Systems Engineer resume example & writing guide
- What should your systems engineer resume include?
- How can you create a professional summary?
- How should you describe your work experience as a systems engineer?
- Include a fitting systems engineer resume education and certifications section
- Which key skills are relevant for a systems engineer resume?
- How to select the most impactful systems engineer resume template
- Copyable systems engineer resume example
- Key takeaways for writing a systems engineer resume
Take your systems engineer resume to the next level by crafting an eye-catching resume. Discover how to showcase your unique experience in network design, database management, and systems modeling with our strategic guideline for writing a resume that showcases your top skills.
If you are someone who loves to solve complex problems and design innovative systems for a wide range of industries, one impactful career is a systems engineer. To be successful in this role, you need to have a variety of skills related to project management, data analysis, and cybersecurity, among others. But what’s most important when looking for a job is to be able to portray those skills and qualities on a resume.
In this resume guide and corresponding systems engineer resume example, we will show you how to create an eye-catching resume by covering the following topics:
What should a systems engineer 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 a systems engineer
What should your systems engineer resume include?
Your systems engineer resume aims to showcase your technical skills, experience, and achievements in a way that makes you stand out to potential employers. That means emphasizing key areas of expertise, such as systems architecture, network engineering, or integration. You should also mention any professional certifications you have, give quantifiable results to demonstrate your impact, and highlight accomplishments related to project implementations and system optimizations.
It’s best to strategically include this information throughout the sections of your resume to ensure you show a potential employer you are the best option for the role. Here’s a look at the sections you need to include on your resume:
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?
Since a systems engineering role is so technical, you’ll need to portray your expertise in system architecture, various technical tools and hardware, and troubleshooting right from the start. Begin the professional summary with a quick statement that gives a glimpse of your overall experience. Then, you can dive in a bit deeper by giving an overview of your work history in a short paragraph.
One great addition to your professional summary section are area of expertise and technical proficiencies tables. In these tables, you can draw attention to the individual tools and hardware you are proficient in as well as any top skills you need to highlight. Make sure you choose areas of expertise that are relevant to the specific job you are applying to by reviewing the job description. Include any relevant-to-you skills in your areas of expertise table that are mentioned in the job description.
See our adaptable systems engineer resume summary below.
Astute, dedicated engineering professional skilled in delivering technology systems to a diverse client base in multiple industries. Excel at architecting, administering, troubleshooting, and upgrading complex network infrastructures. Engaging communicator adept at building and cultivating long-term relationships with customers, stakeholders, and team members. Equipped with an analytical mindset, effectively resolving system-wide technical issues while gathering requirements and conveying technical concepts through compelling pre-sales presentations. Motivational leader with a history of guiding and mentoring top-performing technical and sales teams.
How should you describe your work experience as a systems engineer?
Your work experience section is where you can go even deeper into the type of skills you’ve developed as well as your key accomplishments. Each job should begin with a short paragraph that gives an overview of your top responsibilities.
You can then include a few bullet points to highlight some of your top accomplishments. Focus on projects where you made an impact on a company’s overall success. Perhaps you designed a new POS system or reduced the cost of infrastructure resources. Include these accomplishments on your resume. Just remember to keep them relevant to the job and quantify them whenever possible.
For example:
Oversaw major storage infrastructure expansion project and expanded data storage capacity by over 1200%.
If you are struggling to find quantifiable results, focus the accomplishment around what was achieved due to your work. You may not have the specific numbers, but you can still show what areas of the business you were able to improve.
Take a look at the adaptable system engineer resume employment history section below.
Technology Systems Consultant at IT Consultancy, St. Louis, MO 2020 - Present
Deliver consulting services to a diverse client base in architecting, administering, troubleshooting, and upgrading complex network infrastructures.
Consult with clients in gathering requirements and determining resources needed for challenging systems engineering projects.
Liaise with vendors in negotiating and procuring tools, equipment, and software required for project completion.
