How to Write a Prompt Engineering Resume (Step-by-Step with Examples)

Key takeaways

A well-crafted prompt engineering resume features your technical and creative skills, relevant work experience, certificates, and field of study.

• You can pick a chronological, functional, or combination resume template depending on whether you want to highlight experience, skills, or both. 

• Given the emerging nature of the field, employers may value course certificates on your resume that demonstrate your proficiency in prompt engineering or related subjects. 

• You can limit the length of your resume to two pages for readability. 

Discover how to write a resume showcasing your prompt engineering education and experience, and learn what employers might be looking for. Afterward, if you’re ready to gain a deeper understanding of prompt engineering, enroll in Vanderbilt University’s Prompt Engineering Specialization. Beginner-friendly, this program is designed to help you understand how large language models help automate tasks, increase productivity, and augment human intelligence.

What do employers look for in a prompt engineering resume?

Employers typically look for prompt engineers with various skills and experience, so it’s valuable to review your resume to address your relevant work and the skills you possess.

Skills for prompt engineers include understanding natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and programming languages, as well as creative and linguistic skills that help you develop prompts to interact conversationally with users.

What does a prompt engineer do?

A prompt engineer designs the inputs needed to get the correct outputs for a generative AI program. To perform this job, you need to consider the best phrases, data, words, and other forms of communication that a generative AI program can use when interacting with a customer. You might also assist with data preprocessing for training machine learning models. Additionally, you may work with cross-functional teams to better understand the risks and ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI. 

Step 1: Create a prompt engineering resume template.

Your first step is determining how you want to present information to potential employers. Below are three helpful templates, depending on which format suits your needs best.

• Chronological resume: A chronological resume presents your information based on the dates of your employment, starting with your recent experiences. This is a common option that many employers prefer and works well if you have previous work experience.

• Functional resume: A functional resume highlights your skills and experience by first emphasizing the knowledge you have gained. In this format, you can give more details about the skills important for a prompt engineer position that you have learned throughout your studies. This is a good option if you’re new to the field and want employers to notice your skills rather than your lack of experience.

• Combination resume: This format combines the best of chronological and functional resumes. It highlights your education and work experiences. However, this format can be tricky as it can significantly lengthen your resume, and you will want to limit it to no more than two pages.

Read more: Types of Resumes: Choosing the Right Format for Your Needs

Step 2: Fill in your basic prompt engineering resume essentials.

Your contact information is an essential part of your resume. Include your name, email address, and phone number so potential employers can reach you. It can also be beneficial to add your location. Just adding your city and state is sufficient.

Step 3: Add your resume summary.

A resume summary introduces you to a potential employer by highlighting your experience in AI and your particular prompt engineering skills and detailing the positions you’re looking for.

If you have previous experience, you may want to focus on the particular fields you’ve worked in or your skills specific to prompt engineering positions. Recent graduates or people new to the field will want to focus on their interests in an entry-level position, focusing on the skills they’ve acquired to be successful in one.

Step 4: Showcase your prompt engineering skills.

Prompt engineering requires specialized skills, so it’s important to present them on your resume if you’re looking for a position in the field. You will want to be proficient in skills like:

• NLP: NLP is how an AI system processes words and communication. Understanding how it functions can help you generate effective prompts.

• Programming languages: Python, in particular, is an important programming language for prompt engineering, so it's essential to have it in your toolbox. Other languages, like Java or C++, are also useful.

• Data analysis: The ability to analyze data and extract information from data sets can help you develop prompts for AI-based responses that you’ll build as a prompt engineer.

• AI basics: Prompt engineering works in an AI environment, so it’s important to know how AI works and how to use AI to get the results you want.

• Communication: Verbal and written communication skills are important for crafting prompts and responses that make an AI sound clear and understandable to end users.

Step 5: Include your professional experience.

Hiring managers look at your previous experience to better understand what assets and experience you have that you can bring to a new position. Provide the names of your previous employers, the dates you worked there, and your accomplishments and responsibilities in that position.

You’ll want to focus on your prior work experience in prompt engineering. If that is not straightforward due to the position being relatively new, think about other experiences you may have that could be relevant to potential employers, such as working with platforms like ChatGPT or building and testing AI prompts.

Step 6: Feature your certifications, awards, and professional highlights.

When applicable, include information about credentials you’ve earned that prove your proficiency in certain skills required for the jobs you're applying to. While some computer-based jobs may recommend or require certifications, prompt engineering may not yet have specific professional certifications. Instead, you may consider taking courses offering completion certificates to show your proficiency in prompt engineering or related subjects.

Your resume can also include awards and other professional highlights, so include relevant items such as accolades from prompt engineering competitions or extracurricular activities at school.

Step 7: Include your education.

Education is an important factor for potential employers, especially for a relatively new field like prompt engineering. Mention where you graduated from, your degree and major, and other information relevant to your educational base for a prompt engineering position.

Prompt engineering is an AI-based position, with 63 percent of workers in AI holding a bachelor’s degree and 17 percent holding a master’s degree [1]. The top majors for prompt engineering include computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering [1].

How to write a prompt engineer resume: Tips for compelling writing

• Use a clear resume format tailored to prompt engineering roles.

• Include relevant topics such as education, work history, and contact information.

• Review the job description to make sure it matches your goals.

• Limit the length of your resume to two pages in most cases.

Prompt engineering job outlook and salary

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular, and companies are developing new AI-related roles to take advantage of the changes in generative AI. Positions that use AI-specific skills like prompt engineering could open up as businesses and organizations adopt new practices.

Jobs using computer skills are in demand, with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expecting a 9 percent growth in all computer-related occupations between 2024 and 2034 [2]. Glassdoor estimates a prompt engineering salary of $131,000 annually [3]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Explore our free resources on generative AI

Join Career Chat on LinkedIn to get weekly updates on popular skills, tools, and certifications. Discover more about generative AI with our other free digital resources:

• Watch on YouTube: Generative AI: The Future of Creative Work (Beginner's Guide)

• Gain insights: The Secret to Using GenAI Tools Effectively: Insight from Coursera’s Former CEO

• Bookmark for quick access: ChatGPT Prompt Cheat Sheet

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.

Build job-ready skills with Coursera Plus

Start 7-day free trial

• 
• 
• 
• 

Start 7-day free trial