Aeronautical Engineer Resume Examples | The Ultimate Guide

In this ultimate resume writing guide for aeronautical engineers, we will show you:

• How to write a perfect aeronautical engineering resume for most experienced and entry-level candidates.
• How to pick the right resume template to represent your personality.
• How to choose the layout and structure to write your resume.
• How to write each section of your aeronautical resume with tons of examples.

We have also provided you with Pro Tips on how to get your resume to be among the top 5% of resumes any hiring manager receives.

Follow the step-by-step guide and write each section with ease using the examples we've provided.

Don’t want to read? Check out our resume builder for ready-to-fill resume templates to create your resume in as little as 10 minutes.

Aeronautics is not your thing? We got it wrong!

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Salary & Employment Rates for Aeronautical Engineers

Aeronautical engineers earn an average salary of $82,000 per year 💰 (Payscale.com).

Imagine starting your career at a salary above $60,000. Not every professional can command such high salaries early in their career.

Experienced candidates in their respective fields could demand salaries 50% higher than the average. High salaries in the field are often due to the critical nature of the work aeronautical engineers carry out.

The right resume can add a couple of grand to your salary: here's where we can help.

A Guide to Writing an Impressive Aeronautical Engineer Resume

What makes an impressive aeronautical resume?

Did you know that the vast majority of aeronautical Engineers share the same education background? They are all talented technical engineers, but why do some earn twice as much as the rest?

They create impressive resumes and face interviews with confidence!

Resumes that allow you to negotiate twice the salary as your peers should contain the following key features:

• Should demonstrate the applicant’s greatest achievements
• Should illustrate how the applicant would solve the employer’s key problems

We will show you the exact steps to do this. Let’s define the layout and pick the right format for your aerospace engineering resume, first.

Aeronautical Engineer Resume Format & Structure

As an engineer, you know how important it is to structure your work, create a plan, and follow the set guidelines to achieve the desired outcome: because that’s what you do.

Same in writing your aeronautical resume–you should first define the headings, subheadings, and their order on your resume–which we call the layout.

Having a proper layout will make writing your resume much easier: you won't miss anything important and you won't include anything unnecessary.

Here’s the layout we suggest for an aeronautical engineer:

• Heading.
• Professional summary.
• Experience.
• Academic qualifications.
• Skills: soft and hard
• Additional sections.

The rest of the resume writing is about filling in the blanks. You may change the order of the experience, education, skills, and additional sections based on their importance to the position you are applying for and your strengths.

Here are some tips for making your own template:

• Save the resume both in PDF and MS Word formats.
• Maintain consistent margins throughout your resume.
• Use easy-to-read fonts–different font sizes for headings, subheadings, and body text.
• Pick a relevant color theme–try the brand colors of the company you apply for.

Remember, hiring managers in companies receive thousands of applications every day for different positions. They will spend only about 5 seconds on one resume. Therefore, your resume should be an easy-to-read document that attracts the hiring manager’s eye.

How to Pick the Right Format?

Resume format defines how you include the information on each section of the resume: the order. This is particularly important for your experience and education sections.

There are mainly three standard formats in use:

• Functional (skill-based): Each experience is listed based on the relevant skills.
• Reverse Chronological (traditional): List recent experiences first, rest chronologically backward.
• Hybrid (combination resume): a combination of functional and reverse chronological formats.

Reverse chronological order is the widely used resume format for Aeronautics engineers, as well as for many other engineering fields.

Although the concepts you learned at the university won’t change for another thousand years, the tools and technologies used in the field of aerospace are constantly evolving. Therefore, your hiring manager’s top priority is to find someone who has recent experience relevant to the work.

Start Your Aeronautical Resume with the Header

The header consists of your name and contact information. A great aeronautical resume should only include certain information and exclude the rest.

