On this page
- Resume guide for an engineering student resume
- How to write an engineering student resume
- Choosing the best resume format for an engineering student resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same engineering student summary, twice
- Outline your experience
- Name the accreditation and the exam step you are on
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- Engineering student job market and outlook
- What salary you can expect as an engineering student
- Key takeaways for an engineering student resume
- Related student resume examples
- FAQ
An engineering student resume is a one page document that names the accreditation of your degree program, says exactly where you stand on the licensure ladder, and describes the systems you have owned rather than the courses you have sat.
In practice, two of those three are single lines, and they are the two that decide the first screen. An engineering hiring manager reading a stack of student files is checking whether the program is accredited and whether the candidate has started the exam sequence, because those two facts determine what the firm can do with you later. Everything else on the page is competing for attention after that.
Resume guide for an engineering student resume
For this reason, this guide and the corresponding engineering student resume example will cover:
- First, how to write an engineering student resume section by section
- Where the accreditation line belongs, and why it is not where most people put it
- Then, three adaptable summaries: second year, final year, and first post
- How to write a co-op rotation so it reads as engineering rather than attendance
- Finally, what the market looks like and what the occupations the degree feeds pay
How to write an engineering student resume
Six sections: contact header, summary, education with the accreditation and the exam status, project and co-op experience, technical skills, and certifications. One page until you have a full year of professional practice behind you.
The order is unusual on purpose. Education sits above experience on a student engineering resume because the accredited program and the exam step are gates, and a gate is read before an achievement.
SectionWhat it is answeringWhere it goes
- Program and accreditationIs this degree one our licensure path recognizes?Education block, on the program line
- Licensure stepHas this candidate started the exam sequence?Directly under the program line
- Co-op and project experienceWhat system did this person actually own?Reverse chronological, with quantities
- Technical skillsWhich of our tools and codes do they already use?Grouped, named by version or standard
Write the accreditation on the program line, not next to the university
ABET describes accreditation as "a review process to determine if educational programs meet defined standards of quality", and it is precise about what is being reviewed: ABET accredits programs. Not degrees, not departments, not institutions and not individuals (abet.org, retrieved 17 September 2026).
So "ABET-accredited university" is wrong on its face, and an engineer reading your file will notice, because it is the single most common error on a student engineering resume. The accurate line is the program: "Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET."
ABET states "We currently accredit 4,863 programs at 950 colleges and universities in 42 countries" (abet.org, retrieved 17 September 2026), which is why naming yours as a program rather than as a campus is both accurate and specific.
Run the finished file through the ATS resume checker before you apply. Large engineering employers and co-op portals parse student applications into a structured record before a person opens them.
Choosing the best resume format for an engineering student resume
Reverse chronological, one page, with education above experience until you have a year of professional practice. After that, experience moves up and education keeps only the program, the accreditation and the exam line.
However, functional and skills-first formats fail here for a technical reason. A reviewer wants to know what you owned, in what quarter, and for how long, because that is how they estimate what you can be handed. For example, a page that lists "SolidWorks, MATLAB, ANSYS, teamwork" without the project attached to each says nothing a recruiter can act on.
Include your contact information
Nikolai Ashworth
BS Mechanical Engineering, Missouri S&T, EAC/ABET accredited program, May 2026FE Mechanical exam passed, January 2026(573) 555-2190, nikolai.ashworth@email.com, Rolla, MONikolai Ashworth
Engineering StudentAspiring engineer with a passion for solving problems(573) 555-2190, nik_the_engineer2026@email.comTwo lines under your name, both facts, both checkable. By contrast, a recruiter who can see the accredited program and the exam status without scrolling has already answered the two questions their screening form asks.
Make use of a summary
For the summary, use four lines: year and program with its accreditation, the one system you have owned, a number attached to it, and where you are on the exam ladder.
Second year engineering student adaptable resume summary example
Final year engineering student adaptable resume summary example
First engineering post adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same engineering student summary, twice
In short, the right column tells a reviewer what to do with you. The left column asks them to guess, and a screener with sixty student files does not guess.
Outline your experience
Company or team, your role, city, rotation dates, then three to five bullets. In the experience section, every bullet names a system, an assembly, a test or a drawing package, and carries a quantity: parts, hours, cycles, drawings, dollars, or a measured change.
Co-op rotations need one extra fact that students routinely leave out: the length of the rotation and what you owned end to end inside it. "Engineering co-op, summer" tells a reader nothing. "Four-month rotation, owned skid layout for three pump packages from P&ID markup to shop release" tells them what to hand you next.
- Instead of
Worked on the Formula SAE team
UseOwned the suspension upright package: 14 machined parts, 380 grams removed, passed scrutineering first time
- Instead of
Completed an engineering co-op
UseFour-month rotation owning skid layout for three pump packages, from P&ID markup to shop release
- Instead of
Used SolidWorks for design work
UseModeled and released 61 detail drawings to ASME Y14.5, with the tolerance stack checked before release
- Instead of
Helped with testing
UseRan a 240-cycle valve life test with strain gauge instrumentation and wrote the failure report
- Instead of
Team player with strong communication skills
UsePresented the skid redesign to the plant maintenance group; assembly time went from 19 hours to 13
Adaptable resume employment history example
Engineering Co-op, Rotation 1, Meramec Process Systems, St. James, MO, January 2024 to May 2024 (four months)
Owned skid layout for three pump packages, from P&ID markup through general arrangement to shop release.
