Civil engineer CV example, with a site version and a design version
Lead a civil engineer CV with the role you want, site or design, then give each project its structure type, size, your own responsibility and the software used. Put licence status near the top: İMO, PE or CEng.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
First decision: a site CV or a design CV
Civil engineering splits into people who build and people who calculate, and one CV rarely serves both. The National Careers Service describes the work as office or construction-site based, with tasks that run from design models to monitoring each construction stage. Read the advert, decide which side it sits on, and build the document for that reader.
| Site CV | Design CV | |
|---|---|---|
| Headline | Site engineer, site chief, planning engineer | Structural, geotechnical, transport or hydraulic design engineer |
| Numbers that carry weight | Floor area in m², programme dates, crew and subcontractor count, quantities, progress payments checked | Storeys and spans, design code, number of drawing sets, checking rounds passed |
| Software to name | Primavera P6 or MS Project, AutoCAD for shop drawings, a quantity take-off tool | SAP2000, ETABS or a similar analysis package, AutoCAD or Civil 3D, Revit |
| Proof a reader can check | Handover with an occupancy permit, site diary records | Approved project sets, independent check reports |
If you have done both
Put the side you are applying to first and squeeze the other into one line per job. A design office wants to see that you understand buildability; a contractor wants to see that you can read a static calculation. One sentence of each is enough to make the point.
What employers and regulators look at
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says entry-level civil engineers do not need a licence, but those who provide services directly to the public typically must be licensed, and a licensed engineer can approve design plans and sign off on projects. So the first question in any civil hiring is simple: can this person sign, and if not, how close are they?
- Degree, university and graduation year, and whether the programme is accredited. BLS notes that state licensure generally requires a degree from an accredited engineering programme.
- Licence or registration status, with dates and numbers, near the top of the page.
- Project types that match the job: buildings, roads, water, ports, ground works.
- Software tied to a task. O*NET lists AutoCAD Civil 3D, Revit and MicroStation as CAD tools for this occupation and Oracle Primavera under project management.
Türkiye: chamber membership and the İMO certificate
Article 33 of Law 6235 on the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) requires engineers who carry out professional work to register with the chamber for their branch; for engineers employed permanently in public bodies, joining is optional. For civil engineers that chamber is İMO. Write 'İMO member, registration no.' in the header if you have it.
Freelance work adds a certificate. İMO's own regulation calls it the serbest inşaat mühendisi (SİM) certificate, the civil version of what other chambers call SMM. You need to be a member with no unpaid dues, under no professional restriction, and to pay the registration fee. The application includes a CV, a signed declaration, and a list of the works you did with your authority and responsibility on each. The certificate must be approved again every two years.
İMO's specialism areas make good sub-headings
The same regulation sorts civil work into seven specialism areas: structures, geotechnics, transport, hydraulics and water resources, coasts and harbours, construction management and site safety, and building materials. Labelling each project with one of these tells a Turkish reader at once where you belong. The separate free-lance building inspector (SYD) certificate requires at least 12 years of professional experience, so do not claim it early.
Site chief work and the records behind it
The Şantiye Şefleri Hakkında Yönetmelik (site chief regulation, first published on 2 March 2019) lets architects and civil, mechanical or electrical engineers act as site chief. Its 2019 text reserves some works for civil engineers only: sheet piles, piles, ground anchors, seismic isolation, shoring and excavation, jet grouting and similar ground improvement, demolition, and buildings with post-tensioned elements. The 2022, 2024 and 2025 amendments we read do not change that paragraph.
The 2022 amendment caps how many jobs one site chief may hold by floor area, and counts as experience only jobs registered in EKAP or the ministry system (now called Şantiye-M) where you served from start to finish. A transitional rule, extended in 2025, suspends that experience step until 31 December 2026. On a CV, give each site chief job its floor area, permit date, and whether you stayed to the occupancy permit.
UK and US equivalents
In the UK, registration as Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) or Engineering Technician (EngTech) is awarded by licensed institutions against Engineering Council standards; the National Careers Service points civil engineers to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). In the US, the route is the FE exam and then the PE exam, which NCEES designs for engineers with at least four years of post-college experience in their discipline. Write the stage you have reached, with the month: 'FE passed 06/2025' or 'Working towards CEng (ICE)'.
Example CV section: a site engineer with seven years
Example only. Elif Karaca is an invented person; the figures show the form a mid-sized contractor would recognise. Write only numbers you can prove.
Header and profile
- Elif Karaca, Civil Engineer (BSc, 2019), İMO member, Ankara.
- Profile: site engineer with 7 years on reinforced-concrete housing and a municipal sewer line; site chief on 3 completed jobs totalling 21,400 m²; looking for a planning engineer role on infrastructure.
Site Chief, Kuzey Yapı A.Ş., Ankara, 03/2022 to present
- Registered site chief for two 9-storey residential blocks (2 × 7,800 m²) on one permit; both received their occupancy permit 6 weeks before the contract date.
- Ran the weekly Primavera P6 programme of 420 activities and reported progress against baseline to the project manager each Friday.
- Checked 38 monthly progress payments for 6 subcontractors; disputed quantities fell from 11 items in the first quarter to 2.
Site Engineer, Ova İnşaat Ltd., Konya, 07/2019 to 02/2022
- Set out and supervised a 2.1 km, 800 mm concrete sewer line, including 240 m of sheet-pile shoring in high groundwater.
- Drew 65 shop drawings in AutoCAD from the approved structural set; the supervising firm issued no rework orders on them.
- Site chief on a 5,800 m² school annex from permit to handover in 14 months.
