Boolean search strings for structural engineers: buildings, bridges, seismic, PE and SE licensure, and the stress analyst collision
On this page
- Structure types, codes and licenses that change what a structural search finds
- Ten Boolean strings by kind of structural work
- What LinkedIn, Indeed and Google actually support
- Narrowing by structure type, firm side and license stage
- False positives worth excluding with NOT
- A worked example: three passes on a seismic retrofit search
- What a search cannot verify
- Questions people ask
Structural engineers write the structure, the material and the design code more reliably than any title: steel, concrete, wood and masonry buildings; bridges; seismic retrofits and condition assessments; ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC 360 and AASHTO LRFD; ETABS, SAP2000, RISA, RAM and Revit. The title collides with aerospace and automotive stress analysts, steel detailers and structural welders, so the strings that work require a building or bridge word and a code or design tool. As of November 2026, NCEES's PE Structural exam is computer-based with vertical and lateral components, and some states, Illinois among them, license structural engineering separately, so PE, SE and "licensed structural engineer" each mean something specific.
Below are ten strings by kind of structural work, and what LinkedIn, Indeed and Google support as of November 2026. For site, water, transportation and geotechnical engineers, see Boolean search strings for civil engineers, which carries one structural string; this page goes deeper on structural work only.
Structure types, codes and licenses that change what a structural search finds
| Kind of structural work | Terms candidates write | Software they name |
|---|---|---|
| Steel and concrete buildings | Gravity and lateral design, ASCE 7, AISC 360, ACI 318, moment frames, shear walls, post-tensioned | ETABS, RAM Structural System, RISA-3D, Revit |
| Wood, masonry and light framing | Wood design, masonry design, cold-formed steel, multifamily, light-frame | RISA, Enercalc |
| Bridges | AASHTO LRFD, bridge design, load rating, girders, bridge inspection | CSiBridge, Midas Civil, LEAP Bridge |
| Seismic and retrofit | Seismic retrofit, ASCE 41, performance-based design, nonlinear analysis | ETABS, SAP2000, PERFORM-3D |
| Forensic and restoration | Condition assessment, facade inspection, structural investigation, repair design, parking garage restoration | Mostly field and report work |
| Delegated and specialty design | Connection design, precast, cold-formed steel, curtain wall, shoring, temporary structures | Tekla Structures, IDEA StatiCa, RAM Connection |
| Industrial and energy | Pipe racks, equipment foundations, transmission structures, offshore platforms | STAAD.Pro, SACS |
- PE Structural. NCEES's PE Structural page says the exam tests for a minimum level of competency in structural engineering, is computer-based at Pearson test centers, and uses separate vertical and lateral components, each with a breadth section given year-round and a depth section given twice a year. It lists the next depth dates as April 13 and 14 and September 29 and 30, 2027, requires the same depth area (buildings or bridges) for both components, and says not all jurisdictions accept the exam as a Principles and Practice exam, as of November 2026.
- PE Civil: Structural. NCEES's PE Civil page lists Civil: Structural among its five modules, computer-based year-round. Many building and bridge engineers are licensed as civil PEs this way, and the FE exam generally comes first; candidates write "EIT" or "EI."
- A state structural license. Illinois's Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989 (225 ILCS 340) defines the practice of structural engineering as the design, analysis or supervision of the construction of structures for others, and section 12 requires a seal with the words "Licensed Structural Engineer" and "State of Illinois." Other states handle structural licensure differently; check the board in the state where the work will be sealed.
- Engineer of record. "EOR," "engineer of record," "sealed drawings" and "stamped" on a profile mean the person has taken legal responsibility for designs, which is a different level from "designed under the supervision of."
Ten Boolean strings by kind of structural work
Swap in the structure type, codes and metro from your own intake; these are examples. Search on the work and the credentials, never on a term that stands in for age, sex, race, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status.
