3 replies to this topic

[kaisar]

Dear all

I'd made up my resume, and I want you all to see it. I need your opinion and suggestion about it. Please don't be hesitate. Please consider yourself as the employer where I apply to. Do you feel interested with my resume. I had omiitted my contact info and address. I think they are not needed.

Sincerely,


Kaisar

Attached Files

•  MyResume.pdf   24.6KB   165 downloads

what qualifications do u have?

[Art Montemayor]

Kaiser:

Yours is common and routine dilemma confronting all newly graduated Chemical Engineers and even those with just a few years of experience. You are stuck with the difficult job of writing your resume – but you have no basic material (such as experience) to stuff it with. You probably feel like you are in a “Catch-22” situation: you don’t have any engineering experience because you’ve never had an engineering job; you can’t seem to get an engineering job because you don’t have any engineering experience. It’s sort of like the Chicken and the Egg story.

Don’t fret or worry too much about this situation. It, like everything else, will go away. But, in the meantime, you DO have to have a resume at the ready to represent your person, your abilities, your accomplishments, your aspirations and expectations – all in a short, succinct document that shouldn’t take more than a minute or two to read.

You’ve asked for opinions and suggestions about your submitted resume, so the following is what I have to offer. Reflect on all that I write because I consider this a very important document in your professional life and I intend to be blunt, direct, and helpful in all that I recommend to you and to all other young engineers with regards to this subject. Do not take any criticism personally or with a negative attitude. Remember: this is done in your behalf and for your direct benefit for now and in the future. Consider the fact that if we didn’t care about you or about your future, the easiest and most convenient avenue for us would be to simply keep quiet and offer you absolutely nothing – no advice, no recommendations. The fact that we take the time and effort to offer something is already an indication that you are somehow important to others and that your future and success is of interest to others.

1. Your resume, in my opinion, is lacking in pertinent details about your abilities and accomplishments. It is weak and not forceful in reflecting your ambitions and interests. One significant feature that it lacks is that it does not contain any “action verbs” – an item that is of primary interest to any resume reader. Action verbs should be used in abundance throughout any resume. They typically take the form of: “I accomplished”, “I led”, “I originated”, “I invented”, “I implemented”, “I operated”, “I finished”, “I undertook”, “I succeeded”, etc., etc. This type of direct claim and communication of positive items in your background is what a resume reader is looking for. It is your job to give your reader what he/she is trying to obtain in specific knowledge about you. Do not be shy about writing down what you believe to be important accomplishments or steps in your career. A resume is, in reality, a formal and accepted ego trip. Don’t get me wrong; this is not about bragging. It is not brag if it is fact. Think deep and hard about all those things that have occurred to you and how you have performed in the past 4 or 5 years. If you had a school project to work an assignment, then say so: “I worked in close relationship with my colleagues, organizing critical and essential basic data which led to a successful, quality completion of our project in the estimated time. This experience enriched my inter-personal and communication skills while contributing valuable technical project experience in design and execution of projected work schedules.” If this is true, then write it down. People want to know this about you. Be frank, truthful, and confident in what you have accomplished. A resume is not a document to practice your humility.

2. You are not forceful in your communications. You write: “Intend to have a job which is related to educational background”. This is very weak and evasive writing. Why not just write the truth, the whole truth: “ I have set as my goal the achievement of a level of experienced and competent engineering in the Process Engineering arena and I actively am seeking an opportunity that will permit me to contribute my work efforts and interests in that area. Be specific and direct. You have no time or space to waste in a resume. Remember, the reader is only going to spend a minute or two looking at your paper.

3. You have failed to identify yourself up front. This is a big mistake. Identify your resume with your name in the heading, together with your address, phone, email, or other avenues of contact. Clearly number your pages “page 1 of 2”. Make life easier and organized for your reader. Your reader wants to know who you are and how long the resume is as soon as possible in order to make a rapid decision about whether to read your paper or not.

