MANY Hired

Hardware and electrical engineer resume keywords

We counted the skills in 509 open hardware and electrical engineer job postings from 55 employers, including Rocket Lab Corporation, Astranis and Zipline. The ones employers ask for most are electrical (87% of postings), manufacturing (58%) and prototyping (36%). 28% of the postings mention AI, though often in the company's description rather than as a skill the job needs.

Top skills and tools in hardware and electrical engineer postings

#KeywordShare of postings
1electrical 87%
2manufacturing 58%
3prototyping 36%
4PCB design 31%
5firmware 31%
6assembly 24%
7compliance 21%
8supply chain 19%
9troubleshooting 19%
10Python 18%
11communications 18%
12schematics 17%
13FPGA 17%
14embedded systems 16%
15automation 14%
16contract negotiation 12%
17fabrication 12%
18C++ 10%
19robotics 10%
20process improvement 9%
21logistics 9%
22circuit design 9%
23product roadmap 8%
24CAD 8%
25Linux 8%
26data privacy 7%
27system design 7%
28laboratory 7%
29computer vision 6%
30backlog management 6%

Share of the 509 postings whose description names the skill (plurals and common spellings, such as “JS” and “JavaScript”, count as one).

Soft skills employers mention

communication · 20%cross-functional · 20%ownership · 20%leadership · 11%documentation · 11%creativity · 10%collaboration · 7%problem solving · 5%mentoring · 4%

Show these through results in your bullets (“led a team of six”) rather than listing them as adjectives.

How to use these keywords on your hardware and electrical engineer resume

  1. Start with the posting, not this list. These are averages across 509 jobs; the one you're applying for has its own priorities. Use this page to spot common gaps, then match the specific posting.
  2. Name skills the way employers do. If you use “electrical”, “manufacturing” and “prototyping”, write those exact words. Applicant tracking systems and recruiters search for them, and a close synonym can be missed.
  3. Put each skill in a bullet that shows a result. Naming PCB design inside a bullet about what you achieved with it, with a number where you can, is stronger than listing it alone in a skills section.
  4. Add only what's true. If you've worked with “PCB design”, “firmware” and “assembly” but your resume doesn't say so, add it. If you haven't, leave it out: interviews expose padded resumes quickly.

More about hardware and electrical engineer jobs

Resume keywords for other jobs

How these numbers are calculated

Every figure comes from open hardware and electrical engineer job postings on MANY Hired, imported from employers' own career pages. For each posting we pick out the skills, tools, certifications and qualifications its description names, then count how many postings ask for each one. A job counts as hardware and electrical engineer by its title. Updated October 28, 2026.