Top 12 General Engineer Skills to Put on Your Resume

The job market keeps tightening, and engineering resumes compete in a noisy pile. Showcasing strong, broadly useful skills signals you can design, analyze, build, and keep moving when constraints bite. The 12 skills below span tools, methods, and ways of working that help you ship real outcomes—accurately, safely, and fast.

General Engineer Skills

1. AutoCAD
2. MATLAB
3. Python
4. SolidWorks
5. Project Management
6. Lean Manufacturing
7. Six Sigma
8. Revit
9. ANSYS
10. Java
11. PLC Programming
12. Agile Methodologies

1. AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a core CAD environment for drafting precise 2D plans and building out 3D models used across civil, mechanical, electrical, and architectural workflows.

Why It's Important

It lets engineers translate concepts into accurate drawings quickly, iterate cleanly, and coordinate with other disciplines, which trims errors and saves time and cost.

How to Improve AutoCAD Skills

Sharpen speed and accuracy, then push into advanced workflows:

1. Nail the fundamentals: Layers, blocks, Xrefs, object snaps, constraints, dimension styles. Make them muscle memory.

2. Customize for speed: Tailor tool palettes, aliases, and ribbons. Small shortcuts, big time wins.

3. Draw with precision: Grid, snap, polar tracking, and constraints keep geometry exact. Practice until placement is effortless.

4. Step into 3D: Solid and surface modeling, viewports, section planes, and rendering for clearer design intent.

5. Use templates and standards: Title blocks, plot styles, and disciplined naming reduce rework and confusion.

6. Learn from peers: Community forums and user groups are gold mines for tips and troubleshooting.

7. Practice regularly: Short, frequent sessions beat long, rare ones. Recreate real drawings to stress-test your workflow.

How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume

2. MATLAB

MATLAB is a high-level environment for numerical computing, visualization, and algorithm development, trusted for modeling, control systems, and data-heavy analysis.

Why It's Important

It accelerates prototyping and provides robust toolboxes for signal processing, control, optimization, and simulation—ideal when math meets engineering judgment.

How to Improve MATLAB Skills

Build depth, then build habits:

1. Master the core: Arrays, matrix ops, indexing, functions, scripts, and live scripts. Vectorize when possible.

2. Work with toolboxes: Control, Signal Processing, Optimization, and Simulink. Use the right tool, not brute force.

3. Code efficiently: Preallocate, use built-ins, profile your code, and tidy with clear naming and sections.

4. Document and visualize: Clean plots, labels, units, and live scripts turn analysis into shareable insight.

5. Learn from examples: Official documentation, example galleries, and community Q&A speed up problem solving.

6. Practice with projects: Recreate a controller, fit a model, or automate a report. Real tasks cement concepts.

How to Display MATLAB Skills on Your Resume

3. Python

Python is a readable, multipurpose language with batteries included—great for automation, data analysis, scientific computing, and quick prototypes that grow.

Why It's Important

It bridges teams and tasks: parse logs, crunch data, build APIs, test systems, glue tools. In one language.

How to Improve Python Skills

Go from scripts to solid software:

1. Own the basics: Data structures, functions, modules, packaging, environments.

2. Write Pythonic code: Follow PEP 8, embrace comprehensions, use standard library features before third-party add-ons.

3. Use core libraries: NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib/Seaborn, Requests, PyTest. Learn one deeply, not ten shallowly.

4. Practice deliberately: Small projects, coding challenges, and contributions to open source sharpen judgment.

5. Learn advanced topics: Async IO, context managers, decorators, typing, and packaging for production.

6. Stay current: Track new language features and library updates; refactor old habits.

How to Display Python Skills on Your Resume

4. SolidWorks

SolidWorks delivers parametric 3D CAD with simulation, drawings, and data management options—ideal for mechanical parts, assemblies, and manufacturable detail.

Why It's Important

It speeds design-to-production with clean modeling, mates, and BOMs, while surfacing and simulation reduce surprises before prototyping.

