Architect resume example & writing guide

By design, architects combine art with functionality. Their resumes should do the same. An architect’s resume should support their skills and experience and be aesthetically pleasing. This will help it be a scaffold for your career path. Learn how a great resume format will effectively highlight your professional experience while also grabbing a recruiter's attention.

This resume guide, along with the corresponding architect resume example, will cover the following topics:

• What should an architect resume include

• Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education)

• Adding relevant key skills to your resume

• Choosing the right resume template for an architect

What should your architect resume include?   

Your architect resume should emphasize your creativity, technical skills, and problem-solving ability. An architect needs to be both a good leader and communicator, and be aware of environmental concerns. Your resume needs to reflect that as well. Architects have to collaborate with many different industries and fields when making considerations for a design. It’s important that the unique range of knowledge required for this comes across to the reader.

Your architect resume should contain the following elements:

• The resume header with your contact information

• The resume summary 

• The employment history section

• The resume skills section

• The education section

How can you create a professional summary?

As an experienced, trained architect, you must begin your “career blueprint” by demonstrating your experience, skills, and unique value. The best place to do this is in your professional summary, 2-4 sentences at the top of your resume. A professional summary is a brief testimony highlighting your professional values and expertise and how they’re reflected in your practical experience. This could include your foresight, environmental consciousness, or your top-notch leadership skills.

Consider including an “Areas of Expertise” list as part of your professional summary. This will take the form of several bullet points explaining your unique skill set, with space to augment each skill. This can help you emphasize any specialties you have.

See our adaptable architect resume summary below.

How should you describe your work experience as an architect?   

This section is where you can lay out your experience and expertise, and demonstrate why you’re the architect any firm would be lucky to work with. The trick is to refer to the job description and tailor your work history to provide the hiring manager with concise (but detailed) information about your experience, creativity, and success on past work projects and how you are the person to solve any issue the employer has.

The best format to use is reverse chronological order, which means listing your most recent position first, including your job title, years of employment, and key job responsibilities. Don’t forget your accomplishments—you’ll use a bullet point list to lay them out. Use quantifiable data when possible to demonstrate the impact your work has had. You want to show that you’re an innovator who gets results.

For example, instead of saying you’re “proficient with CAD,”  you would say:

• Applied expert level of CAD to produce designs for 36 public buildings, 14 private infrastructures, and 7 residential designs. 

The numbers show that you possess the skill at a level that can be repeated and used effectively. It’s important to show your value and what differentiates you from other applicants.

Take a look at the adaptable architect resume employment history section below.

Include a fitting architect resume education and certifications section

Architects are highly trained professionals, and employers want to see that you have the appropriate education and experience. It shows recruiters that they have received professional training and gives insight into their current knowledge. When including courses, only consider the most vital or niche. When you’re writing your education section, consider the following tips:

• Keep it simple. List your degrees and certifications, with only relevant details listed under each degree, such as the name of the school, location, and degree. Include your graduation year only if it was less than 10 years ago.

• List your education in reverse order with the highest degree first. Since having a college degree is standard for architects, don’t bother with your high school diploma. 

• List any certifications you have or are working towards, such as the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), Certified Green Building Engineer (CGBE), or Certified Healthcare Architect (CHA). Not only are some certifications required for specific positions, they also demonstrate your commitment to professional education and growth.

Which key skills are relevant to an architect's resume?

A hiring manager will be looking to see if you possess specific skills needed for the position in addition to your experience. Because of this, you’ll want to ensure that the skills you provide align with the job description. Besides just making a list, how do you incorporate those skills throughout your resume?

The answers can usually be found in the job description itself. If you look closely, it will likely use specific keywords that you can include, or find related skills that align with the ones you have. If you’re applying for a large firm, ATS systems will most likely scan your resume. These programs scan resumes for keywords and rank them by how closely they match the job description. Ones that don’t meet the requirements are discarded and never seen by human eyes. (Check out our article Resume ATS optimization to learn more about conquering the ATS.)

If you need inspiration, career.io’s templates provide a list of key skills that are common to an architect resume. Remember to pepper these skills throughout your resume, from the professional summary through the education section. For an architect, a few of the vital hard and soft skills might include:

• 2D and 3D CAD

• 2D and 3D drawings and models

• The names of specific design software

• Design concept knowledge

• Understanding of building codes and regulations

• Project management

• Communication

• Collaboration

How to select the most impactful architect resume template

An effective architect resume should be organized, uncluttered, and easy to read. It should use a clean, modern, eye-catching resume design but not “over the top.” Feel free to add a little color or flair but don’t go overboard, as you want to be taken seriously as a professional (and extensive graphics or fancy fonts may not be read properly by ATS). This sample architect resume uses our London template with simple, clean lines and distinct section headers.

Career.io has a wide range of resume templates in our resume builder, so you can find the one that works best for you. Need more inspiration? We have 100+ available resume examples with various effective, expert-tested layouts and designs.

Copyable architect resume example

Key takeaways for writing an architect resume

1. An architect’s resume should support their skills and experience and be aesthetically pleasing.

2. Your professional summary, at the top of the resume, should demonstrate your experience, skills, and unique value in two to four sentences.

3. Tailor your resume by referring to the job description. This will provide the hiring manager with concise (but detailed) information about your experience, creativity, and success on past work projects.

4. Use our online resume builder to craft your architect resume with adaptable templates and AI-powered content to make creating a resume quick and easy.