The examples below will help you decide what to include in your resume header and what to avoid:

There’s a marginal difference between a good and a bad header. Here’s what makes a good one:

• Starts with the name followed by the title
• Professional, yet personal, email
• Candidate mobile number
• Link to the candidate’s LinkedIn profile or the website

If you include unnecessary information in your header, it will mask the important ones.

Work Experience of Aeronautical Engineers

This is in fact the most important section of your resume. Some recruiters make their shortlisting decisions solely based on this.

For example, if you have worked for a reputable company in the industry, if you have worked for a competitor, or if you have worked on a project that is similar to what you are being hired for, you will most likely be shortlisted for an interview.

You'll get more interviews if you spend most of your resume writing time optimizing this section.

Check out these examples for experienced and entry-level aeronautical engineers.

A Senior Aeronautical Engineer’s Experience Section

An Entry-level Aeronautical Engineer’s Experience Section

Here are some general guidelines for writing an impressive experience section on your next resume:

• Start each sentence with a power word such as Carried out, Designed, Recognized, etc.
• Each position you held should not exceed 4-7 sentences.
• Rank each sentence according to its importance to the position you are applying for.
• To make your experience more credible, use numbers.

If you need further inspiration to write a perfect experience section emphasizing your achievements and accomplishments, read our complete guide to writing achievements on a resume.

Make Your Education Count in Your Resume

Many aeronautical engineers hold best-in-class academic qualifications, including a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and even a Ph.D.

The mere mention of these things on your resume will not make a significant difference in getting noticed. Consider mentioning your GPA for each degree. Also, state any projects or academic research you carried out as part of studies with the outcomes.

Use a consistent format to state information about each of your academic qualifications.

Make a Sonic Boom with Your Aeronautical Skills

Skills section performs two tasks for an aeronautical resume:

• Convinces the recruiter that you’re a good fit for the job
• Provides a list of features that differentiates your application from the rest

To accomplish the first task, you should read the aeronautical engineer job description carefully to identify the skills required for the position–we call them the keywords.

To accomplish the second task, you should look into yourself and identify your greatest strengths in terms of your technical know-how and soft skills.

Write down the keywords in the job advertisement and match them with your strengths. Keep your professional skills section to 5-7 lines.

The skills section should contain both soft skills and hard skills, with hard skills being given priority.

Following are some of the valuable skills required for an aeronautical engineer:

Soft Skills: Hard-to-measure abilities, mostly related to the personal traits of the applicant

• Analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• Time management
• Presentation skills
• Ability to work with a diverse team
• Problem-solving

Hard Skills/ Technical Skills: Measureable skills acquired through technical training or experience

• Mathematical modeling of fluid dynamic systems
• Expertise in Matlab and Ansys
• MS Excel
• Engineering drawings
• Finite element methods
• Project management skills

Professional Summary for Aeronautical Engineers

Writing a professional summary to create a great first impression is as important as the initial strong thrust of an aircraft during the takeoff.

A great professional summary would make the hiring manager read the rest of your resume. It is commonly believed that hiring managers have short attention spans, but the correct statement is that they pay little attention to boring resumes.

You just need to have the basic copywriting skills to master writing your professional summary.

In a professional summary, you describe yourself in two or three sentences. If you met Elon Musk in an elevator and had 5 seconds to get an interview at SpaceX, what would be the two sentences you would speak?

Sentence 01: State how you would be a solution to the problems your potential employer is facing: emphasizing the skills they are looking for. Sentence 02: State how your skills and expertise helped your previous employer to achieve the desired results. Mention your greatest achievements on the job. You should tailor your professional summary based on the job you apply for.

Examples

Professional Objective

The professional objective is not a separate section in your resume. You may want to consider writing an objective summary if you have entry-level experience or are considering a career change.

A professional objective follows the same structure as a professional summary. By contrast, you can emphasize your educational qualifications, skills, and passion rather than writing about your work experience.

