Similar to any resume, software engineer resume generally work the same. You want to be concise in explaining your experience but make sure your explanations are tailored to the job you are applying for. Below, we have shared some best practices along with some examples to get you started.
If you want more information on the types of skills or hobbies you should include on your resume, click on the below link:
Best Practices to develop a software engineer resume
No matter the job you’re applying for or the industry you hope to enter, there are some basic principles of resume writing that always apply.
Make It Relevant
Your resume is NOT a place to write down everything you did at your previous jobs. You likely have done a lot more than your resume suggests, and employers understand that. It is essential to include first and foremost the experience that is relevant to the job you’re applying for. If you need to fill in the space, you can include less relevant activities, but start with the job responsibilities that are most similar to the job you’re applying for.
Format It Correctly
Software engineer resumes need to look polished, but you can play around with the formats. Sometimes creativity will help you stand out, but there are some parameters you should work within. Resumes should only be one page, single-spaced. If you are running out of space, you can change the font, font size, and page margins.
Resumes are the First Impression
When employers are looking for job applicants, they are usually handed a stack of resumes that they skim through, only spending seconds on each one. To help yours stick out, try to use lots of action words or key-words that will stick out to the readers’ eyes. Remember, every job description should start with a verb such as “performed”, “developed”, or “created”. Check out Linkedin’s take on writing the perfect resume.
Before you get Started on your Software Engineer Resume
Writing a resume can be tough, but once you have a good one made, you can use it as a template for multiple jobs. However, you should never be sending the exact same resume to each job, because no two jobs are exactly the same.
We have some incredible resources to help you get started. So don’t stress too much and remember, practice makes perfect! Have a look at the below software engineer resume templates:
Resumes are a fact-based densely packed one sheet story about who you are, what kind of employee you are, and how you can bring value to the company you’re applying for. According to Google’s head of recruiting, “The no. 1 thing you want to be thinking about is to tell your story — not just your work experience, but also what you’ve learned and the accomplishments you’re most proud of.” This is where interests and hobbies for your resume come into the picture.
One way to tell a story and personalize your resume is to include a select few hobbies or interests that illustrate your life outside of work. While your resume should mainly focus on your career and educational achievements, your listed interests and hobbies for your resume help paint a fuller picture of what kind of person you are in the real world.
This is a great opportunity to connect with your interviewer on a personal level. Interviewers aren’t just looking for the most qualified candidate, but they are looking for someone they want to work with. Making personal connections during your interview is a crucial step in landing the job.
What is an interest?
Interests are various topics and themes that you enjoy engaging in your personal life. They are the things you feel most passionate about and that excite you in your free time. Some quick examples are modern art, traveling, blogging, or listening to music. Take a look below for a longer list of examples.
What is a Hobby?
Hobbies are similar to interests, but hobbies are the actual activity you engage in. A hobby is an activity you enjoy doing on a regular basis and have a decent amount of knowledge in the topic. These are things you should have examples of so you can share some stories with your interviewer. Some examples of hobbies are rock climbing, cooking, surfing, or gardening. Take a look below for a longer list of examples.
Should you Include Hobbies on your Resume?
While listing hobbies on your resume is an excellent way to share your personal life, it isn’t always appropriate. If you are running out of space on your resume or have too much relevant work experience already, this is some information you can remove and cover in the interview process. However, if you are early in your career and need to fill space, this is a great way to show skills you have while also conveying information about your life outside of work.
Here are some key examples of when it is appropriate to include hobbies on your resume:
You have minimal education experience.
You have minimal work experience.
The job listing description outlines responsibilities related to your interests or hobbies.
The company asks applicants to list their hobbies or interests.
The company is seeking out applicants with unique characteristics or personalities.
Each job application is going to vary, so it’s important to tailor your resume to that job. For some examples of how to write your resume, click here:
Adding hobbies is not just a space filler. When done intelligently, it can communicate insightful details about you that any sharp interviewer would pick up on.
For example, ‘playing chess’ shows that you can think strategically and won’t rush into decisions. Similarly, ‘playing cricket or football’ can show your ability to work well with a team. Additionally, talking about how you go surfing or bike riding every week can show that you’re hard-working and determined.
The important thing is to convey the right insights according to the job you are applying for. For most of the knowledge worker jobs these days, it helps to highlight logic, problem solving, strategic mindset, teamwork and persistence via your hobbies.
Where to List Hobbies on Your Resume?
Listing your hobbies should be one of the last things on your resume. Similar to skills, you want your hobbies and interests to be listed in bullet point form with no explanations. During the interview, you will have the chance to discuss your hobbies and tell stories. If you want to know what skills to include on your resume, click below:
While there are a lot of hobbies and interests that you might have, the ones you include on your resume should be appropriate, professional, and relevant to the job you’re applying for. Here are some examples.
Relevant Hobbies for an Engineering Resume:
Designing websites
Assembling computers
Artistic hobbies such as photography, painting, or drawing
Community Service
Exercises like surfing, rock climbing, hiking, etc.
International Travel
Public speaking
Playing chess
Writing or blogging
Reading (can specify genres you enjoy)
Relevant Interests for a Resume
Musicals or theatrical plays
Writing
Gaming
History (can specify areas of interest)
Volunteering (can specify areas of interest)
Travel
Nature
Foreign Languages
Listening to Music and/or Concerts
Conclusion
Interests and Hobbies on your resume
are a great way to educate your interviewer about your personal life before and during the interview process. Including these items can be a great way to fill the space on your resume or illustrate why you’re the right person for the role.
