While there are simple and effective ways to tackle the job market, presenting a well-constructed resume is the first step in differentiating yourself from other candidates. Technical Recruiting Lead, Chris Pickwell, explains how to construct your resume to help increase your chances of landing an interview.
Presenting Yourself
Follow the guidelines below to reconstruct and format your resume.
- Structure: Create your resume in a word or PDF document so that it’s easy to update and format. Start with a good executive summary consisting of three to five sentences that allows the hiring manager to identify your skills and work experience.
- Skills: Place your skills at the top of the resume – this is an area that hiring managers tend to focus on the most. Highlight any programs, tools, languages, or applications that you are experienced with.
- Experience: If your job history includes a contract role, make sure to acknowledge this next to your position. Only include the month and year for the length of your project, no need to be specific on the exact date, EX: December 2021 – Feb. 2022. When it comes to describing your responsibilities, use bullet points to make it scimable. Highlighting your experience in this format will allow the hiring manager to quickly assess if you are a good fit for the position.
- Education: While it’s important to have your education on your resume, we recommend putting it at the bottom. Your recent experience is more valuable and relevant for engineering projects.
Presenting Yourself Incorrectly
A misleading resume can be a turnoff or even damaging to your reputation. Below are a few instances of how you should not be structuring and presenting your resume.
- Personal Pronouns: Using “I, Me, Mine” and referencing yourself can come across as unprofessional. Start with a verb or action word to better strengthen your responsibilities and accomplishments. EX: “Created a new software application on mobile devices.”
- Descriptions Are Too Long or Too Short: Providing too much information regarding your work history can cause your resume to look cluttered, while not including enough lacks credibility. Keep your responsibilities short and to the point for the hiring manager to understand.
- Misleading: A dishonest resume lacks integrity and professionalism. If you are embellishing with false information, then the position is not the right fit for you.
While structuring your resume can be difficult and time consuming, don’t over complicate the process. Keep your responsibilities brief, be honest, and arrange your resume with your most relevant skills and experience. If you need support on your job search and would like to learn more about our process ands services, contact us today.
