Writing Your Technical Resume

Holly M. Justice Engineering Career

Counselor Career Services 259 Capen Hall

hjustice@buffalo.edu

Dr. Liesl FolksDeanUB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Fall 2014

Technical Resume Writing

Student perspective vs

Employer/Professional Engineer perspective

What Employers Have Said They Seek:

HARD SKILLS

• EXPERIENCE! (Co-op/Internship,

related experience)• GPA• Good Communication

Skills –Oral and Written!

• Computational Skills• Data Management &

Analysis Skills• Problem-solving Skills

SOFT SKILLS

• Creativity• Evidence of Team

Work• Time Management

Skills• Enthusiasm• Flexibility

Internship posting examples

What is the employer really looking for in a candidate?

How do you illustrate your skills in your resume?

Internship PostingCOMPANY: FISHER-PRICEPOSITION: ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING INTERNDESCRIPTION•As an Electrical Engineering intern you'll have the opportunity to work on a wide range of products and explore diverse areas of electronics including:• Digital and analog hardware design• Mobile gaming• Digital audio• RF• Embedded programmingInterns are an important part of our organization making real contributions, learning as they do. Over one third of the electrical engineering staff at Fisher-Price began their careers here as interns.

Primary Duties:• Build and debug electronic hardware prototypes.• Testing and debugging of software.• Debug and test production prototypes.• Embedded programming• Technology R&D projectsQUALIFICATIONSKnowledge of the fundamentals of digital and analog transistor circuit design.• The ability to read schematics and identify electronic components.• Hands-on experience building circuits including soldering and wiring.• Background in programming. Knowledge of high-level languages such as C and low level such as assembly is a plus.• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment.Must be a registered student enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's Degree Program that is technically-based, preferably Electrical Engineering.

The Resume• What is it? Brief summary of your accomplishments

and skills

• Purpose? To get you an interview!• Should excite interest in you as a

potential employee

• Must show your impact

Resume Content: Must Have’s!

• Identifying Data: You must be easy to reach!

Your Name Address (temporary/permanent, dates) Phone (professional sounding message) Email (professional address name)

Eg: Yi (Mark)Wang

ywang2014@buffalo.edu716-645-2231

Resume Content• Social Media – Linkedin.com • Github• Online portfolios• Etc.

Resume Content: Must Have’s!

Education

Name of College/Univ. GPA (3.0/4.0 if good) Degree, Major/Minor Applicable Coursework (if applicable)Date Received or Expected Awards/Honors (if applicable) Study Abroad (if applicable)Example:

EducationUniversity at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY

Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering, May 2015 Overall GPA 3.3/4.0 Technical GPA 3.6/4.0Dean’s List, Fall 2012, 2013

Relevant Coursework: Embedded Systems, Communications Systems, Applied Electromagnetics, Electronics Devices & Circuits, Electronics Circuits Lab

OPTIONAL – Only use if it will map to keywords.

Resume Content: Must Have!Experience

(paid jobs, volunteer jobs, internships, co-ops, military experience)

Target To Your Audience! Reverse Chronological Order!

Eg:

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE

Qualcomm, San Diego, CA System Test Engineer Intern, May – Aug 2013• Key contributor to the successful establishment of automated analog

System testing and characterization entity. • Conducted first high-volume system debug and test of QC single chip

product.• Collected and analyzed data and presented to project leaders

Resume Content: What’s so technical?Technical Skills (maps to keywords)

Example:

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Languages: C, C++, Java, Assembly

Software: Maple, Visual Basic, Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Powerpoint), Knowledge of

Matlab

Operating Systems: Windows 98/NT, Unix

Other: Soldering

Resume Content: What Else?Category Headings

• Language Skills• Computer Skills

International Experience

• Special Skills• Other Interests • Certification/Licenses• Additional Experience

• References Available Upon Request.

• Objective

• Engineering Projects

• Co-Curricular Activities

• Community Service

• Honors and Awards• Professional

Affiliations • Professional

Development• Leadership

Leveraging brand names on your resume

The power of recognized names on your resume.

Education – Advisor’s nameExperience – Name of company and/or

Supervisors, Colleagues References – Famous people!

Go back to the job posting and make sure you have the keywords in your resume.

If not, put them in your cover letter!

Internship PostingCOMPANY: FISHER-PRICEPOSITION: ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING INTERNDESCRIPTION•As an Electrical Engineering intern you'll have the opportunity to work on a wide range of products and explore diverse areas of electronics including:• Digital and analog hardware design • Mobile gaming• Digital audio• RF• Embedded programmingInterns are an important part of our organization making real contributions, learning as they do. Over one third of the electrical engineering staff at Fisher-Price began their careers here as interns.

Primary Duties:• Build and debug electronic hardware prototypes.• Testing and debugging of software.• Debug and test production prototypes.• Embedded programming• Technology R&D projectsQUALIFICATIONSKnowledge of the fundamentals of digital and analog transistor circuit design.• The ability to read schematics and identify electronic components.• Hands-on experience building circuits including soldering and wiring.• Background in programming. Knowledge of high-level languages such as C and low level such as assembly is a plus.• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment.Must be a registered student enrolled in a Bachelor's or Master's Degree Program that is technically-based, preferably Electrical Engineering.

A separate page(s) for

Publications, Patents & Presentations (if you have them)

References

A separate page(s) for• Publications

– Peer reviewed publications– Conference publications– Other publications

• Presentations – Conference presentations (State oral or

poster)– Other presentations

• Patents

Publications & PresentationsUse journal standard style for listing pubs

Example• S. Solin , D. R. Hines , A. C. H. Rowe , J. S.

Tsai , Y. A. Pashkin , S. J. Chung , N. Goel and M. B. Santos "Nonmagnetic semiconductors as read-head sensors for ultra-high-density magnetic recording", Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 80, no. 21, pp.4012 -4014 2002

References• Add a separate page formatted in the

same manner as your resume with 3 references

• Format– Name– Title– Company/organization– Phone– Email– Rationale/Relationship

EXAMPLE:

Dr. Liesl Folks, MBAResearch Staff MemberHitachi Global Storage Technologies888-123-4567Liesl.folks@company.com *Supervisor during internship

Quiz

How many pages should your resume be?

The Resume: Final TouchesOverall appearance:

– Does your resume make you want to read it at a glance? • Ensure lots of white space on page

– 15 second rule – Modern font type (e.g. Sans Serif) – Font size 8-12 point – NO ERRORS!– No formatting errors

Do KEY points stand out at a glance?– Typically one page, no more than 2 pages!– if two pages put most important information on first page– use category headings to point to your strengths!

Use impact, accomplishment statements! – Impact statements with action words, do not use complete sentences

Is it getting you the interview?

The Resume & Applying OnlineSpecial Considerations

• You will need a traditional Paper Version, and you may need a simple text Electronic Version

– Keywords*

– Keep fonts, margins and enhancements simple.

– Use a clear file name (ex. Your_name_resume.doc)

• Emailing your resume– Email your resume to a specific person (Never mass email your

resume.)– Use formal, professional language (do not be casual in your emails! )

See Resume Examples

UB Career Services • Contact us:

– 259 Capen Hall 8:30am – 5:00pm M-F – Call 716-645-2231 to schedule an

appointment– Email us at jobs@buffalo.edu – Express Career Consult –

• 11:00-4:00pm M-F • www.ub-careers.buffalo.edu

Thank you for your time.

Good Luck!