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2026 ATS keywords

Top Resume Keywords for
Mechanical Engineers

A recruiter's first look at a resume averages 7.4 seconds (Ladders eye-tracking study, 2018). These are the words that look has to find.

See the full Mechanical Engineer skill gap analysis
The keyword list

What a Mechanical Engineer resume has to say

Split by what the parser matches literally and what a human reads for. Both columns are ranked core-first.

Technical skills

These are the hard skills and tools that define the role. Mention these in your “Skills” section and within your work experience bullet points.

CADSolidWorksGD&TThermodynamicsMaterials ScienceFEAAutoCADManufacturing ProcessesPrototypingMATLABCFD3D PrintingSix Sigma

Soft skills

Use these keywords to describe how you work. Weave them into your summary and accomplishment stories.

Problem SolvingAttention to DetailTeamworkTechnical DocumentationProject Management

Keywords are a start. Check the whole resume.

Adding keywords is easy. The free Resume Score shows whether your resume as a whole has what a Mechanical Engineer role asks for, and names the skills it is still missing. Practice Mechanical Engineer interview questions →

Check my Mechanical Engineer score

Keywords only help if the ATS can read them. Check your resume's ATS parse rate free →