Buildings and seismic
1. Building structural engineer — LinkedIn Recruiter, Job titles + Keywords filters
("structural engineer" OR "structural project engineer" OR "structural designer") AND (etabs OR "ram structural system" OR risa OR revit) AND ("steel design" OR "concrete design" OR "asce 7") NOT ("stress engineer" OR aerospace OR "structural welder")
2. Seismic and retrofit engineer — LinkedIn general search
("structural engineer" OR "seismic engineer") AND ("seismic retrofit" OR "asce 41" OR "performance-based design" OR "nonlinear analysis") AND (etabs OR sap2000 OR "perform-3d")
3. Wood, masonry and multifamily engineer — Indeed Smart Sourcing
("structural engineer" OR "structural eit" OR "structural designer") AND skill: ("wood design" OR "masonry design" OR "cold-formed steel") AND (multifamily OR residential OR "light-frame")Bridges, forensic and specialty design
4. Bridge engineer — LinkedIn general search
("bridge engineer" OR "structural engineer") AND ("aashto lrfd" OR "load rating" OR "bridge design") AND (dot OR girders OR "bridge inspection") NOT ("bridge officer" OR "bridge loan" OR dental)
5. Forensic and restoration engineer — LinkedIn general search
("structural engineer" OR "forensic engineer" OR "restoration engineer") AND ("condition assessment" OR "facade inspection" OR "structural investigation" OR "repair design") AND (concrete OR masonry OR "parking garage")
6. Connection and delegated design engineer — LinkedIn Recruiter, Keywords filter
("connection design engineer" OR "structural engineer" OR "delegated design") AND ("connection design" OR precast OR "cold-formed steel" OR "curtain wall") AND (tekla OR "idea statica" OR "ram connection") NOT (detailer OR "steel erector")Industrial, licensure, early career and X-ray
7. Industrial and energy structural engineer — Indeed Smart Sourcing
("structural engineer" OR "civil/structural engineer") AND skill: ("staad.pro" OR "pipe racks" OR "equipment foundations") AND (petrochemical OR refinery OR "transmission structures" OR "power plant")
8. Licensed structural engineer — LinkedIn general search
("structural engineer" OR "senior structural engineer" OR "principal") AND ("licensed structural engineer" OR "professional engineer" OR "engineer of record" OR "pe structural") AND (buildings OR bridges)
9. Early-career structural engineer — Indeed Smart Sourcing
("structural engineer" OR "structural eit" OR "engineer in training") AND fieldofstudy: ("structural engineering" OR "civil engineering") AND skill: (etabs OR risa OR sap2000)
10. Public profiles by code, tool and metro — Google X-ray
site:linkedin.com/in "structural engineer" "etabs" "seismic" "seattle" -jobs -recruiter -aerospaceWhat LinkedIn, Indeed and Google actually support
As of November 2026, LinkedIn's Boolean help page requires AND, OR and NOT in capitals, supports quotes and parentheses, evaluates quoted phrases first, then parentheses, NOT, AND and OR, and does not support wildcards, so "structural engineer," "structural engineering" and "structures engineer" each need writing out. The page does not say how periods and slashes inside quotes are handled, so test "s.e." and "civil/structural" on your own account before you rely on them. LinkedIn Recruiter's Boolean page lists stop words ignored in search, including "of," "and" and "for," which matters for "engineer of record"; string 8 runs as a general search for that reason, and the page warns that too many facets in one query can cause a search result issue.
Indeed's Boolean
guide documents the skill: and fieldofstudy: fields that strings 3, 7 and 9
use. Google's search operators page
documents quotes, site:, the minus sign, filetype: and the before:
and after: date operators, but not OR, so string 10 uses none. LinkedIn's
premium search filters page lists Years
of Experience and Seniority Level only in Recruiter and Sales Navigator.
License lookups are the role-specific public source. Illinois's Department of Financial and Professional Regulation says its License Lookup has been approved as a primary source for verification; most state boards run a similar lookup. Search by name once you have a candidate, not as a sourcing list.
Narrowing by structure type, firm side and license stage
The structure type is the must-have. A steel building engineer, a bridge engineer and a forensic engineer share the degree and the license but not their daily work, and each writes about their own. Ask the client which structures, materials and codes the role covers, and whether high-seismic or high-wind experience is required; a West Coast retrofit firm and a Midwest bridge group need different strings.
