What skills should a Architect put on a resume?

O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Operations Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Architect list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 1ST Pricing Window & Door Toolkit, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Architect work?

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, Design Architect, Planner, and Project Architect. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Architect need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 43% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Architect role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Architect resume example

A resume for a Architect needs to show the work itself: plan and design structures, such as private residences, office buildings, theaters, factories, and other structural property. Day to day that means work like this: develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction; prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval
Design Architect
Planner
Project Architect
Specifications Writer
BIM Specialist
Building Architect
Building Consultant
Building Information Modeling Specialist
Commercial Green Building Architect
Commercial Green Building Designer
Commercial Green Retrofit Architect
Facilities Planner
Facility Designer
Green Building Architect
Green Building Design Specialist
Green Building Materials Designer
Home Designer

O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction.
Prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools.
Prepare information regarding design, structure specifications, materials, color, equipment, estimated costs, or construction time.
Consult with clients to determine functional or spatial requirements of structures.
Meet with clients to review or discuss architectural drawings.
Monitor the work of specialists, such as electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, interior designers, or sound specialists to ensure optimal form or function of designs or final structures.
Integrate engineering elements into unified architectural designs.
Plan layouts of structural architectural projects.
Conduct periodic on-site observations of construction work to monitor compliance with plans.
Prepare contract documents for building contractors.
Plan or design structures such as residences, office buildings, theatres, factories, or other structural properties in accordance with environmental, safety, or other regulations.
Direct activities of technicians engaged in preparing drawings or specification documents.

24 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare information regarding design, structure specifications, materials, color, equipment, estimated costs, or construction time, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Consult with clients to determine functional or spatial requirements of structures, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

1ST Pricing Window & Door Toolkit
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Web Services AWS software
Apache Cassandra
Apache Hadoop
Apache Hive
Apache Maven
Apache Pig

71 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Architectural templates
Arm drafting machines
Circular saws
Compasses
Computer laser printers
Computer-guided milling machines
Diazo copiers
Digital cameras
Disk grinding machines
Dividers
Engineering copiers
Fretsaws

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Critical Thinking
02Operations Analysis
03Reading Comprehension
04Speaking
05Active Listening
06Writing
07Complex Problem Solving
08Judgment and Decision Making
09Monitoring
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Design
Building and Construction
Public Safety and Security
Engineering and Technology
Computers and Electronics
English Language
Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

43%Bachelor's Degree
24%Master's Degree
24%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Architect do?: Plan and design structures, such as private residences, office buildings, theaters, factories, and other structural property. Day to day that includes work like develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction and Prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools.
What skills should a Architect put on a resume?: O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Operations Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Architect list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 1ST Pricing Window & Door Toolkit, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Architect work?: O*NET records 30 titles for this occupation, including Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, Design Architect, Planner, and Project Architect. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Architect need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 43% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Architect role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.