Safety and innovation are words you live by. It’s your passion to build reliable vehicles and automotive components designed for performance, and you’re no less passionate about building a resume you can rely on to pull through for the long haul. When it comes to designing something that just works, you need a schematic that shows you how to break a resume down into its components and engineer them for excellence. Use the highly effective methodologies and proven tools in our automotive engineer resume sample and our resume builder to performance-tune your resume, and shift your job search into high gear.
Brian O’Hanson
123 Fake Street | City, State, Zip Code
Cell: 000-000-0000
email@email.com
Professional Summary
Passionate Automotive Engineer with the design and electromechanical expertise to provide effective automotive system and component support. Skilled at producing and reviewing project budgeting, conducting system and component testing for automotive units, and assessing test data to draw conclusions. Specializes at creating status reports and documentation presenting automotive design processes.
Core Qualifications
- Automotive design
- Systems and component testing
- Prototype design
- Materials research
- Environmental impact research
- Regulation compliance
- Problem solving
- Dependable
Experience
Automotive Engineer, April 2009 to PresentCompany Name, City, State
- Conducted project plan assessment to determine project requirements and resource availability
- Tested automotive systems and components, compiled and analyzed test data
- Developed and implemented project plans, goals and budgets
Company Name – City, State
- Completed testing and evaluation on vehicle emissions and environmental impact, assessed development for regulation compliance
- Assisted in the design of prototypes and the development of conceptual automotive schematics
- Managed and monitored project budget for research and development
Automotive Engineer, October 2000 to January 2004
Company Name – City, State
- Completed design schematics and blueprints for the development of automotive units
- Conducted automotive system and component testing to determine efficiency and safety
- Conducted research on potential materials, designs, resources and relevant technologies
Education
2006 Bachelor of Science, EngineeringUniversity of California – City, State
Why Is This a Good Automotive Engineer Resume Sample?
It’s amazing how effectively vehicles work when, should a single moving part among hundreds fail, the entire apparatus will fall apart. Your resume is similar to a moving vehicle; if the various parts fail to come together into a cohesive whole, the entire resume will fall apart. Ineffective resumes end up tossed to the side of the road. For an idea of what makes the difference between an effective resume and road kill, take a look at our automotive engineer resume sample.
In first gear is your opening summary, starting you off with a powerful surge forward and giving you momentum right out of the gate. The summary in the automotive engineer resume sample provides a clear statement of your value and the skills you offer, replacing the outdated objective statement. Instead of saying “this is what I want,” the summary statement declares proudly, “this is what I can do for you.” This is far more appealing to employers, especially when it covers key skill areas such as design, electromechanical, project budgeting, and automotive testing skills.
Accelerating into second gear is the core qualifications section. These keywords may be short, but they’re an easy speed-read toward solidifying your areas of expertise. This section lets you cruise past automated text scanners by upping your match percentage, while also allowing employers with one glance to verify your skills match the capabilities they need. Data-mine target jobs for essential keywords, or use some of phrases this sample provides, like automotive design, system and component testing, prototype design, and environmental impact research.
Shifting into third gear sends our automotive engineer resume sample flying toward a successful finish with a succinct but power-driven experience section. Using short bullets and action-oriented language, the experience section in our resume mixes job duties with accomplishments to portray our sample candidate as an expert in automotive engineering with a proactive eye for continuous improvement.
Why You Need a Strong Automotive Engineer Resume
Many jobseekers in engineering find it’s easier to demonstrate concepts rather than discuss them. The hallmark of a strong candidate is one who can do both. To stand out from the masses, a good automotive engineer needs to demonstrate complex concepts in a sensible way that presents clear business value, while also discussing those concepts with team members, stakeholders, managers, and clients. Your resume should do the same, demonstrating the skills that have built your career while also showcasing your ability to speak about yourself, your history, and your accomplishments in an accessible way.
To prove you’re the rare candidate with both people skills and automotive engineering acumen, you need a resume that communicates in an effective way. A document like our automotive engineer resume sample presents you as cross-functional and highly engaged, rather than just another techie who may not perform well in a team.
Costly Automotive Engineer Resume Mistakes To Avoid
As fascinating as your engineering projects are, there’s no room to completely detail them on your resume. Many automotive engineers write overly long, complicated resumes that contain far too many breakdowns of full project lifecycles for every vehicle and component they’ve ever worked on, right down to listing machining processes, tools, and equipment. When you include this much information, the actual impact of your accomplishments gets lost in the technical details, until it’s hard to tell if you’re trying to impress a hiring manager or just trying to sell automotive components.
Take, for example, the automotive engineer resume sample. In the second job listing at Technos, the sample candidate says “Assisted in the design of prototypes and the development of conceptual automotive schematics.” Note that there’s no breakdown of which prototypes or schematics, no vehicle makes or models, no manufacturer name. Instead the achievement summarizes briefly and focuses more on the innovation aspect rather than losing the reader in specifics that only have meaning for others involved in the project.
Automotive Engineer Resume Questions
What is the best design for an automotive engineer resume?
It may be surprising to learn that there is a standard resume format that employers expect you to follow. This format begins with your summary statement, then a brief qualifications section which only takes a few moments to understand, followed by a dense experience section and a brief education section. This design guides readers through quickly and effectively to maximize your chances. Our automotive engineer resume sample demonstrates this format, and using a resume builder can make it effortless to follow this standard format exactly.
What’s the best way to show you work well in a team on an automotive engineer resume?
Because it is important to demonstrate your teamwork abilities, you should incorporate this aspect throughout your entire resume. It is best to include it in each section, rather than it just being another bullet point in the qualifications section. Mention teamwork and cooperation in your summary as well. You can also describe specific examples of your ability to work in a team in your experience section. However, it is likely that you will not be able to naturally describe it in your education section. Do not forget to review our automotive engineer resume sample to see effective ways to integrate it.
What goes in the qualifications section of an automotive engineer resume?
The qualifications section should take the form of a short bulleted list, with each bullet point being a different skill you developed in your career. The most important aspect to remember is that every skill must be directly related to the exact position for which you are applying. You can find many strong examples by reviewing the job description or an automotive engineer resume sample. Your qualifications section should include about eight bullet points.
How do you list education on an automotive engineer resume?
The education section should be the final section in your resume, and also the shortest. It is almost an afterthought to employers, so do not dedicate too much space on the page to it. Our automotive engineer resume sample demonstrates that there are only three pieces of information that are vital to your education section: your type of degree, the name of your school, and the date of your graduation. Remember that it is not necessary to include your GPA unless a hiring manager requests it specifically.
What’s the best length for an automotive engineer resume?
In most cases, the best length for a resume is one full page without bleeding onto a second page. It is best to avoid wasteful gaps of information or large blocks of uninterrupted text. If you are a veteran in your field, you should include one full page for every 10 years of working experience you have. This allows you the space necessary to capture your extensive qualifications. Every automotive engineer resume sample you find will likely be one page long.
Conclusion
There’s no greater pride than reengineering an automotive component or system to make it work better. Apply that same pride to your resume and give it the overhaul it needs. Reference our automotive engineer resume sample for the guidelines needed to slap a fresh coat of paint on your old resume, and send it cruising along the road to your next new job.