Even in today’s social media driven job marketplace, the old-fashioned résumé remains the most important part of a job hunter’s arsenal. Considering the amount of detail on an engineering résumé — work history accomplishments, technical abilities, etc. — format and clarity are vital. Here are five tips for constructing an effective engineering résumé.

A Clear Format helps the Hiring Manager

As mentioned earlier, the detail on an engineering résumé places the onus on quality formatting to help hiring managers quickly determine whether the candidate might be a good fit. With piles of potential employees to peruse, the HR staff works quickly during this first part of the hiring process. Leverage bullet points, a clean type face, selective text formatting (bold and italics), and wide margins to enhance the look of your résumé.

Focus on the Accomplishments in your Work History

Hiring managers want to see tangible accomplishments in your work history — not merely a listing of your job duties. Don’t shy away from using numbers to detail your on-the-job performance. If your engineering idea saved the company a certain amount of money in production, mention that fact.

Keep the Design Elements Simple

Remember that this is an engineering résumé, not something for the interior design or graphics arts industry. As such, keep the overall design of the résumé simple. Eschew the use of multiple font choices or other design elements that detract from your accomplishments and abilities.

A Career Summary works better than an Objective

A two or three sentence objective at the top of a résumé has become passé. Instead, use this space for a career summary that will attract the attention of the hiring manager.

Once it’s written, Network your Résumé

Once you’ve finished your résumé, it is important to get it out to the people who can help your career. Publish a version of it on your LinkedIn account. Meet with the top staffing agencies in your local region, as they are a great source for job leads and career advice.

As one of the top engineering staffing companies in the Seattle area, the Talley Group should definitely get a copy. They have the recruiters on hand who have a line on the top Seattle engineering jobs. Schedule some time with them today!

At The Talley Group, we know a good engineering resume when we see one. Do you? Is your resume a powerful marketing tool or a big wordy mess?

While there are engineering jobs across a wide range of disciplines, effective resume strategies are applicable for all of them. Here are 6 pieces of advice to keep in mind when putting together your engineering resume.

Be Precise

Precision is vital when it comes to engineering projects, and the same holds true for engineering resumes. You need to proofread and correct all errors on the resume. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it, ask someone whose attention to detail you trust.

Be Concise

Engineers tend to go into information overload on their resumes. Don’t make that mistake. Resumes get accepted or rejected in a matter of seconds, so you must be efficient in presenting your information. Create a resume that goes straight to the point.

Remove the Objective and Add a Summary

If you’re changing careers, an objective may be warranted. Otherwise, leave it out.  You don’t want it to hurt your candidacy if your objective doesn’t match the specifics of the position opening.

Replace the objective with a qualifications summary. Create a few hard-hitting sentences that spotlight your most marketable qualifications.

Tailor Your Resume to the Job Opportunity

Personalize your resume every time you send it out, according to the open position. You need to make it clear that you are responding to a specific job, not just sending out your resume to any and every job. Customize for the specific role and engineering specialty you are targeting.

List Key Accomplishments

Use bullet points to make your resume easier to read. It will also help you focus on the most key points. You should also quantify the results so employers understand the significance of your work.

Add a Project List

Depending on your engineering specialty and years of experience, you may include a dozen or more key projects on your resume. You can also include if you have taken any training, like saas sales training. When this causes your document to overflow onto a third page, a separate project list sheet is an effective solution. List projects by employer or client, and give a short — even one-sentence — description of what you did. And don’t forget to include your project outcomes.

An honest and well-crafted resume will facilitate your job search. If you’d like more advice on how to find the right job for you, contact The Talley Group today!