not quite right. An elevator pitch is 30 seconds. That’s your entire PE resume. We want to hit that golden seven seconds with a 1-paragraph description.

If you’ve got at least one year of experience, say that. Add your job title, how you’ll help the firm, and a couple Fluor-Corp-worthy accomplishments. This is called a resume professional summary, and it goes right at the top.

Wondering how to write a resume with no experience? You do the same thing, but your achievements have to come from school or personal projects. We call these kinds of introductions objectives for a resume.

87% of hiring teams use LinkedIn to find new hires. See our guide: How to Upload a Resume to LinkedIn (Update & Add)

3. Customize Your Project Engineer Job Description

Why should you care about how to tailor a resume to a specific job? Because die-cast resume experience sections don’t get interviews. If the hiring manager sees a list of project engineer job duties, she’ll think, “Yep, yep, this applicant was a project engineer. But how good was he, or how bad?”

Here’s how to add relevant experience to your resume:

• Use the same job title the job ad uses. ATS resumes work best with exact business position titles.
• After the firm’s name and your start/finish dates, add 3–6 bullet points. (More for newer jobs, less for older ones.)
• Show how you used relevant job skills by fitting in lots of accomplishments. The best achievements to put on a resume use numbers and KPIs.
• Start sentences with resume words like coordinated, designed, and prepared.

Did you know a past promotion can land the interview? Read more: How to Show a Promotion on a Resume (or Multiple Positions)

4. Break New Ground with Your Project Engineer Resume Education Section 

Everyone puts their educational background on a resume. But if you stop after degree title, university name, and dates, you’re missing the point. That’s like having MatLab and just using it for simple addition. If you use your education to prove added skills, you’ll see your interview count go up.

See these resume tips:

• The best resume degree placement is right after your work history.
• In an entry-level project engineer resume, add relevant classes to help prove your skills.
• In a resume with experience, you can still add bullet points if you received a fellowship, scholarship, or held a leadership post.
• Should you write your GPA in a resume? If it’s scraping the ionosphere, do it.

Read more: How to List Your Major and Minor on a Resume

5. Prove the Project Engineer Skills the Firm Wants

You need skills on a resume, but there’s a special way to do it. You already know you need a list of 5–10 project engineer skills. But—if you choose them randomly, you’ll be the last kid picked. Instead, take careful aim at the most vital skills you see in the job posting online.

Here's how to add project engineer skills to a resume:

• The skills they list in the ad are resume keywords. Add them to the short list in your resume.
• Don’t list too many skills (like 20). If you do, the skills the employer wants will get lost in the shuffle.
• Include some soft skills and some hard skills.
• To overload your interview count, make sure the skills in your list also appear in your job and education bullet points.

Here are some hard skills for a resume for project engineers, with soft skills at bottom:

Project Engineer Resume Skills

• AutoCAD
• Project management skills
• Math
• MATLAB
• Structural design
• Physics
• STADD Pro
• Civil3D
• Setting project objectives
• Scheduling
• Progress monitoring
• Project coordination
• Interpersonal skills
• Verbal and written communication skills
• Leadership skills
• Organizational skills
• Active listening
• Problem-solving skills
• Time management skills
• Attention to detail
• Stress management
• Teamwork skills
• Computer skills
• Adaptability

Pro Tip: If you’d rather earn six figures than the low-end project engineer salary of $52K, make sure almost every bullet point shows how you used a skill they want.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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6. Add More to Your Project Engineer Resume

“The resume is great — but it’s still a risk. I wonder what this applicant is like to work with?” Hiring managers wonder about your bandwidth and energy level. Will you be that dream employee who takes charge and gets things done? Add extras to your resume for project engineer jobs to show you are.

Here are a few added sections that can show your strengths:

• Add any relevant certifications you’ve received, like an AutoCAD or HAZWOPR cert.
• If you’ve written articles for ASME Magazine or Engineering News Record, list them. Publications on a resume show you’re an authority.
• Are you an ASME member? Professional associations on a resume prove you’re engaged and involved.
• If you’ve done volunteer engineering projects, add them. Where to put volunteer work on a resume depends on whether it shows engineering skills.
• If the company’s teams speak your language, that works in your favor. It’s easy to learn how to put language skills on a resume. Just add them to your skills list.

Read more:What Are the Correct Sections of a Resume?

7. Write a Cover Letter for Your Project Engineer Resume

Are cover letters necessary? More than ever. Too many applicants these days machine-gun resumes at every job opening. It’s refreshing to see a resume come in that looks like the candidate cares about the job. A cover letter is proof positive you’re interested in this company in particular.

Create your resume cover sheet like this:

• Use professional cover letter structure: with the same header as your resume and a business-ready signoff at the end.
• How to format cover letter: 3–5 paragraphs and less than a full page.
• How to begin a cover letter: job title in the first sentence and an icebreaker that makes them continue reading.
• Middle paragraphs: the biggest few project engineer achievements in your resume.
• How to end it: write a cover letter conclusion that adds a few more skills and requests a conversation to discuss how you can help them.
• Finally, write an application follow up email weekly for a month. Make it super-short and attach your resume and cover letter PDFs.

Read more: Best Cover Letter Layout Examples

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s it!

That’s everything you need to write a project engineer resume that wows them!

Thanks for reading! Still unclear on how to write a Bechtel-level project engineer resume? Give us a shout in the comments section!