Redesigned the skid-mounted pump package so pipe spools dropped from 22 to 14 and the base frame became a single weldment; shop assembly time fell from 19 hours to 13 and the design is now used at three plants.
Released 61 detail drawings in SolidWorks to ASME Y14.5, each checked by the engineer of record before issue.
Ran the bill of materials and the long-lead procurement list for all three packages, holding the shop release date twice when a casting slipped.
Wrote the assembly instruction sheet the shop now uses for that package family.
Name the accreditation and the exam step you are on
In fact, this is the block that separates an engineering student resume from a general student resume, and it is two lines.
The first line is the program and its accreditation. ABET accredits programs and not institutions (abet.org, retrieved 17 September 2026), so the accreditation belongs on the program line of the education block and nowhere else. Write the degree, the program, the institution, the conferral month, and then the accreditation, in that order.
Next, the second line is where you are in the licensure sequence. NCEES calls the Fundamentals of Engineering exam "generally your first step in the process of becoming a licensed professional engineer (P.E.)", and says it "is designed for recent graduates and students who are close to finishing an undergraduate engineering degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program" (ncees.org, retrieved 17 September 2026). Those two sentences, in turn, are why the accreditation and the exam belong together on the page: the second follows from the first.
How engineering students write the exam status
Write the exam as a status with a date, and name the discipline version. NCEES publishes separate FE exam specifications by discipline, including Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical and Other Disciplines (ncees.org, retrieved 17 September 2026), and which one you sat tells a reviewer more about you than the fact that you sat one.
| Where you are | What goes on the resume | What does not go on it yet |
|---|---|---|
| First or second year | Program with EAC/ABET accreditation, expected conferral month | Anything about the FE |
| Eligible, not yet registered | The same, plus the discipline version you intend to sit and roughly when | "FE candidate" with no date behind it |
| Registered | "Registered for the FE Mechanical exam, January 2026" | Any claim about the result |
| Passed | "Passed the FE Mechanical exam, January 2026" | A licensure title; state boards differ on the term |
| Working toward the PE | Supervised experience logged, under a named licensed engineer | "PE" in any form until the license issues |
One caution on the last two rows. What a candidate is called after passing the FE is decided by the state licensing board, and the term is not the same everywhere, so write the fact and let the board's own language follow. "Passed the FE Mechanical exam, January 2026" is a fact nobody can query. A title you assigned yourself is one a licensed reviewer will.
What the FE appointment actually is, in the exam's own numbers
Knowing the shape of the exam is what lets you write one honest line about it instead of three vague ones.
The FE "includes 110 questions", and the appointment is six hours long: a 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, an 8-minute tutorial, 5 hours and 20 minutes of exam time and a 25-minute scheduled break (ncees.org, retrieved 17 September 2026).
It is "administered year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson test centers" (ncees.org, retrieved 17 September 2026). That matters for your resume timing: because the date is yours to choose rather than a fixed national sitting, "registered for January 2026" is a commitment a reviewer can hold you to, and a student who books the appointment before applying gets to write a dated line instead of an intention.
Build a snapshot of your key skills
For skills, list twelve to sixteen entries in four groups: analysis, design tools, codes and standards, and shop or test. Also name the standard or the version, because "CAD" and "ASME Y14.5" are not the same claim.
Adaptable resume skills example
Analysis: Finite element analysis in ANSYS Mechanical, Thermodynamic cycle analysis, Pump and pipe hydraulics, Tolerance stack-up analysis, Fatigue and life estimation
Design tools: SolidWorks, Creo Parametric, AutoCAD Plant 3D, MATLAB, Python for data reduction
Codes and standards: ASME Y14.5 geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, ASME B31.3 process piping, API 610 centrifugal pumps, OSHA 10-hour general industry
Shop and test: Manual mill and lathe, CNC setup and first article inspection, Strain gauge instrumentation, LabVIEW data acquisition, Coordinate measuring machine inspection
List your education and certifications
Program, institution, city, conferral month, accreditation, and then the exam line. Grade point average as a number if it is 3.0 or above. Relevant coursework only if you are in your first two years and the page needs it.
Adaptable resume education and certifications example
Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, May 2026. Program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. Grade point average 3.71.
Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Mechanical exam, NCEES, passed January 2026. Supervised experience logged toward professional licensure since June 2026.
Certifications: Certified SolidWorks Associate, Dassault Systèmes (2024). OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (2024).
Coursework carried onto the page: machine design, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, mechanical measurements laboratory, senior capstone design.
Choose the right layout and design
Single column, 10.5 to 12 point, one page, no photograph, and no skills bar charts. After all, a reviewer cannot tell what "SolidWorks, 4 of 5 stars" means, and an applicant tracking system reads it as nothing at all.