Examples

Additional Sections for Your Aeronautical Engineer Resume

Additional sections are a great way to distinguish your resume from the rest. These sections are getting ten times more attention from the hiring managers than the details inside your experience or education sections.

Use these small sections to provide a pleasant surprise to the hiring manager while they skim through your resume.

Following are some sections you could include in your aeronautical engineering resume.

Computer Skills & Certifications

Aeronautical engineers should have basic and advanced IT skills. Nonetheless, if you have taken a course or worked with a relevant system or technology, you can mention it here.

Your knowledge and experience in programming languages would be an advantage here.

Awards and publications

If you have received any awards in your studies, from a previous employer, or a professional association, mention them separately to garner more attention.

The research papers or relevant articles published could also be included here.

Interests

This is, however, one of the most misused sections in resumes as candidates tend to list generic interests.

List your interests under an additional section if they are relevant to your profession or if your interests are providing evidence to any of your skills.

Languages

Aeronautical engineers tend to work with engineers from many nations–though they generally communicate in English, it is advantageous if you are fluent in a couple of languages.

Be sure to mention your fluency in each language to give the hiring manager a better understanding of your skills.

Check out our resume templates where you can state your language fluency in a modern resume template with many such features.

Pro Tips for Your Aeronautical Resume

These pro resume tips will help your resume reach the top 5% of the resumes:

• Spelling and grammar mistakes could crash-land your resume to the bottom– use a tool like Grammarly.
• Choose your resume template to match your personality and the organization you apply for. A modern resume template is the simplest way to stand out from the crowd.
• Read the job description carefully to identify the keywords they have used–identify the profile of the perfect candidate for the job and be him.
• Aviation is a highly volatile industry. Make sure you do your research about the industry, technology trends, and the company well in advance.

Summary:

• Put your name and contact information at the top of your resume.
• Use the professional summary to hook the reader. Keep it to two sentences that describe your expertise and key skills.
• Your aeronautical experience section is the most important section on your resume. Use numbers to add credibility to your experience.
• Aeronautical engineers usually have solid educational backgrounds. Use a consistent format to present them: list the institution, years of study, key learnings, and GPA.
• Boost your resume with key skills–both soft and hard–prioritize what is relevant to the job.
• Use additional sections to gain more visibility to your key skills and accomplishments.

Complement Your Resume with Your Cover Letter

Most aeronautical engineering positions would require you to submit a cover letter together with your resume. Use a cover letter to complement your resume.

A cover letter is pretty much an expanded version of your professional summary. There you should highlight your key skills and how they will solve the problems for the employer.

Here are a few things you can write in your cover letter:

• Why you are passionate about the job and the reason you chose to apply for the company.
• The key problems you can solve that the employer is currently facing.
• A brief about your educational qualifications.
• Key achievements in your previous job–how you solved their problems.
• Request for a meeting to discuss further the job role (call to action)

Need further inspiration to write your next cover letter? check these examples.

FAQ

What are the companies providing jobs for aeronautical engineers?

Companies that design, manufacture, assemble, or maintain aircraft usually hire aeronautical engineers. In addition to that, airlines typically maintain a team of aeronautical engineers to perform safety procedures.

Further, most military operations require aeronautical and aerospace engineers to design, manufacture, and operate aircraft, missiles, and other flying objects.

Here is a list of popular employers:

• The Boeing company
• Emergent Space Technologies
• Collins Aerospace
• Airbus
• NASA
• SpaceX
• Lockheed Martin Corporation

Is aeronautical and aerospace engineering the same?

Engineers who specialize in one of these disciplines could easily shift to the other though there are few differences.

In aeronautical engineering, the focus is the study of aircraft and flying objects that fly in the earth’s atmosphere. Comparatively, in aerospace engineering, the study focuses on all flying objects that fly within and out of the earth’s atmosphere.

Boeing, Airbus, which manufacture aircraft, employ only aeronautical engineers, whereas SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA employ both aerospace and aeronautics engineers.