Skills table with evidence
| Skill | How it appears on the CV | Where a reader can check it |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | Primavera P6, 420-activity programme | Programme printout or a reference from the project manager |
| Quantities and payments | 38 monthly progress payments, 6 subcontractors | Signed payment files |
| Drafting | AutoCAD, 65 shop drawings | Drawing register |
| Ground works | Sheet-pile shoring, 240 m | Site diary and method statement |
| Analysis software | SAP2000, coursework level only | Thesis or university project |
| Languages | Turkish native, English B2 | Certificate if you hold one |
Why the lines are built this way
Each line names the structure, gives one size unit and one result, and says what Elif did herself. SAP2000 is marked as coursework because she has not used it on a live project; a design reader will ask. The İMO membership sits in the header because, under Law 6235, that is the first thing a Turkish employer checks.
Sources, read on 13 October 2026
| Claim on this page | Source |
|---|---|
| Chamber registration duty; public employees optional | Law 6235, article 33 (mevzuat.gov.tr) |
| SİM certificate conditions, documents, two-year approval; seven specialism areas; SYD needs 12 years | İMO, Serbest İnşaat Mühendisliği Hizmetleri Uygulama, Tescil, Denetim ve Belgelendirme Yönetmeliği |
| Who may be site chief; works reserved for civil engineers | Şantiye Şefleri Hakkında Yönetmelik, Resmî Gazete 2 March 2019, articles 6 and 7 |
| Area caps, EKAP or Şantiye-M experience, suspension to 31 December 2026 | Amendments in Resmî Gazete, 18 November 2022, 6 April 2024 and 16 September 2025 |
| Licence needed to serve the public; PE signs off; accredited degree | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Civil Engineers (modified 27 August 2026) |
| Office or site work; ICE; incorporated or chartered status | National Careers Service, Civil engineer |
| CAD and project software for the occupation | O*NET OnLine, 17-2051.00 |
| PE exam aimed at four years of experience | NCEES, PE exam |
Chamber rules and the site chief regulation change often. Check the linked official text before you apply or sign as site chief.
Where this page stops
- It does not calculate your site chief job limits; the ministry and the permit office decide that.
- It does not cover public-sector hiring through KPSS.
- Germany's protected Ingenieur title and HOAI work phases are on the Germany engineer page.
- Architects and interior architects have their own page and chamber.
Applying abroad, and what to do next
Two country guides cover civil engineers moving abroad: the Germany engineer page explains state approval of the Ingenieur title, and the Netherlands engineer page covers Dutch employers. This page does not repeat them. Whatever the country, keep the İMO number and site chief records on the Turkish version; a foreign reader needs the project lines translated, not the chamber details.
- Choose site or design for this application and rewrite the headline.
- List every job with floor area or length, your role, dates, and the occupancy permit date if you were site chief.
- Mark software as live-project or coursework.
- Add licence status with numbers: İMO registration, SİM if you hold it, FE or PE, CEng progress.
- Match the wording to the advert; the guide on tailoring a CV to a job description shows how.
CitedCV can turn the projects and figures you enter into an English, Turkish or German CV, links each line to the facts it came from, and drops any line it cannot check against them. It does not know chamber rules; the licence lines come from you.
Questions people ask
What should a civil engineer put on a CV?
Put your role type, licence status, and for each project the structure, its size, your responsibility, the software and one result, with dates.
How do I write site engineer experience on a CV?
Name the structure and floor area or length, what you supervised, crew or subcontractor numbers, and a dated result such as the occupancy permit.
Should I put İMO membership on my CV?
Yes, in the header with your registration number, because Law 6235 requires engineers doing professional work in Türkiye to register with their chamber.
What software should a civil engineer list on a CV?
Only what you used: AutoCAD or Civil 3D for drawings, an analysis package such as SAP2000 for design, and Primavera or MS Project for planning.
What is the SİM certificate for civil engineers?
It is İMO's certificate for freelance civil engineering work, renewed every two years, which other chambers call SMM; it requires membership and a list of works.
Do I need a PE license to work as a civil engineer in the US?
Not at entry level, according to BLS, but a PE licence is typically required to provide services directly to the public and to sign off plans.
How do I show site chief (şantiye şefi) work on a CV?
List each job with permit date, floor area, building type and whether you stayed to the occupancy permit, since the regulation counts registered, completed jobs.
Is a civil engineer CV different for design jobs?
Yes: lead with codes, structure types, analysis software and approved project sets, and keep site work to one line per job.
Sources
- Law 6235, Türk Mühendis ve Mimar Odaları Birliği Kanunu (mevzuat.gov.tr)www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/1.3.6235.pdf
- İMO, Serbest İnşaat Mühendisliği Hizmetleri Uygulama, Tescil, Denetim ve Belgelendirme Yönetmeliğiwww.imo.org.tr/TR,76427/serbest-insaat-muhendisligi-hizmetleri-uygulama-tescil-denetim-ve-belgelendirme-yonetmeligi.html
- Resmî Gazete, Şantiye Şefleri Hakkında Yönetmelik (2 March 2019)www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2019/03/20190302-2.htm
- Resmî Gazete, site chief regulation amendment (18 November 2022)www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2022/11/20221118-1.htm
- Resmî Gazete, site chief regulation amendment (16 September 2025)www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2025/09/20250916-2.htm
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Civil Engineerswww.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/civil-engineers.htm
- National Careers Service, Civil engineernationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/civil-engineer
- O*NET OnLine, Civil Engineers 17-2051.00www.onetonline.org/link/details/17-2051.00
- NCEES, PE examncees.org/exams/pe-exam/
- Engineering Council, professional registrationwww.engc.org.uk/professional-registration/