Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume.

Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull’s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.

Your resume is a marketing tool.

Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.

Use your resume to obtain an interview, NOT A JOB.

You don’t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land the job offer.

Use bulleted sentences.

In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences, then below that can be lengthier paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.

Use action words.

Action words cause your resume to stand out. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, analyzed, designed monitored, and presented.

Lead with your strengths.

Since resumes are typically reviewed in 2 minutes, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.

Play Match Game.

Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.

Use buzzwords.

If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For Design Engineers, use “Synthetic Aperture Radar Systems Designer.” For Analyst types, use “Electromagnetics Radar Cross Section code analyst” .

Accent the positive.

Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you do some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. This will help reduce the length of your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.

Show what you know.

Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.

Show who you know.

If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager that is well known in the Engineering community, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.

Construct your resume to read easily.

Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. (11 point recommended) Limit the length of your resume to 2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.