How to build a great chemical engineer resume

In the vast and captivating world of chemical engineering, opportunities span across diverse industries — from the innovation of healthcare and pharmaceuticals to the foundations of manufacturing and construction.

To secure your spot as a chemical engineer, you need a remarkable resume that boldly displays your expertise, highlights your unique skills, and sets you apart from the crowd. Let's embark on this exciting journey together to craft the perfect resume that showcases your brilliance as a chemical engineer.

Product Engineer at ALTEN Resume Sample

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Hired by: ALTEN

Structural Engineer Resume Sample

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Hired by: Atkins

Integration Engineer Resume Sample

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Hired by: Computer Futures

Discover essential insights and expert guidance as we reveal the key steps to crafting an impactful resume as a chemical engineer. Keep reading and learn how to:

• Select a resume format that matches your experience level as a chemical engineer
• Write a resume summary that showcases your very best attributes
• Include a variety of both technical and interpersonal skills
• Describe your work experience using quantifiable details
• List your chemical engineering education succinctly and accurately

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1. Select a resume format that matches your experience level as a chemical engineer

The correct resume format to use is highly dependent on each applicant’s experience level. Generally, the best formats for chemical engineers are either the reverse-chronological resume or the curriculum vitae (CV).

A reverse-chronological resume is the most commonly used format in any industry. It focuses primarily on work experience, listing your most recent job first and working backward from that point. This resume will have additional sections, like skills and education.

However, these sections will be much smaller than the work experience section and will often be placed in sidebars.

The curriculum vitae is a longer-form resume that consists of multiple pages detailing an applicant’s entire professional and academic career. While not always the best choice – as most employers do not want multi-page resumes submitted – the CV is ideal for Chemical Engineers who are applying for formal scientific or academic positions.

If you are a recent graduate with little to no formal work experience, then you may consider using an alternative format such as the functional resume or the hybrid resume. Functional resumes focus on education, skills, and unpaid experience rather than work experience. Meanwhile, hybrid resumes spread the focus of the document more evenly between all sections.

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2. Write a chemical engineer resume summary that showcases your very best attributes

While not always considered a required component, a resume summary can help to both quickly summarize your professional history as well as provide an opportunity for you to catch an employer’s attention right away.

The summary should be between one to three sentences in length and include specific details about your level of experience and professional accomplishments.

To help demonstrate how to write an effective summary, check out the following weak example followed by a corrected explanation.

Why is this incorrect?

While there is some specificity at the beginning of this summary, it is overall pretty vague. By including more exact information and details, the applicant can make this summary much more engaging and intriguing to employers, prompting them to remember this resume above others.

Why is this correct?

In this corrected example, the applicant is far more outright with the details they include. They use highly specific language like “affordable pharmaceuticals” to give a clearer image of their specialized expertise. Plus, they include valuable information on how they can apply their expertise to reduce an employer’s overhead expenses.

3. Include a variety of both hard and soft skills

Whenever you write a resume, it's always important to include both technical and interpersonal skills.

Employers want to know you have the technical expertise to perform a job correctly — that much is true. However, they also want to see that you can work and collaborate with others effectively. Including interpersonal abilities on your resume gives you this opportunity to showcase your people skills as well.

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4. Describe your chemical engineer work experience using quantifiable details

Including concise bullet points of information is essential when describing work experience. An employer should be able to scan quickly through your work experience entries and gain a thorough understanding of your level of expertise.

Due to the varied nature of chemical engineering positions, it can sometimes be useful to include a short, one-sentence statement before your descriptive bullet points. In this statement, you should very briefly summarize the type of chemical engineering you practiced and the industry in which you worked.

5. List your chemical engineering education succinctly and accurately

To become a chemical engineer, you will need a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, process engineering, biochemical engineering, or a similarly related field.

When crafting your education section, you may also want to include any certifications you hold, such as safety certificates or first aid. These types of certifications make you more competitive as an applicant, as well as show you understand the importance of adhering to proper safety standards.