4. You are not clear and specific about your academic training or preparation. These are supposed to be your basic qualifications - since you are a recent grad. Again, be specific and direct. What is your degree(s) in? Do you speak/read/write several languages? Are you computer literate? If so, in what specific programs or applications? You may be surprised when you find that an alumni of your university saw your identification with that institute and made a decision to hire you. Many times things work out that way. This is perfectly normal and really an efficient way to weed out suspect applicants. This is so because a professional engineer looking for a new hire will normally look in those places where he/she has prior knowledge or feels more comfortable with making a decision as to preparation of new hires – especially those without much industrial experience. Be proud of where you studied and be ready to discuss your preparation and why you feel capable of carrying out a real-life job assignment.

One of the best ways to start writing a reasonable and acceptable resume at the very beginning is to obtain a variety of resumes from existing, professional engineers. Maybe your university already has started to collect this material as a database for its graduates. Using these as examples, you can quickly grasp what I am trying to drive at.

When you submit a document – such as your resume – always remember to keep your reader’s best interests and ease in mind. If you want comments and suggestions on the document, then submit the document as an original document that can be edited and formatted. By submitting your resume in Adobe Script, you have effectively stopped us all from efficiently editing and formatting your document in order to help you. You have shot yourself in the foot by the action. Always respect and be mindful of your readers – especially when seeking their help.

Lastly, I can frankly tell you from personal experience - and literally hundreds and hundreds of resumes - that you have not spent much constructive time on your own personal resume. I know that you probably feel that you have - but believe me, you haven’t. Until you come to the conclusion that you must spend days (yes, I said “days”) organizing and re-writing your resume, you won’t have a real appreciation for what a quality resume is and what a difference it can make in your professional career. Remember the basic truth: your product is only worth the amount of dedication and sacrifice that you put into it.

I hope this suffices for now and that it helps you in re-writing your resume to better reflect who you are and what you can do for the benefit of others.

[kaisar]

Thank you so much Mr. Montemayor. I need these advice from you. It means a lot to me. I am so sorry to miss some details in my resume. I didn't realize that there was no education profiles and skills in my attached resume. It was supposed to be there. I didn't mean to omit those. For my contact info, I did omit it because I thought it was not necessary to be known here. What I want to be commented was the content of my resume. I will rewrite my resume as you had suggested.
Thank you so much again.
Here are missing info in my resume :

FORMAL EDUCATION
Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Sriwijaya University, Palembang-Indonesia with GPA 2.84 (in scale of 4). Year Intake : 2002. Year Graduated : 2007.

NON FORMAL EDUCATION
Certified Advanced Level of English Course from Shailendra Institution Palembang-Indonesia. Year Graduated : 2004.

SKILLS
Technical Software Skills

• HYSYS 3.0.1 (Trained During Internship Period in PERTAMINA Refinery Unit II, Dumai)
• ASPEN B-JAC
• Pro II
• CHEMCAD 5.2
• MATLAB 6.5 (Hold Certificate of Participation in MATLAB Training held by Chemical Engineering Student Association (IMATEK) of Sriwijaya University, November 2 4, 2004)

Other Skills

• Computer : Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point) 2000/XP
• Language : Fluent in English (Hold Institutional Testing Program (ITP) TOEFL Score Record 553 Issued by Educatonal Testing Service)

PAPERS
Final Report : "Preliminary Design of Hydrogen Production Plant Using Low Pressure Gasification of Rubber Wood Method with Capacity 22000 Ton/Year". Content : Simulation of the process with HYSYS 3.0.1. Calculation of mass balances, heat balances, equipment specification manually, economic analysis. Year Published : 2007

Research Report : "Producing Bioethanol from Kulim Sawdust Using Hydrolization-Fermentation Method". Content : Study of the prospect of producing bioethanol from wood (sawdust) by measuring the glucose and ethanol yields. Year Published : 2006

Internship Report in PERTAMINA Refinery Unit II, Dumai : "Evaluation of Pre-Heater Train B Performance in Crude Distillation Unit". Content : Evaluation of the performance of each heat exchanger in pre-heater train B due to know whether they needed to maintain or not. Year Published : 2005