What does a Data Engineer do?

Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Day to day that includes work like develop and document database architectures and Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.

What skills should a Data Engineer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, and Systems Analysis 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 Data Engineer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Ab Initio, Access management software, Acronis Recovery Expert, and Adeptia ETL Suite. 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 Data Engineer work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Database Analyst, Database Developer, Database Programmer, and Information Architect. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Data Engineer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 76% 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 Data 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.

Data Engineer resume example

Built from the O*NET occupation Database Architect, which is how this job is recorded officially.

A resume for a Data Engineer needs to show the work itself: design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Day to day that means work like this: develop and document database architectures; collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements. 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.

Database Analyst
Database Developer
Database Programmer
Information Architect
Data Architect
Data Engineer
Data Officer
Database Consultant
Enterprise Architect
ADP Planner
Data Management IT Specialist
Database Software Tech
DBMS Specialist
PKI Analyst
Automatic Data Processing Planner
Big Data Architect
Big Data Engineer
Cloud Architect

O*NET records 40 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 and document database architectures.
Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements.
Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.
Design database applications, such as interfaces, data transfer mechanisms, global temporary tables, data partitions, and function-based indexes to enable efficient access of the generic database structure.
Develop methods for integrating different products so they work properly together, such as customizing commercial databases to fit specific needs.
Create and enforce database development standards.
Document and communicate database schemas, using accepted notations.
Develop data model describing data elements and their use, following procedures and using pen, template or computer software.
Work as part of a project team to coordinate database development and determine project scope and limitations.
Identify and evaluate industry trends in database systems to serve as a source of information and advice for upper management.

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.

Develop and document database architectures, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability, 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.

3M Post-it App
Ab Initio
Access management software
Acronis Recovery Expert
Adeptia ETL Suite
ADO.NET
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Dreamweaver
Advanced business application programming ABAP
AJAX
Altova MapForce
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2
Amazon Kinesis

322 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.

Copy machines
Desktop computers
Hard disk drives
Laser facsimile machines
Load balancers
Mainframe computers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Redundant array of independent disks RAID systems
Tape libraries

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.

SQL
ETL
data modeling
Python
Spark
data warehousing
AWS
Microsoft Azure
Power BI
Java

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
03Judgment and Decision Making
04Reading Comprehension
05Systems Analysis
06Active Listening
07Speaking
08Programming
09Active Learning
10Systems Evaluation

Knowledge areas

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

Computers and Electronics
Engineering and Technology
Design
Mathematics
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.

76%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 Data Engineer do?: Design strategies for enterprise databases, data warehouse systems, and multidimensional networks. Day to day that includes work like develop and document database architectures and Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
What skills should a Data Engineer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, and Systems Analysis 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 Data Engineer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Ab Initio, Access management software, Acronis Recovery Expert, and Adeptia ETL Suite. 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 Data Engineer work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Database Analyst, Database Developer, Database Programmer, and Information Architect. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Data Engineer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 76% 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 Data 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.