7 Ways You Shouldn’t Be Writing Your Engineering Resume is a guest post by Gloria Kopp.
It’s easy to think of any resume as just a simple list of facts about yourself. How hard can it be to write an engineering resume? You’d be surprised at the mistakes some engineering job hunters make. Here are 7 mistakes that are commonly made in an engineering resume, and how you can avoid them.
1. Going into Information Overload
Many engineers feel as though they need to tell the recruiter everything about themselves on their resume. That means they go into ‘information overload’, giving them far too much and making it difficult to find what the recruiter actually needs.
Instead, keep that resume short and sweet. Only include information that’s relevant to the post at hand. You can go over the details in your interview, or even highlight important points in your cover letter. Don’t feel as though you need to include everything right away.
2. Not Including Specific Projects
Nearly every resume the recruiter will see will show something like ‘worked on Java HTML applications’. That doesn’t really tell them what they need to know. You’ll need to be specific in what you’ve done to really show off your skills.
“In this case, it’s best to include a ‘Projects’ section on your resume, showing the reader exactly what you’ve worked on, and what that project did” – explains Cecilia Gambino, a Resume writer at Resumention.
3. Telling, Not Showing
As an engineer, it’s quite difficult to explain exactly what you’ve done in a resume. You need to be showing the reader what you’ve done, rather than just telling them about it.
If you’ve written white papers on a subject, link them in. Include screenshots of sample codes you’ve worked on. Give the reader an insight into exactly what you’ve worked on in the past. The more you can show them what you’ve done, the better picture of you the recruiter will have.
4. Making Grammatical and Spelling Mistakes
Many times a resume has been tossed, simply because the recruiter found a mistake in it. If you want to get noticed, you’ll need to ensure you’re checking your resume over thoroughly. Use these tools to help you proofread effectively:
- Grammarix: Will check for grammar mistakes.
- Easy Word Count: Can check length and spelling errors.
- UK Writings: Hire a proofreader to check your writing here.
- State Of Writing: Use writing guides here to improve your grammar.
- Essayroo: Work with writers here to minimise mistakes.
- Cite It In: Ensure you’re citing your sources correctly with this tool.
- Boom Essays: This tool can edit and proofread your work for you, as recommended in Huffingtonpost ‘Write my paper’ article.
5. Including an Objective
Many resume writing guides will tell you to write a career objective, but often that just isn’t needed in an engineering resume. The problem is that your objectives may not line up with what the company wants. Instead, write a career summary, showing off the highlights of your career so far.
6. Not Writing a Tailored Resume
A recruiter can see a mile off if they’ve been sent another cut and paste resume. It won’t tell them anything they need to know, so they’ll ignore it. It may save you time writing, but it won’t get you the interview.
Write a resume that’s tailored to the job you’re applying for. Use language found in the job posting, and highlight the experience you have that lines up with their needs. Take the time to write a resume that shows you as the best candidate for the job. If you do this, you’re much more likely to be picked for an interview.
7. Not Being Honest
Some engineers feel the need to enhance their experience in their resume, in order to get the interview. However, they will soon be found out, when it becomes clear they don’t have the skills they said they did on paper.
“Be honest in what you write in your resume. If you’re missing one skill or part of a skill, you can say that you’re open to learning new things on the job. You can even start training in it if it’s important to you, and mention that in the resume” – says Richard Martinez, a Recruiting Consultant at Academized.
These 7 mistakes are commonly made in engineering resumes, but you don’t have to make them. Follow these steps, and you’ll have a resume that’ll get you the attention you want right away.
About the Author Gloria Kopp:
Gloria Kopp is a career advisor and a resume writer at Paper Fellows. She is a regular article contributor at HuffingtonPost and Australian Help blogs. Gloria is an author of Revieweal Educational blog where she shares helpful writing guides and reviews.
We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on writing your engineering resume.
Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.
To your success,
Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
