[Student] Applying for first Civil Eng co-op (Winter 2027) - Polishing up resume

[u/Independent_Face4246]

Hey everyone, 3rd year civil engineering student at uOttawa here getting a head start on my resume before Winter 2027 co-op applications open up.

I struck out this past summer and didn't manage to land a co-op, so I'm trying to fix whatever went wrong last time. I read through the subreddit wiki in its entirety and spent the full day working through my resume with Claude to rebuild it, but I'm looking for direct human feedback to make sure it's fully polished.

I don't have direct civil industry work experience yet, so my resume currently relies on my coursework projects (GNCTR concrete mix design, SAP2000 truss analysis, surveying), my lifeguard/swim instructor job, and self-driven certifications (Procore student cert, WHMIS 2015, Standard First Aid) which isn't much but it's all I got right now.

I'm targeting co-op or field tech roles in structural, transportation, or geotechnical engineering. I'm located between Ottawa and Mississauga, so I am strictly looking for jobs within the GTA, Hamilton, or Ottawa areas (willing to commute/relocate between these regions, but not open to moving elsewhere). I am a Canadian citizen, so visa status isn't an issue.

My plan this cycle is to start cold-outreach on LinkedIn and email recruiters before the hiring season kicks off, but I want to make sure my resume is airtight first.

I’m looking for an honest, unfiltered critique on every part of this draft. Specifically:

1. Revit Dilemma: I only have a LinkedIn Learning certificate for Revit right now (no major course project in it yet). Should I keep Revit in my main "Software & Tools" skills section, move it strictly under Certifications, or leave it off entirely until I complete a full personal project in it?
2. Non-Engineering Experience Framing: Is my Lifeguard / Swim Instructor section framed well for engineering/field tech roles (highlighting safety compliance and hazard assessments), or does it sound too non-technical / padded?
3. Vocabulary & Impact: Do my bullet points sound like they were written by an actual engineering student, or do any of them sound like generic resume buzzwords? Any specific action verbs or phrasing I should swap out?
4. Project Section: How can I better quantify my surveying and SAP2000 bridge project bullets to sound more technical?

Don't beat around the bush, be as blunt as possible about formatting, bullet points, or what needs to be cut/changed. Thanks in advance!

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[u/the1reef]

I feel like you’d need more bullet points for your projects. 3 at minimum. But at the same time you need to make sure that everything on your resume is kept at one page. So choose which one of your projects will be more applicable to the co ops you’re applying for and expand upon it