FREE ENGINEERING RESUME & COVER LETTER ADVICE
How To List Job Descriptions In An Engineering Resume
Imagine you are the hiring manager and just received an engineer’s resume… You go through the introductory portion of the resume. Now you get to the job descriptions… Ask yourself: Would you rather see this?…
“Mechanical Engineer III”
Bullet responsibility #1
Bullet responsibility #2
Bullet responsibility #3
Or this?…
“Mechanical Design Engineer”
Mechanical Design Engineer with responsibility for part design, prototyping and testing. Directly responsible for drawing reviews and vendor evaluation and selection.
Designed (ACTION) a mechanical system that… Bullet accomplishment #1
Implemented (ACTION) a new… Bullet accomplishment #2
Led a team (ACTION) that developed… Bullet accomplishment #3
Which one would tell you more about the prospective engineer? Clearly the second!!!
Why? Because it starts out by telling the hiring manager what you as an engineer do for a living. In other words you are telling what your responsibilities are and what your role is in the organization. This gives the reader context and helps you position your accomplishments and contributions in a setting the reader can quickly understand.
As we established in previous postings, an engineering resume should always include a chronology of previous jobs even if abbreviated (for jobs with lots of job listings). Most engineering resumes however start with a list of titles and jump right into a list of projects or accomplishments. No description of the job, no context.
For 90% of engineering resumes it is necessary to add a few sentences about your primary responsibilities as described above. If your title was “Software Engineer II” or “Systems Engineer 6″ what does that tell the reader about your responsibilities? Nothing at all! You need to tell them what your job is in more detail.
In summary make sure the engineering hiring manager knows what your job responsibilities are. Do this in the listing section of your engineering resume with a short summary of your job before you jump into a list of contributions with clear statements of action and accomplishments.
If the employer can not understand what you do or if your job duties are unclear the list of bullets you list under the title will not help you get interview calls.
So… Tell them what you do before you tell them what you did!
Try it… And get yourself the best engineering resume and cover letter. It really helps get interview calls…
Get a head start with our Very Best Engineering Resume Collection, a collection of the best engineering resumes and cover letters, samples, examples and specialized advice.
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