What Do I Need On My Resume (Just these 3 things)

If I can break this down into 3 things so that you can answer “What do I need on my resume” it’ll be this.

February 29, 2024 by Kazu Fujimoto

Your resume needs:

To be clear and concise

Recruiters are only going to spend a solid 10-15 seconds on your resume before the next one. Think about it from a recruiter’s perspective. They see the need to fill out a job req. that has been posted by a manager. Recruiters themselves do not have the skills or the competencies, so they only skim and look for certain things.

Recruiters look for what I advocate in a resume: clarity and conciseness, quantitative results and accomplishments, and keywords. However, if your resume is not clear and concise? Your resume will get tossed into the trash.

Day in and day out, people think “more is better”, but in reality, “less is more”. I really want to drill this into your head. Less is more does not only apply to writing resumes, but in other engineering avenues as well such as CAD drawings and design reviews. No one wants to have to filter out pages and pages of unnecessary information.

To display quantitative results and accomplishments

As I state, time and time again on my website, you need to learn how to display quantitative results and accomplishments on your resume. This will give recruiters and hiring managers, a feel for the business impact that you’ve made in a company.

Are you someone that generates revenue? Do you increase efficiency of processes and procedures? Do you oversee any specific engineering activities for the company?

If so, you’re making the company that you work for money. If you didn’t, then why would you be working as an engineer in the company at the first place?

To contain Keywords From The Job Description

As I mentioned above, your resume will either go through the eyes of a recruiter or application tracking software. It is mandatory that you have keywords listed on your resume.

Recruiters will know what CAD and FEA are. They won’t know how the skills work in an in-depth understanding, but they will know the basics. They will expect you to display competence through a phone screening. Thus, you need to have keywords such as CAD or FEA in your resume!

That’s all you need, to simply put it. If you nail those 3, then you’ll have no problem getting past the Application Tracking System. The recruiter will also have an easy time going over your resume.

You’ll be considered for interviews in no time.

If you’ve struggled with getting job interviews then you really don’t know “what do I need on my resume”.