How to Improve SolidWorks Skills

Blend repetition with smart tooling:

1. Practice daily: Sketch constraints, features, and mates until your hands move faster than your mouse.

2. Work through built-in tutorials: They progress logically and reveal underused features.

3. Model for change: Design intent, configurations, equations, and design tables make edits painless.

4. Go beyond parts: Top-down assemblies, weldments, sheet metal, and drawings with proper GD&T.

5. Tune performance: Lightweight modes, simplified configs, and hardware that matches recommended specs.

6. Engage the community: User forums, meetups, and certification paths (CSWA/CSWP) keep you sharp.

How to Display SolidWorks Skills on Your Resume

5. Project Management

Project management plans work, aligns people, manages risk, and keeps cost, schedule, and quality from drifting off course.

Why It's Important

It turns scattered effort into delivery. Priorities clarify. Dependencies surface. Stakeholders stay informed. Deadlines hold.

How to Improve Project Management Skills

Structure plus feedback, then relentless iteration:

1. Define scope and success: Goals, constraints, acceptance criteria. Write them down and revisit often.

2. Communicate clearly: Cadence, channels, and concise updates. Use simple dashboards over sprawling reports.

3. Plan realistically: Break work into small, estimable tasks. Sequence with dependencies visible.

4. Manage risk: Identify, quantify, plan mitigations, and track triggers. No surprises.

5. Adopt the right tools: Kanban boards, issue trackers, and shared docs—lightweight and visible.

6. Time management: Protect focus time, limit WIP, and prioritize using methods like the Eisenhower matrix.

7. Close the loop: Retrospectives and postmortems capture lessons that actually change your next plan.

8. Grow credentials: Formal frameworks (like PMP or PRINCE2) can help anchor practice with consistent language.

How to Display Project Management Skills on Your Resume

6. Lean Manufacturing

Lean focuses on flow and value—remove waste, standardize the good, and build a system that exposes problems fast.

Why It's Important

Better throughput, lower defects, safer work, clearer processes. Customers notice, margins thank you.

How to Improve Lean Manufacturing Skills

Start small, sustain relentlessly:

1. Map value streams: End-to-end, door-to-door. See queues, rework, and wait time in daylight.

2. Implement 5S: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. Clutter hides problems.

3. Run Kaizen: Frequent, focused improvements led by the people doing the work.

4. Use JIT and pull: Produce what’s needed, when it’s needed. Lower inventory, reveal bottlenecks.

5. Apply root cause tools: 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, and verification of fixes—don’t treat symptoms.

6. Standard work: Document the current best way, then improve it. Train to standard.

7. Measure what matters: Throughput, first-pass yield, lead time, OEE. Fewer metrics, better focus.

8. Smart automation: Add tech where stable processes exist; don’t automate chaos.

9. Teach continuously: Regular training and cross-skilling keep gains from sliding back.

How to Display Lean Manufacturing Skills on Your Resume

7. Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a data-driven approach to reduce variation and defects using the DMAIC framework and statistical tools.

Why It's Important

It cuts waste, elevates quality, and makes performance measurable. Decisions shift from gut feel to evidence.

How to Improve Six Sigma Skills

Grow analytical depth and project rigor:

1. Strengthen statistics: Distributions, hypothesis testing, regression, DOE. Practice until the plots tell you stories.

2. Blend Lean with Six Sigma: Streamline flow, then squeeze variation. The combo hits both speed and quality.

3. Run real DMAIC projects: Charter, baseline, analyze, improve, control—end to end.

4. Level up certifications: Green Belt to Black Belt to Master Black Belt as your scope and impact grow.

5. Develop soft skills: Facilitation, conflict resolution, stakeholder buy-in. The stats won’t land without humans aligned.

6. Stay current: Case studies and communities keep techniques fresh and grounded.

How to Display Six Sigma Skills on Your Resume

8. Revit

Revit is a BIM platform for coordinated 3D models, drawings, and schedules that tie disciplines together across the building lifecycle.

Why It's Important

One source of truth means clashes surface early, changes ripple correctly, and documentation stays aligned with design.

