11 replies to this topic

[Art Montemayor]

To All Chemical Engineering Students:

I recently read a student’s resume with regards to obtaining an interview for an intern assignment. I was surprised and impressed to see what I seldom get an opportunity to witness: a mature, well-organized, succinct and direct-to-the-point document. These are the basic, necessary ingredients for a young student or Chemical Engineering graduate to compile into a personal resume. I am attaching a copy of his resume as a clear example of what is expected of a young chemical engineer’s resume. There are just a few ingredients that I would add to this document, and I will discuss these later. Also, bear in mind that this was done by a Puerto Rican student - not a mainland USA student. Why can't ALL students express themselves with such clarity and communications?

All too frequently, I see Chemical Engineering students failing to put together a resume (especially if it is their first attempt) that reflects their achievements, objectives, and key skills and abilities with clear and succinct presentation. All engineers – especially all of us that have been doing this for many years – know all too well that this is not an easy job. It takes careful, organized, and skillful application of all your communications skills. Nevertheless, it must be done – and done to the ultimate best of your abilities, because it is the ONE document and record of everything that you represent as a potential professional or as a full professional. It is probably the most important document that an engineer has to write during his career.

A resume has to report and reflect a variety of important information – and all this information must be concise, organized, succinct, clear, accurate, appealing, truthful, aesthetic, and interesting. It must be tailored to the ultimate reader: the person who will decide whether or not to hire you and give you what you are seeking in your career. That’s why this document must be specifically “engineered” to comply with the reader’s needs and ease of understanding exactly what skills, achievements, and potentials the writer has as a potential candidate for hire. I consider this exercise so important for an engineer that I put together the attached, brief document to assist young engineers in writing their resumes. Please read and study the importance of using “Action” words – especially verbs. In addition, note the fluent and resourceful use of these words by Gustavo in his resume.

Many Chemical Engineering students get depressed when they start on their first resume because they feel that they have nothing to say. They haven’t embarked on their career and, therefore, in their opinion they have no achievements or results to report on. This is not entirely true! One great achievement is the completion of your studies. There are others – witness how Gustavo handles that situation. Never forget that your resume reader is ultimately another engineer who has traveled down that path before. He/she already know the circumstances and the situation you face as a young graduate or student. There is nothing to explain or to alibi for. Your strength is in what you present as a potential for a future employer. It is up to you to sell yourself to him/her and convince them that you pose no risk and have a professional outlook on work and the results expected of you. In order to help convince them, use ACTION verbs – lots of them. Resume readers want (and desire) to read about what EXACTLY you have accomplished and in what capacity. Write this simply, forcefully, and succinctly for their benefit. Give them ALL the direct, and honest details. They want to hear about it, because they don’t want to take a risk if they can avoid it.

During your first 10 years as a professional engineer, I would expect you all to be working on and refining your professional resumes every 3 to 6 months – without failure. This is vital for your career and professional progress. Don’t forget: A resume is a condensation of everything you have accomplished as an engineer. It will be your autobiography and you want it to be accurate and well understood by all who read it.

I would recommend the addition of one more section to Gustavo’s resume – a “Summary” section, just after the “Objectives”, in order to give facility and ease to the reader that is hampered by time and opportunity to fully read and digest everything in the resume. Unfortunately, most decision makers who have to read and study resumes on a daily basis do not have the time or opportunity to spend reading all the resumes they receive in their total content. You must confront this reality and adopt a technique to facilitate their ability to grasp the most important assets and skills that you believe they should know about your work - and do it quickly and accurately. The Summary Section is intended to do just that.

I hope these points and comments are of use to all the young students and recent grads that have a need to construct or maintain their resumes.
 Gustavo_Mendez_Resume.com.doc   41KB   750 downloads
 Action_Words.doc   47.5KB   522 downloads

THANK YOU SIRE.. I GOT ONE ACTION WORD FOR YOU,

I HELPED millions of chemical engineering students by sharing this niblet.....

