Engineering Resume Mishaps: Revising Your Career Blueprint

Read more ...

Engineering Resume Mishaps: Revising Your Career Blueprint

Aside from geeky tendencies, engineers have an unidentified common personality denominator that makes them unique as professionals. Whatever it is, one thing is evident: engineering applicants often repeat a certain set of resume mistakes and on the equal opposite, they also hit a particular set of application raves. Now what is left for them is to identify which job hunting habits should they retain and which should they improve.

If you're one of us techno-buffs and construction kooks, maybe being asked for an interview isn't so difficult when you start to take notice of these aspects of writing a job application copy:

1. Semantic details

We know your obsession with details; you need things to be perfect down to the last bolt. And that is understandable, because lives are at stake with the nitty-gritty in the blueprint. However, we can't comprehend why you always need to punish yourselves when it comes to English. Pay close attention to spelling and grammar. One error and your application will be rejected the next second.

2. Jargon clogs

Keep it simple, brood. While your friends may understand academic gobbledygook like "Done an Experiment on the Synergic effect of Different Types of Steel Fiber in Type B Concrete", imagine what an HR personnel will think when he reads a sort of that phrase. It's either he despise you for being such a smart aleck, or he dumps you without any second thought. Remember to keep your jargons low. Most of the times, it wouldn't be an engineering graduate who will read your copy. And even more, it wouldn't be someone who's too enthusiastic in your thing to understand such terms.

3. Information overload

The best engineering resumes are not always those that list every great project that the job candidate has been into. Sometimes it's a matter of customization. If you're applying to a project of horizontal construction, then include only the background projects that are relevant to the specialization. Never ever attempt to impress your employer by putting everything into your paper. Save the elegance of the details for the interview.

4. Sell positively

Retain this one. Most engineers bring out their accomplishments in a way that the prospective employer will think that they are enthusiastic of the job. Keep selling yourself like the employer will benefit greater from hiring you. Assert your key competencies instead of explaining your background. Most projects need people who are proactive, not reactive.

5. Separate the project list

This applies if really needed. When you have a project list that can add to your points for the specific job but is too long to be included in your engineering resume, then you may write it on a separate paper. Just make sure that everything listed on your background is worth knowing and is relevant to the assignment you're competing for.

Most of all, be consistent and confident with your application. Engineering is but a big, complicated business. Employers know who will mess up and who won't. Scaring aside, they have the knack of finding out truth from fibs from white lies from absolute whoopers. The best you can do to stand out is to be clean enough to be fit for the dirty work.

Melinda Edwards works as a career consultant and has been invited in many forums and events on human resource management. She is also a time management expert who effectively performs her roles both as a career woman and a mother.

Read more ...