Résumé Q&A
About to start your career or thinking about a change? A résumé helps you get there. Today we talk to two recruiters on how to improve your résumé.
I asked the following questions to two recruiters who know their s***. We’ll call them “🐣” and “🐓.” 🐣 primarily recruits a younger crowd - junior engineers fresh out of college. 🐓 recruits an older crowd - people with a little more experience under their belts.
What are some examples of things that can make a candidate stand out from the crowd?
🐣: We had someone send a PowerPoint of her experience as a résumé. That really made her stand out – she got the job! Also – candidates who follow up!
I am ultimately looking for two things when I am searching for recruits – a fit for the position and a fit for the culture. For the position, it boils down to the relevance of experience (projects, coursework, connections – etc). And for culture, I am looking for community involvement. People who succeed at our company typically are pro-active, problem solvers who are not afraid of connecting to others. Community affiliations like – ASCE, NSBE, WIE therefore really stand out to me. Cover letters are another way to show your personality when your résumé can’t.
🐓: A compelling sentence at the top of the résumé. The sentence at the top should be a good summary with all the key elements. If you have a good summary at the top, it can inspire the reader to take a closer look at the rest of the resume. A bad sentence will have the reader moving on to the next candidate.
Needless to say, you should include your most desirable traits and experiences into your resume. Projects with government agencies, specific design skills, project management experience, etc. should be highlighted to attract people’s interest before they even speak to you.
What's your biggest pet peeve when looking at a résumé?
🐣: When people leave things in their résumé that just prove that they are “spraying and praying” their résumé. I know applying to jobs is a process and is difficult, but we are not a financial company, nor are we a hotel, nor a hospital, nor are we *insert company name here*. This shows me that you are not taking the time to review your work before you submit it.
🐓: Nothing really “peeves” me, it’s just a résumé. But something to avoid is a résumé that’s too verbose. Résumés are the paper equivalent of the “elevator pitch.” It should answer the question, “who am I?” without being a novel and without extraneous information. Also, when people say that they were “responsible for” a certain task. This raises the question: “But, were you any good at it?” It’s just as easy to express your successes and your strengths in the same phrases.
How important is a LinkedIn profile for a candidate?
🐣: Honestly, it depends on your level of experience. As a fresh face, it is not as important because I expect you to be a little green/not well connected. But the longer you spend as a professional, the more crucial it is for recruiters – and other hiring authorities to find you. A bad LinkedIn profile can cut you out of the race before you even know you wanted to run. A good profile can put you on the radar for a job you did not even know existed. Recruiters can exclude people from their search or get notifications for the moment you change your status to “looking for opportunities'' – so keeping your stuff up to date is important!
🐓: It’s a tool that recruiters can use to make connections. If you use significant keywords, your profile is more likely to be found with a recruiter’s boolean search. From there, a good recruiter will give you a call and get to know you.
How are candidates typically found or searched for?
🐣: I always check applications first, but that is my style. I start with the general title of what I’m looking for (ie civil engineer) and then filter by location (Ie. “Greater Houston area), the industry, and year of graduation. I will also add any relevant licenses or programs I know they need. If I cannot find someone that way, I seek out folks that have worked with our known competitors in the area. That is typically my best bet.
Some recruiters get really into the Booleans because people do not put enough information on their profile, so we have to really get into the weeds.
🐓: Some companies employ hiring managers that sift through resumes. They will have a list of the job requirements (minimum years of experience, masters preferred, certifications, etc.). Then they will remove candidates from the pool, providing an abridged list of candidates to their clients.
Any other helpful tidbits that you can think of?
🐣: I read thousands of résumés a year, especially for entry-level or lower skilled positions. I do not care what style or graphics your résumé contains if I find the information I am looking for. The best thing you can do is make your résumé legible! Also, please don’t take rejection personally! A retaliatory response can take you from being rejected from one position to being blacklisted from all positions. I also recommend reaching out to current employees who work in a position you are interested in - you will get the better insight into the position than the initial posting.
🐓: Bounce your résumé off someone else. Some engineers can have trouble talking about themselves. But just by having a conversation with another person, you can learn what to include in your resume. Bouncing ideas of another person can teach you what impresses other people, what unanswered questions someone might have from looking at your résumé, and more.
(Hey! Michelle here with a related tip. If you’re a student, make use of your university’s career services! They usually have people who can help you with your resume - and even people to connect you with to get a job.)