How to Improve Revit Skills

Tighten modeling, then scale collaboration:

1. Solidify the basics: Families, parameters, views, sheets, schedules, and worksharing.

2. Standardize: Build clean templates, view templates, and naming conventions. Consistency saves hours.

3. Model with intent: Reference planes, constraints, and parametric families that flex without breaking.

4. Use add-ins wisely: Automate repetitive tasks and checks, but keep your core model lean.

5. Coordinate in 3D: Clash detection, shared coordinates, and linked models keep teams in sync.

6. Learn BIM management: Roles, QA/QC, and execution plans turn good models into reliable projects.

How to Display Revit Skills on Your Resume

9. ANSYS

ANSYS provides simulation for structures, fluids, thermal, and electromagnetics, turning assumptions into validated design decisions.

Why It's Important

It reduces physical prototypes, explores design space safely, and improves reliability long before anything gets built.

How to Improve ANSYS Skills

Understand the physics, not just the software:

1. Reinforce fundamentals: FEA and CFD basics—meshing strategies, boundary conditions, convergence, and verification.

2. Follow official learning paths: Structured courses and example libraries accelerate competence.

3. Start simple, scale complexity: Validate on analytical cases first, then layer in realism.

4. Use clean CAD: Simplify geometry, defeature smartly, and manage contacts to avoid solver headaches.

5. Document assumptions: Materials, loads, constraints, and model fidelity. Traceability beats guesswork.

6. Engage communities: User forums and peer reviews uncover better setups and post-processing techniques.

How to Display ANSYS Skills on Your Resume

10. Java

Java is an object-oriented language built for portability, stability, and scale—enterprise systems, Android apps, and high-reliability services.

Why It's Important

Mature tooling, strong libraries, and a huge ecosystem make it a dependable choice for long-lived engineering applications.

How to Improve Java Skills

Write clearer code, then faster, then safer:

1. Solidify fundamentals: OOP, collections, generics, exceptions, streams, and concurrency basics.

2. Practice with intent: Solve algorithmic problems; then build small services and libraries to learn design trade-offs.

3. Study design patterns: Know when to apply them—and when not to.

4. Understand the JVM: Memory model, garbage collection, profiling, and tuning for performance.

5. Test and document: JUnit, property-based testing, and clean Javadoc keep code maintainable.

6. Keep pace: Track new Java releases and language features; modernize from legacy idioms.

How to Display Java Skills on Your Resume

11. PLC Programming

PLC programming creates logic to control machines and processes using languages like Ladder, Function Block, and Structured Text.

Why It's Important

It powers safe, repeatable automation on shop floors and in plants where uptime and reliability matter.

How to Improve PLC Programming Skills

Ground yourself in hardware, then refine your logic:

1. Learn the platform: I/O types, scan cycles, tasks, and memory mapping. Different vendors, same principles.

2. Practice with simulators: Test interlocks, alarms, and sequences before touching a live line.

3. Structure your code: Modular programs, clear tags, comments, and version control. Future you will thank you.

4. Implement PID and motion: Tune loops, handle modes, and fail safe. Start conservative.

5. Speak the protocols: Modbus, EtherNet/IP, Profinet. Map data cleanly and monitor comms health.

6. Know the standards: IEC 61131-3 for programming and ISO 13849 for functional safety.

7. Use the right tools: Studio 5000 Logix Designer (formerly RSLogix 5000), TIA Portal, and equivalent suites—keep them updated.

8. Test thoroughly: FAT, SAT, and documented IO checks reduce startup surprises.

How to Display PLC Programming Skills on Your Resume

12. Agile Methodologies

Agile is a family of practices that favors short cycles, tight feedback, and continuous improvement over heavy upfront plans.

Why It's Important

Requirements shift. Risks appear. Agile teams respond quickly, maintain quality, and keep stakeholders engaged.

How to Improve Agile Methodologies Skills

Make the loop smaller and the signal clearer:

1. Iterate deliberately: Short sprints, clear goals, and honest retrospectives. Adjust often.

2. Communicate openly: Lightweight tools, visible boards, and brief stand-ups keep everyone aligned.

3. Automate the boring: CI/CD, tests, and repeatable deployments free time for hard problems.

4. Prioritize value: Slice features thin, deliver increments, and validate with users early.

5. Blend practices: Borrow from Lean and DevOps to tighten flow and feedback.

6. Invest in roles and craft: Product ownership, backlog grooming, and definition of done—clear and consistent.

How to Display Agile Methodologies Skills on Your Resume