[Thushara]

Great, Action words are very help full. I decided to rewrite my resume with these impressive words.

Thanks

[johnsonn239]

I think there are some good point on this resume however there are ways to make it better. First of all depending on your GPA, you might want to include that. Also, while it is nice to have these "action words" they will not distinguish your resume from 100 other resumes unless you have something to back it up.
For example in this resume there is a line under the heading "Skills" that reads, "Exceptional team player with excellent interpersonal and communication skills." That is a great quality to have as a young professional but what makes a resume stand out is having something to back that statement up. Under experience or education there should be an example of how you are an exceptional team player and have had experience in working in a team setting.

Nic

[Allen]

My thoughts exactly. We have a TV program in the UK called "The Apprentice" where a group of youngsters seek to gain a high paying job. The vast majority of the candidates have a lot to say about their skills and capabilities but few of them actually come up to proof. All they demonstrate is that they have an inflated view of self worth.

To be eye catching a CV (resume) needs more than just "action words" - it needs some backup evidence. In my organisation, "behavioural interviewing" is used. Candidates are expected to demonstrate certain behaviours (which are set out in the vacancy description) when they apply. When I interview, I take it as a given that they will claim to be have the required attributes - for example "Innovate", "motiveate", "work in a team", "lead", "deliver". The trick is whether they can demonstrate this ability. Succinct examples in the CV would go a long way to help a prospective employer separate the wheat from the chaff.

Of course, the ability to write a concise and effective CV will in itself say a lot about the individual.

Just one final thought concerning Thushara's post - please don't just copy across the example CV - by all means use the Action Word approach to guide you but please cast it in your own style and personality - ultimately you may have to convince an interview panel of it's contents!

[PME]

Dear Art
You have send the cv of fresher. Pl. send the cv for Professinal Er. also.

Thanks
Sachin Rastogi
Material Er.

[chenblue]

Thanks Art,

That is a vary good example for preparing resume.
It's very useful to a recent graduates of ChE department, like me.
Thanks again!

[rowanlim]

A very useful post, I myself am undergoing internship & I think I just received an unofficial job offer when the manager informed me that he wants to put me on the team for a new project. Next week I'll be sending in my application so he won't have to worry about whether it's allowed for an intern to do "real-time" work!

I do have a question: is there a unspoken rule on how long a resume should be? The last one that I wrote (to apply for my current internship) was about 5 pages long, I did it in point form & for every positive characteristic I mentioned, I supported it with examples, ie. for good leader, I listed my history as holding posts in various student bodies. I wonder if too much information is not good information. Any idea?

[riven]

I do have a question: is there a unspoken rule on how long a resume should be? The last one that I wrote (to apply for my current internship) was about 5 pages long, I did it in point form & for every positive characteristic I mentioned, I supported it with examples, ie. for good leader, I listed my history as holding posts in various student bodies. I wonder if too much information is not good information. Any idea?

First off in your situation I would keep everything short and to the point. If the manager has has already offered something he already knows a lot about you.

In general I write with the requirement to keep everything within 2 pages. I can usually squeeze that down to 1 without leaving anything out though it can appear a bit austere (so the 2 page limit). Another thing to consider is if you have a list of patents or publications; how to present these?

By a page I mean one side/face of a sheet.

[rowanlim]

^Thank you for your advice, I'll keep it compact & straight to the point!

[CristianG]

Thank you very much, Art! Your post is very helpful.

[Padmakar Katre]

Dear Art,
Thanks for such a useful gift to the ChE students/aspirants.I think this is no where technical but just a kind concern for those either jobless or the career starters. Your act will assure every member of these forums that there is some one who is kind at heart and always there to take care of us, you are not just the ChE knowledgeable authority but a Guardian for all of us. God bless you always. Have a nice time there.

Edited by Padmakar S Katre, 09 October 2010 - 03:49 AM.