What does a Environmental Engineer do?

Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Day to day that includes work like design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality and Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.

What skills should a Environmental Engineer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking 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 Environmental Engineer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Air dispersion modeling software, ANSYS simulation software, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, and Bentley MicroStation. 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 Environmental Engineer work?

O*NET records 34 titles for this occupation, including Engineer, Environmental Remediation Specialist, Sanitary Engineer, and Air Pollution Control Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Environmental Engineer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 62% 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 Environmental 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.

Environmental Engineer resume example

A resume for a Environmental Engineer needs to show the work itself: research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Day to day that means work like this: design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality; assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land. 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
Environmental Remediation Specialist
Sanitary Engineer
Air Pollution Control Engineer
Engineering Consultant
Environmental Analyst
Environmental Consultant
Hazardous Substances Engineer
Civil Engineer
Environmental Coordinator
Environmental Designer
Environmental Planner
Environmental Project Manager
Environmental Remediation Engineer
Environmental Safety Specialist
Environmental Scientist
Environmental Systems Coordinator
Environmentalist

O*NET records 34 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.

Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment.
Develop proposed project objectives and targets and report to management on progress in attaining them.
Monitor progress of environmental improvement programs.
Prepare, review, or update environmental investigation or recommendation reports.
Prepare, maintain, or revise quality assurance documentation or procedures.
Develop site-specific health and safety protocols, such as spill contingency plans or methods for loading or transporting waste.
Provide technical support for environmental remediation or litigation projects, including remediation system design or determination of regulatory applicability.
Prepare or present public briefings on the status of environmental engineering projects.
Assist in budget implementation, forecasts, or administration.

29 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.

Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment, 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.

Air dispersion modeling software
ANSYS simulation software
Autodesk AutoCAD
Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
Bentley MicroStation
Business software applications
C++
Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
Computer aided design CAD software
Continuous emission management software
DHI Water and Environment MIKE SHE
Ecological risk assessment software
Eko
Environmental health and safety documentation software

55 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 incubators
Air velocity meters
Ambient air measurement devices
Anaerobic growth chambers
Argon ionization detectors
Atomic absorption AA spectrometers
Atomic absorption AA spectrophotometers
Autoclaves
Automatic titrators
Balances
Biological oxidizers
California bearing ratio CBR testing devices

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
Business software applications

What this job rates as most important

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

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

Knowledge areas

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

Engineering and Technology
Design
Chemistry
Mathematics
Building and Construction
English Language
Physics
Biology

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.

62%Bachelor's Degree
29%Master's Degree
5%Associate's Degree

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 Environmental Engineer do?: Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Day to day that includes work like design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality and Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
What skills should a Environmental Engineer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking 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 Environmental Engineer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Air dispersion modeling software, ANSYS simulation software, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, and Bentley MicroStation. 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 Environmental Engineer work?: O*NET records 34 titles for this occupation, including Engineer, Environmental Remediation Specialist, Sanitary Engineer, and Air Pollution Control Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Environmental Engineer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 62% 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 Environmental 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.