Coordinated and launched prototype of children’s party center for Build-A-Bear Workshop, including point of sale (POS) systems, proprietary, all-in-one software solution for recording bear vocalization sounds, proprietary bear-naming system, and network installation and configuration.
Delivered all projects in line with client budgets and deadlines, maintaining exceptional record of client satisfaction.
Senior Systems Engineer (Consultant) at World Wide Technology, St. Louis, MO 2016 - 2020
Coordinated a wide range of sophisticated systems engineering functions, from pre-sales consultations to post-sales deliveries.
Gathered information necessary for identifying and determining clients’ system requirements, advising on key technical aspects of projects.
Established and nurtured strong relationships with new and existing customers. Provided technical content for inclusion in Statement of Work (SOW).
Produced detailed technical design documents. Partnered closely with project management teams to plan and formulate migration strategies.
Defined project deliverables and schedules in collaboration with pre-sales and project management teams.
Negotiated cost-effective supplies and services with vendors. Generated proposals in response to changing customer business and systems-performance requirements.
Recognized as technical expert in pre-sales qualification, holding accountability for planning and delivery of technical architectural concept, capacity, and performance strategies for each engagement.
Selected due to deep technical knowledge and training capabilities to act as performance and design trainer for pre-sales and implementation teams.
Systems Engineer III at Caleres Inc. (Formerly Brown Shoe Company), St. Louis, MO 2013 - 2016
Assisted in the design, deployment, support, and upgrade of sophisticated information systems and IT solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
Cultivated relationships with C-level management, key business partners, and stakeholders.
Delivered infrastructure projects under budget and ahead of schedule through effective resources management.
Reduced cost of infrastructure-development resources by aggressively negotiating vendor agreements.
Hand-picked by senior leadership on several occasions to manage critical, large-scale systems designs and upgrade projects normally assigned to Shared Architecture team.
Conceived and introduced process for gathering and compiling monthly SAN metrics to support senior leadership in making decisions regarding resource allocation and operating expenses.
Include a fitting systems engineer resume education and certifications section
Education is especially important for a systems engineer, so you should keep your education and training section up to date. Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when you are writing out your education section.
Keep it concise. Just the basic information about your degree, where you obtained it, and the location of your college is necessary here.
List degrees in reverse chronological order with your highest degree listed first. You should avoid adding dates to this list and stick with your upper degrees. High school diplomas shouldn’t be included.
List any certifications you’ve obtained or are currently working toward. These should be included at the very bottom of your resume after your degrees and specialized training are mentioned.
Master’s in Systems Engineering at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems / Information Technology at Maryville University, St Louis, MO
Which key skills are relevant for a systems engineer resume?
The skills section is especially important for a systems engineer resume. It’s where a potential hiring manager will look to ensure you have the know-how to complete the work they are hiring you for. You will want to ensure your areas of expertise section align with the skills listed in the job description.
This is important because many hiring managers use an applicant tracking system to pre-scan resumes for certain keywords. If your resume has the skills they are looking for mentioned, you have a better chance of getting your resume in front of a hiring manager. If you need to learn more about how an ATS works, check out our article Resume ATS optimization.)
In our template, you’ll find several keywords that work with many systems engineering jobs. However, you should customize your resume around the job you are applying for to ensure your resume gives the hiring manager the best impression of your skills. Remember to sprinkle those keywords throughout your resume for the best impact. For a systems engineering job, some of the top skills might be:
Systems architecture
Infrastructure planning
Security & disaster recovery
Systems redesign
Systems migrations
Network upgrades & troubleshooting
Requirement gathering
How to select the most impactful systems engineer resume template
The most impactful systems engineer resume template is one that is easy to read, professional, and contains all the necessary information.
You should keep your template clean and simple and design it in a way where your technical skills and experience stand out. Using tables to display your technical proficiencies and bullet points to showcase the projects you’ve worked on can help with this. It’s best to keep this type of resume in black and white and keep the document to two pages. Since you have a lot of technical information to include, you might not have a lot of white space, but you should try to add some when you can. Otherwise, the resume could appear too busy and the text will become distracting and hard to read.
