Engineer Resume for Brazil: CREA Registration, Keywords, and ATS

Engineering is one of Brazil’s largest professional categories, with over 700,000 professionals registered with CONFEA/CREA (Brazil’s federal and regional engineering councils). As construction firms, manufacturers, and consultancies adopt ATS for resume screening, the traditional dense technical resume — full of tables and acronyms without context — needs to be rethought.

For engineers, formatting the CREA registration correctly matters as much as COREN matters for nursing professionals. A poorly presented registration can trigger automatic rejection before any human reads the resume.

How to format CREA on your resume

CREA — the regional engineering council registration — is the first item verified by recruiters and automated systems for engineering vacancies. Place it in the header, near your name and contact details, using this format:

Correct format:
CREA-SP 1234567890/D | Civil Engineer
CREA-MG 0987654321/D | Electrical Engineer
CREA-RS 1122334455/P | Mechanical Engineer (Provisional)

Include the state section, the full registration number, and the modality (/D for definitive, /P for provisional). Also write the professional title in full — “Civil Engineer”, “Industrial Engineer”, “Electrical Engineer” — so the ATS can locate both the credential and the specialization.

Keywords by engineering specialization

The ATS filters resumes based on keywords in the job description. Include technical terms specific to your discipline — not just the word “engineering” as a generic catch-all.

Civil Engineering

• AutoCAD, Revit, BIM, SketchUp
• MS Project, physical-financial schedule
• Construction management, inspection, budgeting
• Technical report (laudo), ABNT NBR standards, ART
• Foundations, concrete structures, structural masonry
• Road infrastructure, drainage, sanitation

Mechanical Engineering

• SolidWorks, CATIA, Inventor, ANSYS
• NR-12, NR-13 (pressure vessels), NR-33
• Preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, TPM
• Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen
• Machine design, mechanical sizing
• FMEA, failure analysis, reliability engineering

Electrical Engineering

• NR-10, SEP (power electrical systems)
• AutoCAD Electrical, DIALUX, ETAP
• Electrical design, SPDA (lightning protection), energy efficiency
• Substations, transformers, low/medium/high voltage
• Industrial automation, PLC, SCADA, HMI
• Electrical installation reports, PCMSO

Industrial / Production Engineering

• Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt
• Kaizen, PDCA, 5S, Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
• PCP (production planning and control), supply chain
• KPIs: OEE, MTBF, MTTR, inventory turnover
• Quality management, ISO 9001, IATF 16949
• ERP: SAP, TOTVS, Oracle

How to describe projects with metrics

Engineers work on projects, not just tasks. Quantified results are valued by both ATS and recruiters. Instead of generic responsibilities, measure your impact.

Before:
“Responsible for construction management at the company.”

After:
“Managed a R$5M residential construction project with a team of 35 professionals, delivering 15 days ahead of the contractual deadline and 8% under budget.”

Other metrics that work well on engineering resumes:

• “Reduced maintenance costs by 22% by implementing a preventive maintenance program for a fleet of 80 pieces of equipment.”
• “Implemented an energy efficiency project that reduced plant consumption by 18%, saving R$380k/year.”
• “Increased production line OEE from 61% to 79% in six months using Lean and Kaizen methodology.”

Certifications and NRs as ATS keywords

Many engineers skip listing NRs (Brazilian workplace safety standards) and technical certifications because they consider them obvious for their field. This is a critical mistake: the ATS doesn’t infer context — it searches for the exact term.

• Relevant NRs by area: NR-10 (electrical), NR-12 (machinery and equipment), NR-13 (pressure vessels), NR-33 (confined spaces), NR-35 (work at height)
• Project management: PMP (Project Management Professional), PMI-RMP, PRINCE2
• Quality and continuous improvement: Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, ISO 9001 auditor, ISO 14001 auditor
• BIM and modeling: Autodesk Revit certification, BIM Professional, BIM Manager
• Safety: CIPA, NR-10 SEP certification, NR-35 (with current validity)

List certifications with their full name and, where applicable, the completion or expiration date. “NR-10” is an ATS keyword; “electrical safety course” may not be recognized.

Construction, industry, or consultancy: what to emphasize

Construction companies and developers

Value field experience, team management, and deadline adherence. Highlight: number of projects managed, total budget under responsibility, subcontractor coordination, quality and delivery performance, MS Project and Revit proficiency.

Industry and manufacturing

Seek process optimization, technical compliance, and cost reduction. Highlight: productivity KPIs (OEE, MTBF, MTTR), quality certifications (ISO, IATF), safety NR experience, continuous improvement projects with measurable results.

Consultancies and design offices

Value project diversity, technical autonomy, and client management. Highlight: range of project types, ability to produce technical reports and ARTs (engineering responsibility annotations), experience with different systems or technologies, management of multiple simultaneous projects.

Ready to adapt your engineering resume for ATS filters? Run your resume through our free ATS checker to see your score and identify which keywords are missing before you apply.