We don’t even think much about it when boarding a plane to our destination of choice. It’s easy enough to take for granted all the technical workings of the plane.

Much of this results from the fact that many don’t know what happens behind the scenes. The engine, the plane’s body, size and shape and even the timing the pilot considers before taking off or landing.

But as an aerospace engineer, things are different.

You can’t help but notice the shape of the plane. Not because it looks good but because you know why the plane is shaped that way. You understand the principles which guided the overall design of the plane.

Without people like you, that plane wouldn’t exist. And if it existed, then it probably wouldn’t be safe to fly in.

Being an aerospace engineer is definitely something worth being proud of. But then, how do you utilize the knowledge and expertise you have?

Building aircraft or spacecraft rarely starts with you starting your own manufacturing company. You’ll likely need to be employed for a few years so as to gain the necessary skills and experience.

And it all starts with writing a resume which will attract the attention of an aircraft or spacecraft manufacturer.

As with all matters employment, we’re here to help you with your aerospace engineer resume.

Whether you’re looking for your first job as an aerospace engineer or you’re seeking to move to a different job, this article will help you achieve your goals.

First, we’ll tell you a few things about the industry. We have information about the salary you can expect to be paid as well as what different employers pay.

We’ll also tell you about your occupation’s projected job growth so you know where the industry is headed.

After sharing these insights, we’ll guide you on how to write the best resume and give you two resume samples you can use as reference.

Let’s get started.

AEROSPACE ENGINEER JOB OUTLOOK

One of the most obvious things about a career as an aerospace engineer is that there are’nt many of you. At least not as many as customer service representatives or teachers.

Although everyone has their own passions and talents which ultimately determine career choices and success, engineering itself is not an easy career path.

Many drop midway due to the challenging nature of the program. If you completed the class work and are ready for employment, congratulations.

According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, there were 67,200 aerospace engineers in the US. These were distributed among various states with California having the highest number of aerospace engineers at 11,400.

Below is a map showing the distribution.

This information can help you decide whether you’re okay where you are. If the opportunities are limited, you can decide to move to a different state.

In such a case, when submitting your cover letter, make sure you indicate your willingness to move to a different state. This will help the person reading your resume understand your flexibility and not see your resume as spam.

 

You can also use this to indicate the passion you have and desire to grow your career. This can help show the hiring manager that you’re one who takes the initiative and does what it takes to provide a solution.

That is a characteristic you can mention and use to negotiate your salary and other benefits.

Aerospace engineer salary

Talking of salaries and benefits, what are the current salaries earned by aerospace engineers?

Recent data from Glassdoor indicates that the national average salary for an aerospace engineer is $79,714 per year.

Besides this, there are other possible cash payments which could range anywhere from $838 to $10,378.

Source: Glassdoor

As per the Glassdoor data, the highest-paid aerospace engineers earn up to $101,000. When you consider the extra cash compensation, the figure could get higher than that.

Obviously, there are different factors determining the amount of salary you earn.

The most obvious is the work experience followed by the amount of education you have. Apart from the basic degree in aerospace engineering, you can take up more classes to specialize in any area of aerospace engineering.

There is also another factor determining your pay. That is the company which hires you to join its team. Some companies pay their engineers more than others.

This could be because they have more customers or maybe they earn more revenue due to their niche market.

Apart from the well-known Boeing and Lockheed Martin, there are others making big progress like SpaceX.

Here is how some of the biggest employers compare in terms of the salaries they pay their aerospace engineers.

Source: PayScale

Aerospace engineer job growth

Salaries and the best employers aside, what is the growth rate of this occupation?

This is an important question to ask yourself.

In fact, the best time to ask this question is before enrolling for that aerospace engineer degree program. The answer is part of what should inform your career choice.

Still, having come this far, the question is still relevant. And for the answer, let’s head over to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In doing a 10-year projection, the growth of the aerospace engineer job market is expected to be 2%. Sadly, this is lower than the expected growth for other engineering jobs which stands at 5%.

Digesting this information, do you see the need for a resume which stands out?

The figure projects a smaller growth rate which means fewer jobs in the future. Consequently, the competition for those few jobs will be high.

And for that reason, your resume will have more work to do if it’s to get you to the interview stage.