We have many great templates to choose from in our resume builder, so feel free to browse through the options to find one that fits your experience the best. You can also draw inspiration by checking out our over 100 available resume examples.
Copyable systems engineer resume example
Summary
Astute, dedicated engineering professional skilled in delivering technology systems to a diverse client base in multiple industries. Excel at architecting, administering, troubleshooting, and upgrading complex network infrastructures. Engaging communicator adept at building and cultivating long-term relationships with customers, stakeholders, and team members. Equipped with an analytical mindset, effectively resolving system-wide technical issues while gathering requirements and conveying technical concepts through compelling pre-sales presentations. Motivational leader with a history of guiding and mentoring top-performing technical and sales teams.
Employment history example
Technology Systems Consultant at IT Consultancy, St. Louis, MO 2020 - Present
Deliver consulting services to a diverse client base in architecting, administering, troubleshooting, and upgrading complex network infrastructures.
Consult with clients in gathering requirements and determining resources needed for challenging systems engineering projects.
Liaise with vendors in negotiating and procuring tools, equipment, and software required for project completion.
Coordinated and launched prototype of children’s party center for Build-A-Bear Workshop, including point of sale (POS) systems, proprietary, all-in-one software solution for recording bear vocalization sounds, proprietary bear-naming system, and network installation and configuration.
Delivered all projects in line with client budgets and deadlines, maintaining exceptional record of client satisfaction.
Senior Systems Engineer (Consultant) at World Wide Technology, St. Louis, MO 2016 - 2020
Coordinated a wide range of sophisticated systems engineering functions, from pre-sales consultations to post-sales deliveries.
Gathered information necessary for identifying and determining clients’ system requirements, advising on key technical aspects of projects.
Established and nurtured strong relationships with new and existing customers. Provided technical content for inclusion in Statement of Work (SOW).
Produced detailed technical design documents. Partnered closely with project management teams to plan and formulate migration strategies.
Defined project deliverables and schedules in collaboration with pre-sales and project management teams.
Negotiated cost-effective supplies and services with vendors. Generated proposals in response to changing customer business and systems-performance requirements.
Recognized as technical expert in pre-sales qualification, holding accountability for planning and delivery of technical architectural concept, capacity, and performance strategies for each engagement.
Selected due to deep technical knowledge and training capabilities to act as performance and design trainer for pre-sales and implementation teams.
Systems Engineer III at Caleres Inc. (Formerly Brown Shoe Company), St. Louis, MO 2013 - 2016
Assisted in the design, deployment, support, and upgrade of sophisticated information systems and IT solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
Cultivated relationships with C-level management, key business partners, and stakeholders.
Delivered infrastructure projects under budget and ahead of schedule through effective resources management.
Reduced cost of infrastructure-development resources by aggressively negotiating vendor agreements.
Hand-picked by senior leadership on several occasions to manage critical, large-scale systems designs and upgrade projects normally assigned to Shared Architecture team.
Conceived and introduced process for gathering and compiling monthly SAN metrics to support senior leadership in making decisions regarding resource allocation and operating expenses.
Education example
Master’s in Systems Engineering at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems / Information Technology at Maryville University, St Louis, MO
Skills example
Technical Sales Cycle
Enterprise Storage Solutions
Pre-Sales Presentations
Enterprise IT Infrastructure Planning
Client, Vendor & Supplier Relations
Coaching & Training
Systems Migrations
Windows, Windows Server, VMware, Linux, UNIX OS, NAS, SAN, Cloud
Key takeaways for writing a systems engineer resume
As a systems engineer, you will have many technical skills you need to showcase in your resume.
You should show a hiring manager you’ve worked with the specific systems and hardware the role requires.
Add keywords in every section of your resume, such as “storage infrastructure”, “resource allocation”, and “systems architecture”.
Our online resume builder can help you design your systems engineer resume quickly thanks to our AI-powered content and adaptable templates. Our goal is to make it faster and easier to apply for jobs!
