What does a Automotive Engineer do?

Develop new or improved designs for vehicle structural members, engines, transmissions, or other vehicle systems, using computer-assisted design technology. Day to day that includes work like conduct or direct system-level automotive testing and Provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel.

What skills should a Automotive Engineer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making, and Mathematics 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 Automotive Engineer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 1CadCam Unigraphics, Adobe Photoshop, Altair Engineering MotionSolve, Ambient Design ArtRage, and Ansys Fluent. 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 Automotive Engineer work?

O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation, including Engineer, Product Engineer, Project Engineer, and Research Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Automotive Engineer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 71% 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 Automotive Engineer 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.

Automotive Engineer resume example

A resume for a Automotive Engineer needs to show the work itself: develop new or improved designs for vehicle structural members, engines, transmissions, or other vehicle systems, using computer-assisted design technology. Day to day that means work like this: conduct or direct system-level automotive testing; provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel. 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.

Engineer
Product Engineer
Project Engineer
Research Engineer
Dimensional Integration Engineer
QA Engineer
Automotive Designer
Automotive Power Electronics Engineer
Automotive Project Engineer
Automotive Quality Engineer
Automotive Systems Engineer
Customer Quality Engineer
Fuel-Efficient Automobile Designer
Hybrid Powertrain Development Engineer
Low-Emission Automobile Designer
Powertrain Control Systems Engineer
Powertrain Engineer
Quality Assurance Engineer

O*NET records 20 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.

Conduct or direct system-level automotive testing.
Provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel.
Perform failure, variation, or root cause analyses.
Calibrate vehicle systems, including control algorithms or other software systems.
Design or analyze automobile systems in areas such as aerodynamics, alternate fuels, ergonomics, hybrid power, brakes, transmissions, steering, calibration, safety, or diagnostics.
Prepare or present technical or project status reports.
Conduct research studies to develop new concepts in the field of automotive engineering.
Establish production or quality control standards.
Alter or modify designs to obtain specified functional or operational performance.
Research or implement green automotive technologies involving alternative fuels, electric or hybrid cars, or lighter or more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Develop calibration methodologies, test methodologies, or tools.
Create design alternatives for vehicle components, such as camless or dual-clutch engines or alternative air-conditioning systems, to increase fuel efficiency.

25 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.

Conduct or direct system-level automotive testing, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Perform failure, variation, or root cause analyses, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Calibrate vehicle systems, including control algorithms or other software systems, 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.

1CadCam Unigraphics
Adobe Photoshop
Altair Engineering MotionSolve
Ambient Design ArtRage
Ansys Fluent
ANSYS simulation software
Apache Groovy
Ashlar-Vellum Graphite
Atlassian Bamboo
Atlassian Confluence
Atlassian JIRA
Autodesk Alias Automotive
Autodesk AutoCAD
Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical

86 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.

Air compressors
Anechoic chambers
Bench drill presses
Bench grinders
Carbon dioxide analyzers
Climate test chambers
Computerized numerical control CNC lathes
Digital cameras
Disc finishing machines
Engine test dynamometers
Five-axis machining centers
Floor drill presses

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.

AutoCAD
C++
Dassault Systemes CATIA

What this job rates as most important

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

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

Knowledge areas

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

Engineering and Technology
Physics
Mathematics
Mechanical
Design
Computers and Electronics
Transportation
English Language

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.

71%Bachelor's Degree
14%Master's Degree
5%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Automotive Engineer do?: Develop new or improved designs for vehicle structural members, engines, transmissions, or other vehicle systems, using computer-assisted design technology. Day to day that includes work like conduct or direct system-level automotive testing and Provide technical direction to other engineers or engineering support personnel.
What skills should a Automotive Engineer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making, and Mathematics 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 Automotive Engineer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 1CadCam Unigraphics, Adobe Photoshop, Altair Engineering MotionSolve, Ambient Design ArtRage, and Ansys Fluent. 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 Automotive Engineer work?: O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation, including Engineer, Product Engineer, Project Engineer, and Research Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Automotive Engineer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 71% 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 Automotive Engineer 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.