SUGGESTIONS FOR RÉSUMÉ WRITING

Sheldon L. Epstein, Chief Engineer - Epstein Associates - K9APE®

The purpose of a résumé is to provide a prospective employer with a brief, complete and accurate description of your skills and achievements so that a prompt decision can be made on whether you can use (invest) profitably an employer's or customer's technical and capital assets. Your résumé is your advertising. It is your opportunity to demonstrate your technical skill and technical vocabulary. Therefore, you should prepare it carefully with the advice and assistance of successfully employed engineers and scientists. The following suggestions have helped American university students and Russian immigrant engineers, scientists and technicians who have attended my classes and they should help you.

1. Every citizen and legal resident of the United States has a constitutional right to work; but, no person or organization is required to hire you. There are no guaranteed jobs in America. Therefore, you must take the initiative to introduce yourself to a large number of prospective employers and customers. This means that you may have to mail or deliver as many as 500 résumés before you receive invitations to 5-6 interviews and then get 1-2 job offers. This is hard work and you have to learn how to do it effectively because you should expect to look for new employment or work every 3-5 years - as technology changes.

2. Some people may tell you that the reason you are having a hard time getting work is because the economy is bad. It is not true that the economy is bad. The truth is that our country is going through a period of very rapid change in which some people who took their jobs for granted are now being forced to find new employment. The truth is that for skilled engineers and scientists the unemployment rate is about 2-6% - which means at least 94% are gainfully employed. There are many advertisements for people with technical experience. The single greatest shortage we have in the United States is people with technical skills and experience. America needs you to invest its capital in the 21st century. Nobody else can do it - and there are not enough of you to invest all of it.

3. Study my résumé as you read these suggestions and use it as a style guide. It works. I am a successful engineer with a good business. When you prepare your résumé in a similar manner, you will be successful too. A key to success is hard work and much practice. There are no shortcuts.

4. Your résumé should describe in detail using American technical terms what you designed, engineered and built OR what you want to design, engineer or build. YOU MUST USE TECHNICAL TERMS. BE SPECIFIC IN DESCRIBING YOUR TECHNOLOGY. READ LIBRARY BOOKS AND TECHNICAL MAGAZINES TO LEARN TECHNICAL WORDS USED BY CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYERS AND THEN USE THEM IN YOUR RESUMÉ. Lack of experience is not an excuse. At the very least, describe in detail how you would invest employer dollars in new technology.

5. Do not waste space describing functions that you performed which are inherent or implied in your job title. For example, it is a waste of reader's time and your space to state that as an 'Engineer' you designed products or made drawings. What the reader wants to know is what PRODUCT or PROCESS resulted from your work and what technology you were able to use successfully. What did you do that was new, not obvious, inventive or exceptionally profitable? Display your analytic skills and tools.

6. Your résumé should be typed neatly on a single page and should be reproduced on plain, white inexpensive paper that can be easily read, FAXed or electronically scanned. Do not waste space with large margins or empty lines. Insert as much technical detail and as many technical words as space permits. The reader will know that you are young and will disapprove of your wasting money on blank space, typesetting or fancy paper. It is your vocabulary that is important. Can you communicate it in Technical English?

7. If possible, place a copy of your résumé on the World Wide Web in both *.HTML and *.TXT formats. The HTML format should contain hypertext links to resources that you describe in your résumé - such as the university you attended, the professional organization you joined or the paper you wrote. The TXT version should contain line breaks so that the recipient can print it. Because WWW search engines are widely used, it is especially important to include important technical English words and terms in your résumé so that résumé will be selected. Many employers now solicit résumés via e-mail that will be scanned by computers. Use the TXT version to reply via e-mail. See Paragraph 13, below.

8. Your résumé must be free of grammatical and spelling errors. You must have it proofread by a native-English-speaking engineer or scientist who is fluent in the vocabulary of your technology. Search engines and scanning programs cannot compensate for errors.

9. Do not include an OBJECTIVE. The reader knows that your objective is to obtain work. Instead, state what you are; i.e., "Chief Electrical Engineer who builds ..." Use technical terms.

10. Do not waste space with trivia such as 'References Available on Request'. If the reader wants references or grades, you will be asked for them. Ration your space to maximize your description of your technical competence. Use all on one side of a single sheet to describe in technical terms the technology you have to offer. Keep blank space to a minimum and use as many technical terms as you can to increase the probability of describing a subject of interest to a prospective employer.

11. The primary use of a résumé is to permit an employer to scan rapidly the qualifications of a large number of applicants. Because time is at a premium, many employers use the following selection strategy:


12. To improve markedly your chances of passing this screening process, you must prepare your résumé so that it is coherent, accurate, specific and complete. You should understand that employers often receive 100 to 500 résumés in answer to a single advertisement. If your résumé gets you to the second plateau, then your chances of receiving an offer have increased from 1/100 to 1/6. Therefore, preparation of a good résumé is worth your effort. It is your advertising. It will be read in less than 2 minutes.

13. Large corporations, professional recruiters and employment agencies are now scanning résumés into databases. In addition to emphasizing the need to include as many technical English words as possible, your must also prepare your resume to facilitate scanning. Choose a popular type font such as Times New Roman or Courier and avoid using more than one font, graphics, underlining or italics. Use a spell-checker program and avoid words, trademarks and abbreviations it does not know how to spell - even if you spell them correctly. Use a quality laser printer on white paper. Do not attach anything with a staple. If practical, do not fold. . If your resume is on the WWW - and especially if the Web version contains more detail, include its URL on your paper version. See Paragraph 7, above.

14. A carefully drafted résumé which is prepared in accordance with these suggestions and which includes a description of your experience with good use of technical terms demonstrates to a prospective employer that a) you are able to understand and follow instructions and b) that you are eager to adopt American engineering and business practices. Employers search for these characteristics in workers.

15. See the following sites: