Formatting Do's:
Formatting Don't's:
- Bulleted lists - bullets help bring important points to the fore and are easy for the reader to grasp.
- Microsoft Word format
- Ample white space - don't make your resume copy-dense. With plenty of room between sections and wide
margins, your reader's eyes won't be bombarded, which means they're likely to spend more time and glean
more information. - Short descriptive phrases (rather than complete sentences)
- Action words such as responsible, implemented, directed, etc.
- Bold, underline, large fonts
- Acronyms - use only if it's well known (and keep in mind keywords)
Formatting Don't's:
- PDF. Word Perfect. HTML. Any other file format other than Word.
- .docx - many people do not have Microsoft Office 2007 yet, so .docx is not recommended for now.
- Plain courier text
- Columns, tables and text boxes
- ALL CAPS
- Shading
- Fonts over 12
- Headers and footers
- Fancy fonts or more than two fonts (one font is preferable)
- Color
- Combined font enhancements (e.g., underlined and bold)
- Over-capitalization. Only capitalize:
- o Proper names
o Places
o Company and university names
o Titles
o Acronyms
o Section titles
Your Full Name - you may bold your name if you wish; include your middle initial, if applicable.
Mailing Address
Phone Number(s) - Specify home, cell, and/or office
E-mail address
Website - optional and not recommended for conveying your resume
Objective
Your Objective should appear at the beginning of your resume and clearly describe, in two or three brief sentences or 3
or more bullets (this is a good place to get in some of your keywords):
If you are open to a wide range of job possibilities, say that, but within what your education and experience says you
are capable of doing. Do not say something so general that you make the reader try to interpret what you are capable
of doing.
Wrong: "Open to any position that my experience qualifies me for"
Wrong: "I am looking to improve my skills and ambition in career of my interest"
Wrong: "Looking for a good job with a company that treats employees well."
Right: "A recent civil engineering graduate who is seeking a full-time position in the field of civil, construction, or
transportation engineering. Presently living in Boston; willing to relocate New York City or Philadelphia.
Right: "Structural Engineer with 15 years experience seeking a position as a project manager or structural department
head in the refining, petrochemical, or oil & gas industry. Presently living in California; would like to relocate to New
Orleans.
This section should only include major degrees, such as your Bachelors, Masters, etc. Training courses should be
included in the "Professional" section below.
Degree - acronym should only be used if it is universally known (BSCE, BSME, etc.)
Month and Year earned - there should not be a comma in between month and year
School Name - the full official name, not an acronym
Location - city and state (if U.S.); city and country (if non-U.S.)
Experience should be in reverse chronological order (most recent engagement first). This section should list each
employment engagement including company name, location (city and state), your title/position, employment dates
(month and year), and a brief description of your duties. It is also necessary to work into the description what the
company does (or did).
Wrong: "Compiled and documented research. Evaluated production equipment due to current set up, and data was
analyzed for written reports and/or recommendations. Tools and sampling equipment were used for data analysis to
determine observation of samples." This is too non-specific. What kind of research? What production equipment?
Right: "Performed structural engineering design on Texas state bridge widening projects. Used GTSTRUDL and CUGAR
software for the analysis."
Right: "Performed design on and managed small capital projects (up to $200,000) in a 200,000 barrel per day oil
refinery, from concept through construction. (Bullet point each project and state what each involved)
Explain any gaps in your work history - be very brief (e.g., took time off to raise a family)
Should include licenses, certifications, training courses, and professional society memberships
Software
This section should include all software you are familiar with. Some people include their proficiency in each (beginner,
intermediate, expert).
Content Don't's
Mailing Address
Phone Number(s) - Specify home, cell, and/or office
E-mail address
Website - optional and not recommended for conveying your resume
Objective
Your Objective should appear at the beginning of your resume and clearly describe, in two or three brief sentences or 3
or more bullets (this is a good place to get in some of your keywords):
- Your professional specialty, experience, and distinctions.
- What type of engineering position you are seeking.
- Geographic preferences, if any. If you are open to moving anywhere, say it.
If you are open to a wide range of job possibilities, say that, but within what your education and experience says you
are capable of doing. Do not say something so general that you make the reader try to interpret what you are capable
of doing.
Wrong: "Open to any position that my experience qualifies me for"
Wrong: "I am looking to improve my skills and ambition in career of my interest"
Wrong: "Looking for a good job with a company that treats employees well."
Right: "A recent civil engineering graduate who is seeking a full-time position in the field of civil, construction, or
transportation engineering. Presently living in Boston; willing to relocate New York City or Philadelphia.
Right: "Structural Engineer with 15 years experience seeking a position as a project manager or structural department
head in the refining, petrochemical, or oil & gas industry. Presently living in California; would like to relocate to New
Orleans.
This section should only include major degrees, such as your Bachelors, Masters, etc. Training courses should be
included in the "Professional" section below.
Degree - acronym should only be used if it is universally known (BSCE, BSME, etc.)
Month and Year earned - there should not be a comma in between month and year
School Name - the full official name, not an acronym
Location - city and state (if U.S.); city and country (if non-U.S.)
Experience should be in reverse chronological order (most recent engagement first). This section should list each
employment engagement including company name, location (city and state), your title/position, employment dates
(month and year), and a brief description of your duties. It is also necessary to work into the description what the
company does (or did).
Wrong: "Compiled and documented research. Evaluated production equipment due to current set up, and data was
analyzed for written reports and/or recommendations. Tools and sampling equipment were used for data analysis to
determine observation of samples." This is too non-specific. What kind of research? What production equipment?
Right: "Performed structural engineering design on Texas state bridge widening projects. Used GTSTRUDL and CUGAR
software for the analysis."
Right: "Performed design on and managed small capital projects (up to $200,000) in a 200,000 barrel per day oil
refinery, from concept through construction. (Bullet point each project and state what each involved)
Explain any gaps in your work history - be very brief (e.g., took time off to raise a family)
Should include licenses, certifications, training courses, and professional society memberships
Software
This section should include all software you are familiar with. Some people include their proficiency in each (beginner,
intermediate, expert).
Content Don't's
- Photos or graphic elements
- I, me or your name in the body of the resume.
- Accomplishments - "I saved the company $8 billion by..." I ignore them (you can make any claim you want -
there's no way to verify it) - References or the statement "References provided upon request." You will be asked for references at the
appropriate time.
* Run spell check and double-check capitalization of proper names, places and terms, such as AutoCAD
* Check spelling and grammar manually. Spell check will not find all errors (e.g., there instead of their).
position you are seeking.
* Check spelling and grammar manually. Spell check will not find all errors (e.g., there instead of their).
position you are seeking.
Before you start writing your resume, you should remember this: A human resources representative or recruiter will
spend less than a minute on your resume before they move on to the next one, so make it easy by highlighting the
important points - objective, education, experience, professional information, and other skills.
Your resume should not be over three pages long. Period.
Keywords
If you are going to be placing your resume on the Internet, you need to be sure it contains the keywords necessary
for your resume to be found. Some people put a keyword section in their resume, but this is not recommended. The
keywords should flow naturally.
spend less than a minute on your resume before they move on to the next one, so make it easy by highlighting the
important points - objective, education, experience, professional information, and other skills.
Your resume should not be over three pages long. Period.
Keywords
If you are going to be placing your resume on the Internet, you need to be sure it contains the keywords necessary
for your resume to be found. Some people put a keyword section in their resume, but this is not recommended. The
keywords should flow naturally.
- For key terms that have common abbreviations, use both the abbreviation and the spelled-out term - e.g.,
Graphical User Interface (GUI). That way, anyone searching for the term or the abbreviation will be able to find
your resume. - For place names, such as states, spell out the name and also use the official abbreviation - e.g., California (CA)
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Resume Writing Tips for Engineers & Other Technical Professionals
| General |
| Formatting |
| Content |
When It's Complete
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Negatives to avoid:
- Gaps in your timeline, especially long gaps in employment history. A couple of months is OK (looking for a job),
but anything over 2 months needs to be explained (briefly). - No months given in employment history or education. Worse yet, no dates at all (yes, some people actually
have resumes with no dates) - No locations given in employment history.
- Education - no specific degree, university name not given, etc.
- Typos, misspelled words, bad grammar - this is pretty obvious, but you cannot believe how many resumes we
see with any or all of the above - "Jumpiness" - This isn't just related to a resume, but anyone who cannot hold a job for more than a few
months at a time, regardless of the reason, is looked upon negatively by employers. - Overly wordy or, conversely, overly brief description of your work history - there is a fine line between too much
and too little explanation of what you have done. If you list every calculation you have ever done, that's too
much. A one sentence summary of 10 years experience is too little. Start with a project list, then edit it down by
combining similar projects together. For example, "performed structural calculations on five commercial building
projects." - Overly inflated "accomplishments." In fact, our recommendation is to avoid claiming "accomplishments"
altogether. - Not necessarily a red flag, but avoid long descriptions of unrelated experience. If you're trying to get an
engineering job, giving a two paragraph explanation of what you did at Wal-Mart is not appropriate.
| Red Flags |