A mechanical engineer resume has to prove two things at once: that you understand the physics and that you can ship a product. Hiring managers skim for evidence you took a design from concept through analysis, prototype, and manufacturing, not a list of software you opened in a class once.
Mechanical engineer with 6+ years designing and validating components for high-volume industrial and consumer products. Led a housing redesign that cut unit cost by 18% while holding a 0.05 mm flatness tolerance across 200K parts. Strong across SolidWorks, FEA, GD&T, and DFM, and comfortable owning a part from concept through production sign-off.
The strongest mechanical engineer resumes lead with measurable outcomes such as cost reduced per unit, tolerances held, cycle time cut, or weight saved, then back them with a tight stack of CAD, FEA, and GD&T skills. Because most engineering teams screen applications through an ATS before a human ever sees them, the exact tools matter: a posting that asks for SolidWorks and ANSYS wants those words in your resume, spelled their way.
This page gives you a complete, recruiter-tested mechanical engineer resume example you can read top to bottom, plus a section-by-section guide to writing each part for your own level, whether you are a new grad with an FE certification and a senior design project or a licensed PE who owns a product line. Use the example as a structural template, swap in your own quantified wins, and mirror the keywords from the job you are targeting so both the parser and the hiring manager see a clear match.
Skip "detail-oriented engineer." Open with your years, the type of products you design, and the single most impressive quantified result you own, whether that is cost reduced, weight saved, or a tolerance held at volume. A recruiter decides in seconds whether to keep reading, and a concrete metric in line one is what keeps them going.
Every bullet should answer "so what?" Replace "Responsible for CAD modeling" with "Redesigned a die-cast housing in SolidWorks, cutting unit cost 18% while holding a 0.05 mm tolerance across 200K parts." Use the pattern: action verb + what you designed + measurable impact. Aim for 3–4 bullets per role, front-loaded with your biggest wins.
List concrete tools and methods, not vague categories. Mirror the exact spelling from the job description: "SolidWorks" not "Solidworks," "GD&T" written out as the posting writes it, plus the analysis package they name such as ANSYS or Abaqus. A parser matches literal strings, so the term has to appear exactly as the posting uses it.
Design work has numbers everywhere: cost per unit, cycle time, weight, safety factor, tolerance, yield, scrap rate, and rejects. "Cut injection-molding cycle time from 38s to 29s" reads far stronger than "improved manufacturing efficiency." Pull the metric that mattered to the business, not just to the CAD model.
List FE or PE status, and any GD&T (ASME Y14.5) or Six Sigma certifications, near the top where a recruiter scans. Then keep a master resume and reorder skills and bullets per posting: if the role centers on FEA and thermal design, those belong in your first bullet and at the top of your skills, not buried at the bottom.
Mirror the exact terms from your target job description. The ATS matches strings, so the words in the posting belong in your resume.
Per year. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Mechanical Engineers (OOH)
How long should a mechanical engineer resume be?
One page for most engineers, including those with up to about 10 years of experience. Move to two pages only when you genuinely need the room for deep, relevant senior or PE-level work, and never pad it. A tight one-pager that leads with quantified design impact beats a sprawling list of duties.
Should I list every CAD program and analysis tool I know?
No. List the tools you can confidently discuss in an interview and that are relevant to the role, with your strongest first. A focused stack that matches the job description, such as SolidWorks, ANSYS, and GD&T for a design role, beats an exhaustive dump that dilutes your real strengths and confuses the ATS.
Do I need to include my FE or PE certification?
Yes, if you have it. List FE (EIT) or PE status prominently, since some roles require or strongly prefer licensure. If you are pursuing the PE, note your FE pass and expected timeline. For new grads, a passed FE exam is a real differentiator worth featuring near the top.
How do I get past the ATS as a mechanical engineer?
Mirror the exact tools and methods from the job description (CAD package, analysis software, GD&T, DFM) in your skills and bullets, use a clean single-column layout, save as PDF unless told otherwise, and avoid tables, columns, and graphics that parsers mangle.
What's the most common mechanical engineer resume mistake?
Listing responsibilities instead of results. "Designed parts in SolidWorks" tells a hiring manager nothing. "Redesigned a housing to cut unit cost 18% while holding a 0.05 mm tolerance across 200K parts" shows scope, skill, and business impact in one line.
