FREE ENGINEERING RESUME & COVER LETTER ADVICE
How Important Is Your Engineering Resume?
Something that has always surprised me is how little effort many engineers put in their resumes and cover letters. Business managers, sales people, lawyers, accountants and other professionals take the resume a little more seriously. Countless engineers consider content to be the only thing that matters and this often results in resumes that are hard to read, have content that does not help them or are just so flawed that they cost the candidate interview call after interview call.
A cover letter and resume are almost always your first opportunity to make an impression on the human resources or hiring manager. Of all the tasks involved in a job search nothing can make it or break it for an engineer quicker than a resume. The resume is your first calling card, and also the introduction that can lead to an interview call and a new job.
Hiring is sort of like dating. Nobody jumps from a first introduction to a marriage proposal… (well maybe in the movies) So hiring is like dating in that it is a multiple step process where confidence is built and doubts and skepticism are slowly erased until the employer is confident you can do 3 things:
1. Help his/her organization be better – bring value to the team.
2. Fit with the group – nobody hires someone they dislike.
3. Fill their current need.
…A job offer then follows.
On the way there you need to be completely focused on building 3 things:
1. Build Their Trust in You as a Professional – bring value to the team…
2. Build Your Credibility and a Personal Rapport – they don’t dislike you…
3. Build Their Confidence in Your Competence For the Job – Fit their current need…
Imagine what happens to these three critical factors if your first introduction is poor. Your resume is in most cases all the employer knows about you, so you have to make sure you get the best engineering resume possible. Why?
First… If you make a poor impression with your resume it will be almost impossible to erase it – even if you get called for an interview. In some cases you may still get a call but the hiring manager is going to attempt to find out more about something he or she didn’t like and wants you to explain away. This is a terrible place to be in an interview. It is a negative start that puts you on the defensive and will virtually ensure you will not get an offer. Most times a poorly written engineering resume simply ends up in the trash bin, you don’t get a call and someone else gets the job.
Second… You are in a competition for the job you just applied for. All it takes is two or three candidates with exceptionally well written resumes and you are out of an interview and consequently the job. When hiring managers scan a short document for information and have several others in line for their attention they are not going to give you much time. You need to nail it quickly, grab their attention and keep it. They will not have any patience for errors or lack of clarity, a poor format or resume that is hard to read or full of decorative graphics or jargon they can’t understand. It’s a competitive race, if you do not send in the best resume you will lose the race.
Over many years of evaluating engineering resumes both as an employer and a professional resume writer and career counselor I have seen so many resumes that have hurt rather than helped the candidate.
In some cases these poor resumes were written by an engineer trying to do it himself without guidance or reviews. In other cases the resumes were actually written by generic resume writing services that are not familiar with engineering and use generic business world templates that don’t work.
So in summary, be sure that your engineering resume and your cover letter are very well written, formatted, edited and reviewed. This is a critical set of documents, when well done they can help you immensely and get you the job you want. If done poorly they will stop your job search dead in its tracks. So get informed, use all resources you can use or get professional help. This is not something where you can afford to be “average”.
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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