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Seven top tips to perfect your engineering CV and covering letter

By UCL Careers, on 21 October 2014

Some engineering employers, notably smaller companies, prefer CVs and covering letter. Here are some hints and tips to help you perfect your CV and covering letter to convince recruiters you’re right for the job.

  1. Length of your CV: A CV should be no more than two pages of A4, and a covering letter just one page. By researching the skills sought by the employers you’re targeting and then matching your experience to theses you should be able to fit in all the information that is relevant to that particular graduate job.
  2. CV layout: the layout of your CV is important. Choose a layout that is clear and easy to read, avoid small fonts and large sections of text. Use a skills-focused or chronological format for your CV, depending on what sells you best, and remember to tailor your CV to each employer.
  3. Personal statements | Many students start their CV’s with a brief personal statement outlining their abilities and aspirations. If you choose to do this, be specific and keep it relevant to the engineering job in question.
  4. Educational history: your educational history from your university years should include your predicted or actual degree class, information on group projects and your dissertation, any modules relevant to the job, and relevant academic awards. Include you’re a level (or equivalent) subjects and grades. Give GCSE/standard grad results.
  5. Engineering work experience: outline engineering work experience in your CV, judging how much detail to give by how closely it relates to the specific job you are applying to. Explain what skills you learned and how they can be transferred to the position in question.
  6. Non-engineering work experience: Many engineering employers look very favourably on achievements and experiences outside engineering. This can be a real boost if you haven’t been able to secure engineering work experience – and can give you an extra edge if you have. Examples worth mentioning include fundraising, voluntary work, organising independent overseas travel, sporting achievements or taking a leading role in a university society. Don’t go into detail: summarise your achievements and any transferable skills developed.
  7. What’s the point of a covering letter? Most engineering graduates have a fairly wide range of career options open to them. Outside the engineering sector, graduate engineers are sought after for their numerical skills and problem-solving mentality; inside, there’s a wide range of industries and job types that engineers of most disciplines can choose from. Your covering letter, therefore, is a chance to convince the engineering employer in question that you want to work in their industry, for their specific organisation, and in the job role advertised.

For more advice visit www.targetjobsengineering.co.uk

TARGETJobs Engineering kindly sponsored the UCL Careers Engineering Fair 2014.

5 Responses to “Seven top tips to perfect your engineering CV and covering letter”

  • 1
    pranit patil wrote on 31 October 2017:

    Very good and useful post i have found here about how to write engineering CV as i was looking for the same, i am engineering candidate and looking for job and for that i have to make a good CV. This is so helpful, thanks a lot!

  • 2
    Bhushan Chavan wrote on 2 November 2017:

    Nice tips !!! and here i would like to add one point add that skill where in past you solved a problem with that skill, it will make impact on interviewer.Thank You.

  • 3
    Sharma Ashwini wrote on 31 August 2018:

    This is the best site for engineering students who are looking for resume tips because here are the best resume tips that will help me a lot. language of content is very simple and easy to understand. content quality is great and providing us very useful and up to date information regarding engineering resume. Thank you so much for sharing great content.Keep Writing.

  • 4
    Professor Roy wrote on 27 January 2019:

    Some great advice here. I personally prefer a single page CV. I just highlight my accomplishments and experience in my CV. I think a good cover letter is required to grab the first attention.

  • 5
    Agniva wrote on 9 June 2023:

    Thank You for the amazing insights. This is one of the best resume guides I have come across. Indeed engineering CV should also include a cover letter and their non-engineering achievement. This serves as a great addition to the CV.
    The recruiter will get insights on how to select the right candidate.
    Great Blog.

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