Here’s how to go about it.

AEROSPACE ENGINEER RESUME WRITING

Resumes can be written in different ways. There are different formats to be used and certain things are known to be important while others are said to be irrelevant.

Keeping tabs on these things can be challenging.

At Cleverism however, we know what’s in and what’s out. We have information from career experts, recruiters and hiring managers as well as a wealth of experience in the industry.

This is what empowers us to help job seekers like you get hired and grow their careers.

Writing the perfect aerospace engineer resume isn’t necessarily difficult though it can be a challenge. What should you write and how should you write it?

Career experts agree that the most important information is presented in five resume sections. These are personal information, career summary/objective, work experience, education and skills.

Let’s take a look at these five sections and see how best to write them.

After reading the article, use one of our resume templates to write your own aerospace engineer resume. It will help you avoid resume formatting challenges.

Personal information

This is by far the simplest section to write. It consists of a few pieces of information introducing yourself to your potential employer.

Here you’ll be giving your name, physical and email addresses, mobile number and a link to your LinkedIn profile.

The most important thing to note about this section is the need to be professional.

What does that mean?

Two things in particular: do not write any nick names and give a professional-looking email address.

Wrong way of writing your name - Tim Kayne
Wrong
Right way of writing your name - Timothy Kayne
Right

A professional email address simply contains your official names and not some fancy re-wording of your name. No celebrity names included—unless it’s your real name. Also, no descriptive words which you casually use on yourself or your friends use on you.

It’s important to remember that recruiters and hiring managers have many resumes to consider. Research indicates that each resume gets only 6 seconds.

With that kind of time given to a resume, you can’t afford making mistakes.

Unprofessional email address - talltimkayne@yahoomail.com
Wrong
Professional email address - timothykayne@yahoomail.com or timothykayne2020@yahoomail.com
Right

Career objective / Professional summary

If there’s one section which elicits much debate when it comes to resume writing is the career objective or summary section.

Some career specialists argue against the need of writing a career objective. For them, no resume should have this. A professional summary is what should be present in every resume.

But what if you haven’t yet worked in your field of interest?

To understand this debate and see why there can be a place for the career objective, you need to know the role played by both options.

The professional summary is meant to highlight and wow the resume reader with your accomplishments. This is the section where you mention three, four or five of your best achievements. They’re meant to quickly show you to be the best candidate.

The career objective on the other hand is meant to show your capabilities and convince the hiring manager that you’re the best. This is on the basis of your perceived strengths.

How does this work?

Let’s say that you’re looking for your first job since you just graduated. You haven’t worked as an aerospace engineer. The only thing you have close to working is the internship you did.

You therefore have no proof from your working history as an aerospace engineer that you can do the job as expected. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t apply.

In writing your career objective, you’ll highlight achievements from your internship and mention others from different jobs. This could be a personal project, school project, freelance work etc.

The main thing to understand is that employers also value transferable skills. So tell them about what you learned or gathered working elsewhere on different things. Then use that lesson or achievement to show how it can benefit your potential employer.

Here is how to do it.

Wrong way of writing a career objective

Technical-minded aerospace engineer with a strong desire to champion the exploration of space. Looking for a position in your company to utilize my knowledge and unique skills and help increase efficiency and reduce costs.

Wrong
Right way of writing a career objective

Aerospace engineer with a love for advanced math and physics. Loaded with skills in critical thinking and analysis from 4 years experience as a software engineer recognized for developing   bug-tracking software which improved product success by 15%.

Right

If you have aerospace engineer work experience, then you should use a professional summary. Pick from the best of your job’s achievements and list them here to prove your worth.

Show how you brought about positive changes to your previous employers and you will be getting that interview call.

Wrong way of writing a professional summary

Aerospace engineer with 8 years of experience helping design air and space craft at Boeing. Looking for a position where I can impart knowledge and assist the company get to the next level of spacecraft manufacturing.

Wrong
Right way of writing a professional summary

Energetic aerospace engineer with 8 years experience. Designed and improved the efficiency of spacecraft at Boeing to reduce fuel consumption by 30%. Awarded engineer of the year for contributions towards lowering manufacturing defects by 25%. Seeking to use design and analysis skills to advance manufacturing at Lockheed Martin.

