English
    My account

    Data Engineer Resume—Sample and 25+ Writing Tips

    You lay the groundwork for game-changing data analysis. Use your data engineer resume to show you have the cutting-edge know-how to give them an unfair advantage.

    Bart Turczynski
    Bart Turczynski
    Career Expert
    Data Engineer Resume—Sample and 25+ Writing Tips

    You’re great with data.

    You’re good with processes, organizing a path from A to B.

    You’re a strong communicator, helping people grasp patterns on inhuman scales.

    And—

    You’re a little stuck on how to approach writing your data engineer resume.

    Not sure how use your skills to describe your skills.

    Or what else to write.

    In this guide:

    • A data engineer resume sample better than most.
    • How to create data-driven data engineer job descriptions.
    • How to write a data engineer resume that stands out.
    • Expert tips and examples to boost your chances of landing your dream job.

    Save hours of work and get a job-winning resume like this. Try our resume builder for free. Start by choosing a resume template.

    Create your resume now

    CREATE YOUR RESUME NOWdata engineer resume example

    What users say about ResumeLab:

    I had an interview yesterday and the first thing they said on the phone was: “Wow! I love your resume.”
    Patrick

    I love the variety of templates. Good job guys, keep up the good work!
    Dylan 

    My previous resume was really weak and I used to spend hours adjusting it in Word. Now, I can introduce any changes within minutes. Absolutely wonderful!
    George

    Create your resume now

    Still at or going back to college? Getting into academia? Side-stepping into another IT career or switching over to a management stream? These are just some of our guides:

    Data Engineer Resume Sample

    John Stanton

    Data Engineer

    Personal Info

    Phone: 646-267-8985

    E-mail: john.stanton@reslab.com

    linkedin.com/in/johnlstanton

    Summary

    Innovative data engineer with 5+ years’ experience leveraging data and business principles to solve large-scale data infrastructure problems. Seeking opportunity to support Ludtrack Enterprises’ move into the medical insurance space. At InvigiSoft Medical, boosted overall data pipeline efficiency by 17% while saving the company up to $1.2M per year in database rollbacks.

    Experience 

    Big Data Engineer

    InvigiSoft Medical

    November 2018–present

    • Designed data pipelines to move data across data warehouse, online cache, and real-time systems with a mean efficiency 17% above the norm.
    • Supported 11 new sources of data brought into the data warehouse over a 20-month period.
    • Created 10+ automated applications and reporting solutions that saved the team 30+ labor hours per month.
    • Monitored data-warehouse servers for performance issues, saving up to $1.2M per year in preventable rollbacks.

    Junior Data Engineer

    Oxenford Analytics

    March 2016–August 2018

    • Developed training materials and provided on-going training for seven company-wide cross-functional teams.
    • Collaborated with 10+ internal and external stake holders, including Infrastructure, DevOps, and Data Science teams.
    • Scraped over 1 PB of social media users’ data and used classification methods (Neural Net, Decision Trees, KNN, and SVM) to partially structure this data.
    • Tested over 20 data pipelines using Python, identifying reclaimable efficiency losses of 7–12%. 

    Education 

    BS in Computer Science

    New York Institute of Technology, NY

    2012–2016

    • Pursued a passion for machine learning coursework.
    • Held merit-based FASTRAC scholarship.
    • Tutored grade school children in NY in basic programming.

    Software 

    • Git
    • Apache Spark
    • Apache Hadoop
    • Apache Kafka
    • Apache Airflow
    • Snowflake
    • Redshift
    • BigQuery
    • Looker
    • Various ETL solutions

    Programming Languages

    • Python
    • Java
    • Scala
    • SQL

    Key Skills 

    • Machine learning
    • Data analytics
    • Business intelligence
    • Data warehousing
    • Data pipelines
    • Communication skills
    • Problem solving
    • Technical writing
    • Teamwork

    Now here’s how to write a data engineer resume they’ll love:

    1. Choose the Right Data Engineer Resume Format

    Structure makes all the difference.

    Make sure your resume format is what they’re set up to handle:

    Data Engineer Resume Format

    • Use the reverse-chronological resume format to lead with your most recent successes.
    • Go with an understated resume font like a Noto, Arial or Verdana in 11–12 pt.
    • Fix the margins of your resume at one inch.
    • Leave plenty of white space around headings and sections.
    • Submit a one-page resume. Go to a maximum of two pages if you have many years of data engineering experience.
    • Include at least these resume sections: Resume Header, Profile, Experience, Education, and Skills.

