5 Mechanical Design Engineer Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

You’re on a quest for your dream job where you can apply your engineering skills and design products that make a difference.

Whether you envision yourself in the aerospace, military or commercial industries, all of them require top-notch mechanical design engineers. You can be the perfect person for the role.

But first you need to ace your resume and impress the hiring manager.

While you may have tons of experience and qualifications at the ready, you need to know how to show them off in a way that stands out among other applicants.

You’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through step-by-step how to craft your mechanical design engineer resume to get you hired fast.

Our mechanical design engineer resume guide will teach you:

• The best format for a mechanical design engineer resume that highlights your experience
• Ways to prove your past design success with real quantitative data
• 8+ ways to describe your duties as a mechanical design engineer
• 20+ example technical and soft skills that show you’re the perfect candidate for the role

Related engineering resumes:

• Mechanical Engineer
• Systems Engineer
• Manufacturing Engineer
• Entry Level Mechanical Engineer

How to write a great mechanical design engineer resume

The good news is that mechanical design engineers are high in demand.

That being said, companies want to make sure they have the right candidate for the job since the stakes are so high.

You must prove that you are knowledgeable, passionate about design, and ready to solve tough problems.

You can put your best foot forward and prove yourself best with a reverse chronological resume format.

This resume format highlights your experience first, which is the most proven way to show your knowledge in designing and engineering mechanical products.

The reverse chronological resume also gives you an opportunity to:

• Display your educational background
• Highlight your certifications
• Show why you’re the right fit in your summary

Each of these mechanical design engineer resume sections should paint a clear picture about why you’re the right candidate for their company. Let’s walk-through how to do this.

Start by writing an informative header for your mechanical design engineer resume

Let’s say you’re applying for an aerospace engineering company as a junior mechanical design engineer.

Your header originally looks like this:

This could be fine.

It lists important information about you like your name, location and title. But the hiring manager may wonder if you’re mass applying for general mechanical design engineer positions.

You want to show them that you’re especially keen on that specific position.

This header doesn’t make you stand out among the other applicants applying. The hiring manager won’t get any strong impression of you.

Let’s be more specific in our header so the hiring manager knows exactly what we bring to the table:

Hiring managers know right away that you’re a junior mechanical design engineer with aerospace experience.

Your resume header is also a great place to include your LinkedIn profile or personal website link.

Real numbers are key on a mechanical design engineer resume

Your resume is your tool to demonstrate your solid track record within the industry as a mechanical design engineer.

Numbers that can prove the effectiveness of your past product designs including:

• How much did you reduce cost production with design improvements? (use real percentages!)
• Did you reduce the size of products to improve efficiency?
• Did you design for projects with a high budget? (Use real dollar amounts)
• Did you save the company time?

These numbers belong in your resume summary and experience section. We’ll jump into those now.

Show You’re Right For the Job In Your Mechanical Design Engineer Resume Summary

A mechanical design engineer resume should do two things well:

• Show the hiring manager you’re passionate about getting that specific position
• Prove you have the knowledge & expertise to excel in the role

There are so many facets to mechanical design engineering. Showing your specialty in a certain industry will help prove your unique expertise. Personalizing your resume to the specific job you’re applying for will show off your dedication to the company.

Use your real numbers, data and job posting keywords to your advantage when crafting a powerful summary.

Here’s an example of what not to do:

This summary won’t make the hiring manager jump at the chance to interview you. Why?

• No details on experience level. There’s no mention of how many years of experience or in what industry.
• It’s generic. The hiring manager will automatically assume you’re applying to many positions with the same resume.
• It does not mention how the candidate can satisfy what the job role is specifically looking for.

Here’s an example of a summary that ticks all the boxes:

This resume summary really shines! It’s clear and concise, includes real numbers to back up claims, and it specifically outlines the industry of expertise and knowledge level.

Mechanical design engineer resume: Writing the experience section

There are two main points you should highlight in your resume experience section: software experience and proven design success.

The first step to writing a job-winning experience section: Carefully read through the job posting and mirror the language they use for the job requirements.

Software experience is essential for doing high-quality mechanical design engineering.

Look at the programs listed on the job description, and write them down in your experience if you have a genuine working knowledge of them.

Soft skills are also essential as an effective mechanical design engineer.