Right

Work experience

The work experience section is where the real difference between job candidates is seen.

If you haven’t worked as an aerospace engineer yet, we mentioned some advice in the previous section.

List experience from any other work you’ve done, including volunteer work. Write it to show that you were of benefit to the organization you worked in.

As much as possible, ensure the benefits you mention include some numbers to clearly show the difference you made.

Here is an example of how to do this.

Ineffective work experience

Systems Analyst

Telecom Systems, Houston, Texas

2012 – 2016

  • Analyzed chip design for purposes of improving efficiency
  • Generated detailed reports on design flaws and gave approval for chip manufacturing
  • Worked with colleagues well to make the company culture great

Wrong
Effective work experience

Systems Analyst

Telecom Systems, Houston, Texas

2012 – 2016

  • Developed job satisfaction guide which helped engineers improve work relations by 60%
  • Used root cause analysis to analyze high manufacturing costs and designed solution which reduced costs by 30%
  • Re-designed proposed new chip to reduce heat production by 12%

Right

You will notice the big difference in the two examples.

The first one lists some duties done while the second one mentions the results achieved. It also has some numbers to show the difference the candidate’s work made. Also note how the candidate focuses on skills and says he can use those in the new company.

That is the kind of thing hiring managers want to see. Whatever work experience you have, tweak it to show how your precious performance can benefit your potential employer.

If you have work experience as an aerospace engineer, then just consult your memory for the achievements to write about.

Do not, under any circumstances, write a list of the duties and responsibilities you had. Those will not impress the hiring manager.

You should convert your responsibilities into measurable achievements.

Education

Just as the personal information section is easy to handle, so is the education section. All you have to do is list the degree programs you have done.

If these are more than one, then start with the most recent. This will likely be a higher degree that will mean you’re more academically qualified than other candidates.

If you’re the candidate without aerospace engineering experience, then you can play around with this section instead of writing a plain sentence with the degree and university name only.

Take a few seconds or minutes to go through the job post. Look out for the words describing the job to be done. These words are called keywords and they’re the ones which should direct you on how to write about your education better.

With this list of keywords, dig into your memory or consult your degree’s course outline for the coursework relevant to the keywords.

List 4-5 things you did in university which prove that you have the academic training to handle an aerospace engineer’s work as expected.

Here is how that can look like.

Ineffective education section

BS in Aerospace Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

2012 – 2017

Wrong
Effective education section

BS in Aerospace Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

2012 – 2017

Relevant coursework

  • Thermodynamics and Fluids Fundamentals
  • Rotorcraft Aeromechanics
  • Space System and Rotorcraft Design
  • Spacecraft Flight Dynamics

Right

Skills

And now the last mandatory section of your resume.

Like every other aerospace engineer, there are skills you’re expected to possess. Without these, working will be difficult.

Such skills include communication, attention to details, leadership and the like.

But as good and important as these skills are, they fall short in a big way. They don’t impress at all simply because every job candidate will list them. If you write these then, how will you stand out?

Outsmart the rest by listing very specific aerospace engineer skills which will make the hiring manager believe you know what you’re talking about. By just reading your resume, she should say that you are an aerospace engineer.

Using such skills will definitely increase your chances of getting to the interview.

Here are some skills specific to aerospace engineers.

  • Intuition
  • Math skills
  • Mechanics
  • Aerodynamics
  • Creativity
  • Critcal thinking
  • Analytical skills
  • Research
  • Documentation writing
  • Communication
  • Stress tolerance
  • Negotiation
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Planning
  • Risk management
  • Organizational skills
  • Teamwork

AEROSPACE ENGINEER RESUME SAMPLES

Have you noticed the big difference between the traditional way of writing resumes and how we’ve done it?

Here are the aerospace engineer resume samples we promised you. Go through them and see how the advice works. Following the advice given will make your resume not only powerful but also impressive.

You can then start planning on how to pass the interview.

Entry-level aerospace engineer resume sample

Right

Experienced aerospace engineer resume sample

Right

CONCLUSION

You now have everything you need to get that job. From aerospace engineering expertise to practical resume writing advice.

Pick one of our resume templates and write your aerospace engineer resume following the advice given.

Aerospace Engineer Resume: Examples, Template, and Resume Tips

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