    Saving your resume in PDF seems like an obvious choice—

    But always check that another file type isn’t required.

    You might shake your head in disbelief, but some Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) still don’t do well in parsing PDF files. If the job ad clearly states that another file format is required, save your resume in that format instead of PDF. Your ATS-friendly resume might end up as a Word file.

    2. Write an Attention-Grabbing Data Engineer Resume Profile

    In many ways—

    Your resume format is all about fitting in and playing to expectations.

    Your resume profile is where you can really start to stand out.

    There are two main kinds of resume profile.

    Got a year or more of data engineering experience?

    Then start with a resume summary.

    Use:

    1. One adjective (efficient, dedicated, dynamic)
    2. Job title (Data Engineer, Data Acquisition Engineer, Data Center Network Engineer)
    3. Years of experience (4+, 7+)
    4. How you intend to help (support the full and efficient exploitation of user data)
    5. Two or three of your most relevant achievements (designed and built data warehousing solutions 100% within spec and $300,000+ under budget)

    These resume summary examples show how:

    Data Engineer Resume Summary

    Good Example
    Innovative data engineer with 5+ years’ experience leveraging data and business principles to solve large-scale data infrastructure problems. Seeking opportunity to support Ludtrack Enterprises’ move into the medical insurance space. At InvigiSoft Medical, boosted overall data pipeline efficiency by 17% while saving the company up to $1.2M per year in database rollbacks.
    Bad Example
    Data engineer with 5 years’ experience solving large-scale data infrastructure problems. Seeking opportunity to join a forward-thinking company with an aggressive business model. At InvigiSoft Medical, designed data pipelines and monitored data-warehouse servers for performance issues.

    Even the bad example makes good use of resume power words.

    But this is a winner-takes-all, zero-sum game:

    The first example focuses on quantifying benefits brought to previous employers—

    And what the candidate can do for their new employer.

    Fresh out of college?

    Write a resume objective and look to coursework, projects, placement work, internships, and IT-related paid employment for relevant achievements.

    Entry-Level Data Engineer Resume Objective

    Good Example
    Dedicated data engineer with 1+ years’ experience applying data and business principles to help solve large-scale data infrastructure problems. Seeking opportunity to support Ludtrack Enterprises’ move into the medical insurance space. As an intern at Oxenford Analytics, scraped and partially structured over 1 PB of social media users’ data and developed training materials for seven company-wide cross-functional teams.
    Bad Example
    Just out of college with a BS in Computer Science. No experience other than internship at Oxenford Analytics. Looking for company with modern views and a reasonable Code of Conduct.

    Focusing on what you want from the job is at best a waste of word count.

    Decribe what you can do for them instead.

    Stuck?

    Write your profile last:

    It’s much easier once you have your job descriptions and skills section laid out in front of you.

    3. Populate Your Data Engineer Job Description and Skills Sections

    Hiring managers are more or less predictable—

    Even if you don’t have access to their personal data.

    The best way to impress them?

    Describe what you were able to do for previous employers—

    Fill your resume work experience section with quantified achievements.

    How to write job descriptions for data engineers:

    1. Go back over the job ad.
    2. Flag any data engineering skills and duties.
    3. Think of times you’ve used those skills to get results.
    4. Write resume bullet points that describe and quantify the above.

    These big data engineer resume examples show how:

    Data Engineer Resume Job Description

    Good Example

    Big Data Engineer

    InvigiSoft Medical

    September 2018–present

    • Designed data pipelines to move data across data warehouse, online cache, and real-time systems with a mean efficiency 17% above the norm.
    • Supported 11 new sources of data brought into the data warehouse over a 20-month period.
    • Created 10+ automated applications and reporting solutions that saved the team 30+ labor hours per month.
    • Monitored data-warehouse servers for performance issues, saving up to $1.2M per year in preventable rollbacks.
    Bad Example

    Big Data Engineer

    InvigiSoft Medical

    2018–present

    • Designed data pipelines to move data across data warehouse, online cache, and real-time systems.
    • Supported new sources of data as they were brought into the data warehouse.
    • Created automated applications and reporting solutions.
    • Monitored data-warehouse servers for performance issues.