You will need to deliver presentations to show your project designs. You will also need to have a strong analytical skill-set to make decisions and lead your teams.

Most candidates will only focus on highlighting their technical skills on their resume. Stand out from the pack by impressing the hiring manager with your soft skills.

We’ll compare a few mechanical design engineer resume examples for what works and what isn’t cutting it in the experience section.

2 mechanical design engineer resume experience samples

This is your opportunity to prove you’re right for the job with your mechanical design background. Here’s a handy list to follow for each past role you list in your experience section:

• What was the goal of the company when you arrived?
• How did your mechanical designs optimize efficiency?
• What were the quantitative results of your work?
• How did you work with your teammates to achieve this goal?

Let’s view these tips in action with two examples of a resume experience section… one is right and one needs some work.

This experience section doesn’t say anything about the success of the employee in their role. All it does is list their responsibilities, but it doesn’t paint a picture of how they achieved success for the business.

How can the hiring manager trust this candidate to be stellar in the role they’re applying for if they can’t prove any past success?

Now let’s take a look at an experience section that will win over any hiring manager.

This Experience section is more descriptive about the impact you made at the company. You highlighted your certification status, specifically mentioned softwares you’re proficient in, and discussed the positive measurable impact you made at the company.

How to describe the duties of a mechanical design engineer on a resume

Here are some sample work experience responsibilities to consider for your mechanical design engineer resume:

• Managed the design process for products, parts, and assemblies
• Documented results in a clear, cohesive way
• Improved functioning and lifespan of existing equipment with re-designs of essential components
• Identified flaws in assembly parts to improve cost and efficiency
• Lead training sessions on mechanical design across the engineering department
• Researching new products and innovations
• Presenting design plans to clients
• Producing technical documents

What if you’re just entering the job force and don’t have any relevant experience yet?

When applying for an entry-level job, recruiters and hiring managers will understand that you don’t have direct experience as a mechanical design engineer yet.

Here’s how you can make your resume stand out among the recent graduates:

• Highlight your university education, the courses you completed and the GPA you achieved.
• Make connections to industries you’ve worked with in the past and the one in the job posting. How did they overlap? These can include university social clubs and part-time jobs you held while in school.
• Include apprenticeships in the design and engineering field that prepared you for your first role.
• Include any personal projects you have completed, such as a gadget you designed, to show your passion for mechanical design engineering.

How should you highlight your mechanical design engineering education?

Your educational background is an essential component of landing a role as a mechanical design engineer.

It’s important that you use the education section of your resume to highlight your qualifications.

The most common university degrees for mechanical design engineers include:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Product Design
• Electromechanical Engineering
• Engineering Manufacturing
• Mechatronics

A significant amount of work experience and certifications can make up for this.

If you’re low on experience in the field, elaborate on your education. Show your dedication to ongoing learning by listing certifications that you’re currently working towards. Or prove your commitment to becoming a chartered engineer with CEng status.

How to include certifications on your mechanical design engineer resume

Completing certifications in addition to your formal university education will set you apart from other candidates when applying for a role. It’s important to keep in mind that:

• Not all certificates are industry-wide approved
• Real experience is a better indication of performance

If you’re interested in expanding your education in the field, here are some popular certifications for mechanical design:

• Autodesk ACU & ACP Certifications
• MathWorks MAT Lab Certification Program
• CATIA Certification
• SOLIDWORKS Certification

Which skills do employers look for in a mechanical design engineer resume?

Technical proficiency in the top mechanical design programs should be highlighted in your skills section.

You should be familiar with programs in design and modelling (CAD/CAM), rendering packages (Hypershot, V-Ray) and analysis, such as ANSYS.

There are countless programs you can list, so you should take a look at the job role to see which programs the company values most.

Soft skills set you apart from other mechanical design engineers.

You will need to present your design models, provide the vision for your ideas and analyze results.

Not only that, but you will often need strong communication and people skills, since you will likely work with a design and engineering team.

Here are a list of skills you can include in your mechanical design engineer resume.

Summary: What are the top tips for the best mechanical design engineer resume?

• Include real facts and figures in your resume to prove past success in design
• Highlight your credentials, such as being certified or having CEng status
• List the tools and programs you’re most familiar with using
• Discuss the soft skills that will help you be successful in your job