Do
- Put the accreditation on the program line.
- State the exam step with a date and the discipline version.
- Give each co-op its rotation length in months.
- Put a quantity in every bullet: parts, drawings, cycles, hours, dollars.
- Name the codes and standards you have actually worked to.
- Keep a link to a portfolio or repository if the work in it is yours and documented.
Don’t
- Do not write "ABET-accredited university"; ABET accredits programs.
- Do not claim a licensure title you have not been granted by a state board.
- Do not list a course as if it were a project.
- Do not put a software skill with no artifact attached to it.
- Do not use two columns or a graphic template for a co-op portal, which parses the file before a person reads it.
Engineering student job market and outlook
"Engineering student" is not an occupation, so the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes no employment level, no wage and no projection under that name. What it does publish is the occupational group the degree feeds, and that is the honest place to look.
| Measure, architecture and engineering occupations | Value |
|---|---|
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $99,520 |
| Median annual wage, all occupations, May 2025 | $50,980 |
| Projected annual openings, 2025 to 2035 | About 174,800 each year |
| Projected growth, 2025 to 2035 | Much faster than the average for all occupations |
About 174,800 openings a year across the group is a large and steady intake, and it is the number to hold in mind when a professor tells you the market is tight. What is competitive is the entry point, not the field: employers filling graduate posts are choosing among candidates whose coursework is nearly identical, which is exactly why the co-op rotation and the exam line carry so much weight on a student page.
In the end, the practical read for a student is this. First, the accredited program puts you in the pool. The exam step tells a firm you intend to be licensable, which matters enormously in civil, structural, environmental and any consulting practice that seals drawings. Then the co-op tells them what you can be handed in week one. In other words, those three lines are the resume; the rest is supporting detail.
What salary you can expect as an engineering student
There is no federal wage series for engineering students, and co-op and internship pay is set employer by employer, so this page quotes no student rate rather than inventing one. Ask the co-op office for the range their placements actually paid last year; they track it and they will tell you.
Instead, what is published is where the degree lands. Architecture and engineering occupations had a median annual wage of $99,520 in May 2025, against $50,980 for all occupations (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, architecture and engineering occupations, last modified 27 August 2026). That is close to double the all-occupations median, and it is the number your first offer is measured against rather than the number you will be offered.
Nothing on a student resume negotiates that figure directly, but three things move you up inside the band, and all three are documentation rather than argument. The first is the accredited program, correctly stated, which some employers require in writing before an offer. The second is the exam step, because a firm that seals drawings is buying a future licensed engineer and a candidate already on that track is worth more to them. The third is the co-op record: a graduate who has already owned a package from markup to shop release starts on billable work months earlier than one who has not, and starting salaries in engineering consulting are set against exactly that.
Key takeaways for an engineering student resume
- Put the accreditation on the program line; ABET accredits programs, not universities.
- To start, write the licensure step as a status with a date and the discipline version.
- Keep education above experience until you have a year of professional practice.
- Give every co-op its rotation length in months and the system you owned end to end.
- Put a quantity in every bullet: parts, drawings, cycles, hours or a measured change.
- Name codes and standards, not just software.
- One page, single column, no skill bars, no graphics for a co-op portal.
Related student resume examples
- Internship resume
- College student resume
- Student resume
- College graduate resume
- Entry level resume
- Graduate school resume
- PhD resume
- Scholarship resume
- Career change resume
- Summer job resume
- High school student resume
- Volunteer resume
Engineering student resume questions, answered
How long should an engineering student resume be?
One page, for the whole of your degree and your first year of practice. Two pages only once you have a publication list, a patent, or several years of project work with results worth citing. A second page of coursework is read as padding.
How do I say my program is ABET accredited?
On the program line, as a property of the program: "Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET." ABET accredits programs, not degrees, departments, institutions or individuals (abet.org, retrieved 17 September 2026), so "ABET-accredited university" is inaccurate and reviewers in this field notice it.
Should I put the FE exam on my resume before I have passed it?
Put it on once you have a date. A registered appointment with the discipline version named is a dated fact. "Plan to take the FE" is not, and it reads as filler. The exam runs year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson test centers (ncees.org, retrieved 17 September 2026), so booking it is within your control before you apply.
What do I write with no internship or co-op yet?
Write your project work as engineering. A competition team subsystem, a capstone, a laboratory course with a real instrument, a personal build with drawings: give each one the system you owned, the quantity involved, the tools and the outcome. A second-year student who owned 14 machined parts and can explain the tolerance stack is a better read than one who lists eight software packages.
Do I list coursework?
In your first two years, yes, and only the courses with equipment, software or a design deliverable behind them. By your final year, coursework should be off the page and replaced by co-op rotations and projects. Nobody hires on the fact that you took thermodynamics; everyone in the pool did.
What should I call myself if I have passed the FE but am not licensed?
State the fact, not a title: "Passed the FE Mechanical exam, January 2026." What a candidate may be called after passing is set by the state licensing board and the term varies between them, so writing the exam result keeps the claim accurate everywhere and lets the board's own language apply where it applies.