    Same candidate, big difference.

    Quantified resume achievements make a much greater impact.

    Writing an entry-level data engineer resume?

    Draw upon your studies and other jobs you’ve had for accomplishments that demonstrate key data engineer skills.

    Speaking of skills—

    You’ll need a resume skills section.

    The trick: be extremely selective.

    Let the job ad dictate which of your data engineering skills you include.

    The lists below are meant only as food for thought:

    Data Engineer Resume Skills

    Hard Skills

    • Machine learning
    • Data analytics
    • Business intelligence
    • Data warehousing
    • Data pipelines
    • Data architecture
    • ETL
    • Data science
    • Database management
    • Linux

    Soft Skills

    • Communication skills
    • Problem solving
    • Technical writing
    • Teamwork
    • Critical thinking
    • Organization
    • Time management
    • Collaboration
    • Reporting
    • Interpersonal skills

    The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now.

    CREATE YOUR RESUME NOW

    CREATE YOUR RESUME NOWcreate your resume now

    Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now.

    4. Turn Your Education From a Formality Into a Talking Point

    The right education is a big part of becoming a data engineer—

    Most candidates will have a similar education to yours.

    But—

    That doesn’t mean you can’t use yours to stand out:

    List degree names (with majors), schools, and years attended.

    But then:

    Add bullet points that speak to key skills.

    This data engineer resume example shows how:

    Data Engineer Resume—Sample Education

    Good Example

    BS in Computer Science

    New York Institute of Technology, NY

    2012–2016

    • Pursued a passion for machine learning coursework.
    • Held merit-based FASTRAC scholarship.

    Expand your education section even further if you’re short on experience:

    Include projects, courses, and accomplishments that point to data engineer skills, both hard and soft.

    5. Enrich Your Data Engineer Resume With Added Sections

    Some candidates just stopped there—

    Lurch ahead of the pack by adding one or two additional sections:

    All these are fair game, but—

    There’s one golden rule:

    Everything you add has to be directly relevant to the job at hand.

    These two data engineer resume examples show yes vs no:

    Data Engineer Resume Sample—Extra Sections

    Good Example

    Software 

    • Git
    • Apache Spark
    • Apache Hadoop
    • Apache Kafka
    • Apache Airflow
    • Snowflake
    • Redshift
    • BigQuery
    • Looker
    • Various ETL solutions

    Programming Languages

    • Python
    • Java
    • Scala
    • SQL
    Bad Example

    Software

    • Data analysis
    • Data engineering
    • Database
    • Office suites
    • Operating systems

    Hobbies and Interests

    • Balisong tricks
    • Urban drone flying
    • Photography

    One last thing—

    You need to write a cover letter to go with your big data engineer resume.

    Not including one can be like losing the PGP key to an encrypted database:

    Hardly a recipe for success.

    Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.

    CREATE YOUR COVER LETTER NOW

    CREATE YOUR COVER LETTER NOWcreate your cover letter now

    Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

    Key Points

    For a data engineer resume that gets interviews:

    • Use the data center engineer resume sample up top as your template. It’s preconfigured to check all the right boxes.
    • Put data engineering achievementsin your profile, work history, and education sections to let facts speak for themselves.
    • Choose the right data engineering skills to include in your resume. The job ad will be your guide and gatekeeper.
    • Include a data engineer cover letter. Use it to make your case as you spotlight your passion for all things Big Data.

    Still have questions remaining? Got any advice to share? Save yourself and others the trouble and drop us a line down below. We’d love to hear what you have to say.

    About ResumeLab’s Editorial Process

    At ResumeLab, quality is at the crux of our values, supporting our commitment to delivering top-notch career resources. The editorial team of career experts carefully reviews every article in accordance with editorial guidelines, ensuring the high quality and reliability of our content. We actively conduct original research, shedding light on the job market's intricacies and earning recognition from numerous influential news outlets. Our dedication to delivering expert career advice attracts millions of readers to our blog each year.

    Bart Turczynski

    Bart, published by the Financial Times, Hewlett-Packard, CareerBuilder, and Glassdoor, ensures ResumeLab articles are based on scientific data and in-depth studies.

    Was it interesting?Here are similar articles