Then ask which side of the industry the client wants. Consulting design firms write about projects, clients and drawings; contractors and fabricators write about delegated design, constructability and shop drawings; owners and state DOTs write about programs, inspection and load rating. License stage matters too: an EIT, a newly licensed PE, someone partway through the PE Structural exam and a licensed structural engineer of record are different hires at different pay. For seniority, look for "engineer of record," "project manager," "led the design of" and "sealed," against "assisted" and "drafted." For the screen that follows, the civil engineer phone screen questions cover license status and project scope.
False positives worth excluding with NOT
- Aerospace and automotive stress engineers. They write structural analysis, finite element analysis, NASTRAN and loads. Exclude aerospace, aircraft and "stress engineer" for building and bridge roles; for mechanical and aerospace hires, see Boolean search strings for mechanical engineers.
- Steel detailers and fabricators. They write Tekla, connections and shop drawings at the drafting level. Exclude detailer and "steel erector" for engineer roles.
- Structural welders and ironworkers. "Structural" appears in their trade titles. Exclude "structural welder" and ironworker.
- The SE abbreviation. SE also means sales engineer, software engineer and "Southeast." Never search "se" on its own; write "licensed structural engineer" or "pe structural."
- "Bridge" in other jobs. Ship officers stand a bridge watch, lenders write bridge loans and dentists fit bridges. Exclude "bridge officer," "bridge loan" and dental.
- Architects and construction managers. They write structural coordination and steel packages without designing them. When they are the hire, see Boolean search strings for architects and for construction managers.
A worked example: three passes on a seismic retrofit search
An invented search, shown as it actually gets narrowed.
Intake: A West Coast design firm needs a mid-level structural engineer for seismic retrofits of older concrete buildings to ASCE 41, licensed as a PE or close to it. Not looking for aerospace engineers or detailers.
Pass 1: "structural engineer": building engineers mixed with aerospace
stress analysts, detailers, structural welders and recruiters.
Pass 2: ("structural engineer" OR "structural designer") AND (etabs OR sap2000)
AND (concrete OR "shear walls") NOT ("stress engineer" OR aerospace OR detailer): building engineers
with concrete design work, most of it new construction.
Pass 3: add AND ("seismic retrofit" OR "asce 41" OR "nonlinear analysis").
Those words tend to come from engineers who have evaluated existing buildings rather than only designed new
ones. The list is short enough to call, and the screen asks them to walk through one retrofit, which parts
they designed, and where they are in licensure.
The tool and material blocks removed the collisions; the retrofit block found the specialists. Add it once the title and tool blocks are in place.
What a search cannot verify
A string can find someone who lists the right structures, codes and software. It cannot confirm a license, show which parts of a project they designed, or tell you whether they were the engineer of record. Check the license on the issuing board's lookup, ask who sealed the drawings on the projects they name, then use the civil engineer phone screen questions for the first call and the civil engineers guide when the client is open to a civil engineer with structural depth.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a PE and an SE for a structural engineer?
A PE is a professional engineer license; many structural engineers earn it through NCEES's PE Civil exam with the Structural module. Some states also license structural engineering separately: Illinois, for example, licenses structural engineers under its Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989 and requires a seal reading Licensed Structural Engineer. NCEES's PE Structural exam tests structural competency separately, and NCEES notes that not all jurisdictions accept it the same way, so ask the client which license the role needs.
Why does a structural engineer search return aerospace stress engineers?
Because aerospace and automotive engineers write structural analysis, finite element analysis and loads, and some hold the title structural engineer. Require a building or bridge word and a design code such as ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC 360 or AASHTO LRFD, and exclude aerospace, aircraft and stress engineer with NOT when the role is in buildings or bridges.
How do I verify a structural engineer's license?
Use the licensing board's own lookup in the state that issued the license. In Illinois, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation says its License Lookup is approved as a primary source for verification. Check the license type as well as the status, because a PE and a structural engineer license are different credentials in states that issue both.
Which software should I put in a structural engineer Boolean search?
Match the client's work. Building firms name ETABS, RAM Structural System, RISA and Revit; seismic and analysis-heavy roles name SAP2000 and nonlinear tools; bridge groups name bridge software and AASHTO LRFD; industrial and energy groups name STAAD.Pro. Put two or three of the client's tools in an OR block rather than requiring one.