How to Get the Job - Part 2: Tips
“Tips for your resume, portfolio, and references to help you stand out. Just as simple and straight forward as that. ”
This is Part 2 of How to Get the Job.
Resume tips
Have a professional email address. It’s ok if its @gmail.com. But avoid things that don’t reflect well like rocketwiz2001@gmail.com.
Don’t waste any time saying that you worked at the pizza joint in town, or that you mowed lawns to earn money. Those are not bad things, they just don’t help the decision maker. If you don’t have any experience maybe just try saying “I haven’t yet had my first design/engineering job, but I look forward to…”. Then in the reference section, go ahead and put Ms. Smith who was your manager at the pizza joint. It conveys that you worked but doesn’t waste space.
Make sure you have a list of references, even if they have not asked for it. Make this a second page. Why? If you put the proverbial “References Upon Request” you have just put a barrier between you and the job! You just required the person hiring to reach out to you to ask you for more information. This means they might ask you to do that and then forget about you while they wait for you. Give them what they wants before they asks for it. It helps everyone.
Be specific in your resume. Don’t just say you’re good at SolidWorks, instead say SolidWorks: Designed, rendered, animated, and created engineering drawings for multiple mechanical products. If you include hobbies, don’t just list that you play the guitar. List that you play a 1978 Fender Telecaster in a band called Burnt Toast. It is better to say a few descriptive things than many vague things.
Tips for building a killer portfolio
Recognize that building a portfolio will require “building” it, evolving it, adding missing pieces. For instance, if you want to show me that you can mill something, you will need to plan, mill it, then photograph, and present that work.
Portfolio Items. While you are in university, I HIGHLY recommend that for every engineering/design class you take, find one thing that can become a portfolio item. I also recommend that at least once a year you have a personal project that can become a portfolio item.
Learn to present these items visually/graphically, since portfolios are the visual manifestation of your work and skills. Learn to take good photos, and make good scans. Start a portfolio now and build it. It should always be growing and evolving. Over time, you will remove some items that are less impressive than they used to be.
For team based work, make sure you are clear about what you did in the project. If you can, use only graphics you produced. This will keep the person reviewing your portfolio from thinking that your portfolio is full of other people’s work.
Take significant care in preparing your portfolio. Don’t copy other people’s portfolio. Make extra sure that your portfolio reflects your commitment to craftsmanship. This means organize it well and present it very well. Get the graphics and the words right. Show process and outcome.
Preparation. Once you get the hang of it, it will likely take 1 hour per portfolio page to prepare. Generally make only 1-3 pages per project. A one-page portfolio entry is fine.
Presentation. When you take the portfolio to the interview, have it printed excellently, and have a copy for your interviewer. Let the portfolio be the focus of the interview. So if the interviewer says “why are you passionate about engineering?” You can say “I love the challenge of projects, for example I worked on this project…” then show the portfolio.
As I have encouraged and taught portfolios over the years, many students have returned to tell me that they are sure they got their job because they had a portfolio. I believe that. I know for sure that Jaremey got his job because of his portfolio.
Content vs beauty. There is no way around it; they are both important. A beautiful portfolio with limited low-level content will not get you the job. Great high-level content lost in a distracting ill-prepared portfolio is not likely to be recognized, and if it is, it’s clear that if hired, you would need help conveying your work to others.
A few tips relative to references
Provide them even if not asked for. Contact your references in advance and ask them if they will be a sort of standing reference that you can keep in your resume. Tell them why you have asked them; “I believe you would be an excellent reference because you know my work ethic and know my creativity skills well”.
Choose only people who have known you for a least a year. Don’t choose people who will give a biased opinion about you, like your aunt, or a classmate. Choose references who can say something meaningful and credibly about your design and engineering work.
Want to keep reading or didn’t catch part 1, read on How to Get the Job
