Learn How To Write A Career Objective For Engineer Resume

Updated 26 January 2023

A well-crafted career objective for engineer resume portrays your skill set and work experience as an engineer. It may help the hiring manager decide whether to send you an invitation for an interview. Knowing how to compose an impactful career objective can increase your chances of getting through to the next stage in the hiring process. In this article, we discover the key components of an effective career objective and provide some samples you can use to create your own.

What Is A Career Objective For Engineer Resume?

A career objective for engineer resume is a summary of your skills, experience and career goals as an engineer. A career objective statement usually spans three to four sentences. Write it after the contact details section of your resume, right before you list your skills and work experience. The career objective is placed near the top of the resume so that it catches attention.

Though it is not mandatory to include a career objective in your resume, providing one strengthens your resume. The hiring manager gets an idea of what to expect from your resume after reading your career objective. This proves helpful when you apply for a highly competitive job where the recruiter is likely scanning through hundreds of resumes. They might glance over your career objective to decide if they want to continue reading the rest of the resume. In such cases, a career objective becomes a deciding factor in whether you land your dream job.

Benefits Of A Strong Career Objective Statement

A well-written career objective statement can do wonders for you as an engineer. In a heap of engineer resumes where almost every resume looks like the other, your career objective statement highlights what makes you special as a candidate. When you craft a career objective statement that is tailored to the aims and employee expectations of the company you are applying to, you can expect the following benefits:

Your resume stands out among other candidates with generic resumes.
The hiring manager can scan through your resume with ease.
It creates a distinct impression on the hiring manager regarding who you are as a professional.
The hiring manager can tell if you are a good fit for the role or not.
The chance of getting an interview increases if you spike the hiring manager's curiosity.

Key Components Of Career Objective Statement

Since an engineer's resume career objective spans only a few sentences and carries a massive responsibility of creating a favourable impression on the recruiter, every single word has to be written with care and thought. There are mainly five key elements to creating the perfect career objective statement that catches the recruiter's attention. They are:

1. Hard skills and soft skills

Your technical skills paired with your transferable skills make you an asset to any company. Your hard skill-set lets the employer know if you have the expertise to join their company. Include several skill-related keywords mentioned in the job description. Your soft skills, like teamwork and attention to detail, are equally important since they let the employer gauge whether you match the job profile well.

Example: A licensed electrical engineer specialising in the power distribution sector. Looking to add value to the company as a team player and innovative thinker.

2. Degrees, certifications and experience

Some jobs call for specific qualifications. If you have the necessary degrees or certifications that make you a perfect fit for a job, mention it in your career objective. Your employer is more likely to take a deeper look into your resume if they see you meet some of the primary criteria. Similarly, if you have worked for a prominent company within the same industry and have a significant amount of experience, mention that as well. Together, your degrees, certificates and work experience increase your credibility as a candidate.

Example: Civil engineer with twelve years of experience working for Blue Whale company with a Structural Engineering Certification Board (SECB) certification.

3. Specific career goals

Make sure that your long-term career goals align with the role for which you are applying. For instance, say you are applying for an engineering department head position. In this case, ensure that your career goal talks about managing an engineering team. This tells the employer that you are going to be passionate about your job since you really want to do it and that you are likely to stay with the company to fulfil your career goals.

Example: Sound engineer with five years of experience working in the acoustics division as a project manager. Looking to work for a renowned company with a spot for a competent sound engineering project manager.

4. Company-specific information

Your resume objective ought to be specific to the position and the company to which you are applying. This essentially means that you put in the job title and the company name in the career objective. Tailoring your resume to each job application makes it stand out from other generic resumes.

Example: Highly motivated and technically skilled software engineer with excellent data analysis and research skills, seeking the position of senior software engineer at Supreme Marketing Inc.

5. Value points for the employer

The most important part of your job application is stating how you can add value to your prospective employer. When you clearly state what the employer stands to gain from hiring you over other candidates, you give them a potent reason to consider you. Make sure you get specific in this section and state what makes you truly unique. Anything from your past work achievements or skill-set that highlights your specialty is perfect for this part of the career objective.

Example: Seeking the position of assistant chemical engineer at Red Chemicals where I can utilise my exceptional mathematical and medicine development skills to assist the company in achieving its goals and thrive towards excellence in the medical industry. I was a part of multiple medicine development projects that created medicines like A, B and C that abound in the market today.

Examples Of Career Objectives For Engineers In Specific Cases

Take a look at some of these handpicked engineering resume objectives for the most common scenarios faced by engineers in different stages of their careers. All these samples cited below follow career objective best practices:

1. Sample career objective for freshers

Being a recent engineering graduate can make it really difficult to find a new job, regardless of your college's placement system. Since you have not had any professional work experience yet, the key point in your resume that employers are going to look at, other than your educational qualification and marks, is your career objective statement. So this is the place to create a favourable impression. Here is a sample for engineering freshers you can follow:

IIT Kharagpur batch topper of 2021 in B.Tech (Aerospace Engineering), seeking an entry-level aerospace engineer position. Skilled in jet and rocket propulsion technology with a firm foundation in aerodynamics and physics. Working knowledge of 2D and 3D CAD design tools. Looking for a position in a growth-oriented company where I can hone my technical and interpersonal skills by participating in aviation projects.

2. Sample career objective during a career change

There might come a time in any engineer's professional life when a change of career is necessary for numerous reasons. If you successfully explain your reasons for this change and highlight how your multifaceted work experience makes you an invaluable asset, companies are more likely to show interest in your application. Here is a sample that shows how to do this properly:

Detail-oriented and analytically skilled software engineer looking to bring a decade of experience in programming languages like Python and Java, to a suitable mechanical engineering position at Blue Whale company. I have extensive experience in writing code for 20 clients and debugging over 30 apps so far. I can bring value to the computer system operation process in the mechanical engineering department.

3. Sample career objective when applying to a specific position

In your long career as an engineer, there might come some highly coveted positions that call for specific qualifications and skills. A generic career objective can be ineffective in such cases. Highlighting your relevant professional strengths and experience is advisable for such applications. Here is a sample that shows you how to do it:

Biotechnology engineer with over two decades of hands-on experience in the field, seeking the senior biotechnology researcher position at Holy Mountain institute. I have extensive experience in research-oriented projects dealing with tissue culture, PCR, gel electrophoresis, gene cloning and ELISA. An innovative role in the genetics research division would be ideal for me.