Remember, the interviewer is often someone who you will work with when starting the job. They are picking people they want to work with in the future, and think will be a great fit for their team. Don’t be scared to share a little bit about your personal life so the interviewer can begin to trust you and feel connected to you as a person. Creating these social connections is a great way to get the job!
Writing a resignation letter is likely a necessary and awkward part of anyone’s work life. Whether you’re leaving your first entry-level job to move up in the world or taking a step down from a larger company role, sending off your resignation letter is usually one of the first steps in the process.
The unfortunate part about leaving a job is that no one trains you on how to do it. While some of your friends and family have likely left a job before, there is no one at your job that told you how to one day leave, despite telling you how to do everything else for the role.
However, we’re here to help! Below are some simple Do’s and Don’ts, along with a few examples, on how to best write a resignation letter.
The Basic Principles
Leaving your job should be done gracefully in order to leave the door open should you want to return or need a recommendation letter in the future.
A resignation letter can be broken down into a few simple parts.
1. Formal Resignation
Here, you can explain that you are leaving and when you plan your last day to be. This should be a one-sentence explanation.
2. Thank You
Here, you express your gratitude for the opportunity and thank them unequivocally. This is not the place to air any grievances (you may have your chance during an exit interview). It’s best to list 1-2 examples of why you enjoyed working at the company and how much you cherished the experience and opportunity.
3. Reason for Living
Here, you can share the reason for departure, whether a new job, personal life choice, etc. You don’t need to get into too many details. Don’t mention the new company you’re working for and keep any information here vague. You can share details in-person with those you trust, but don’t put too much into writing.
What should you do now?
Here are some basic things to DO for your resignation letter:
Do: Give Notice that You’re Leaving
Even if you are leaving a toxic workplace, you still should always put into writing that you are formally leaving a company. Make sure you get an email or written confirmation that your employer acknowledges you are leaving. This could save you potential legal trouble down the road, although unlikely.
Do: Tell Your Manager First
While you may tell your close colleagues that you plan to leave, the first person you should tell is your direct manager. They are the ones that deal with you the most and they will tell you what you need to do to proceed. Further, the Harvard Business Review explains that you want to make sure your boss knows the reason you’re leaving before they are surprised by the news. Even if you had a bad relationship with them, your manager/boss should learn the news from you first.
Do: Prepare your Computer and Workspace before you leave
While not directly related to your resignation letter, make sure that all personal information from your work computer is deleted. There is always the potential that after you submit your resignation letter, you will be asked to leave immediately. This is the case if you plan to leave to a competitor, work with sensitive information, or other similar situations.
Don’t do this on your Resignation Letter
Here are a few things to avoid when writing your resignation letter:
Don’t: Get Emotional
Your resignation letter is not the place to write out a heartfelt goodbye or list all the reasons you hated the job and can’t wait to leave. This is essentially a formal document that you are preparing, and thus, it should only contain professional language. You can be grateful and express your gratitude, but if you want to express your thankfulness towards your manager or coworkers, save it for a personal letter.
Don’t: Brag About Your Next Role
While you are likely leaving for a better position or to improve your personal life, there is no need to rub it in everyone’s face. While this language should never be included in a resignation letter, this is a good practice during your last two weeks. You should remain grateful and humble during your remaining time, especially if you plan to ask these people for recommendation letters down the line.
Don’t: Leave Without a Goodbye
On your last day, the best thing you can do is send a team or company-wide email (depending on what’s appropriate) expressing your gratitude towards the company and how it was a pleasure working with everyone. This will likely be separate from your resignation letter, so you can be a bit more personal. During the resignation process, you want to leave everyone with a good taste in their mouth, and not make them happy you’re leaving.
I am writing this letter to give you my formal notice that I will be leaving my role as Senior Engineer on the Web Development team on February 10th, 2022.
I am truly grateful for the last three years at Webbing.org. It has been a pleasure working and growing the team to what it has become today. Learning from you has helped me grow as an engineer and as a person. While my time here has been incredible, I have been given an opportunity at another company that I feel compelled to take.
Over the next two weeks, please let me know how I can be of assistance. I am happy to start training a replacement and offboard my responsibilities as you see fit.
I wish you and everyone on the team the best of luck, and I look forward to keeping in touch.
Best Regards,
Michael Felbs
Example #2
Dear Ms. Maximoff
Please accept this email as a formal notification of my resignation as Jr. Web Designer with NewVision Inc. I will plan my last day to be on Tuesday, March 3rd.
First of all, I want to thank you for the past year and a half at this company. Working here has been incredibly rewarding and I appreciated all the opportunities to learn and grow during my time. The work I did at NewVision helped me become more creative and knowledgeable, skills I will certainly take with me throughout my career.
During the next month, I will do everything I can to make sure the transition of my departure goes as smoothly as possible. If there are any special tasks you would like me to complete outside of my normal responsibilities, please let me know.
I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for me, and I’m wishing you and the team continued success, I hope we can stay in touch!
MBA is not only a degree that offers you a job at an international company but also it provides you with many opportunities to explore different aspects of your personality. Every student has their own aspirations and goals in life and MBA is one such degree that helps you achieve those goals. If you are already a student and are planning to study MBA, then you might be thinking about going abroad for higher studies. In that case, it is very important that you choose a good MBA program abroad as well as course structure in order to get quality education with international exposure.
In today’s world, there are so many options available for students who want to pursue their education abroad but with so much confusion surrounding this topic most students fail to choose the right program because they do not have enough information about what they should do or how they can get into top MBA programs abroad with a fee that fits within their budget.
At Scholar Strategy, we get a lot of queries from students about pursuing MBA in their career but there are two most common issues that they all face:
You have decided to study abroad but haven’t found the right place to do it from
You have the right place but don’t have the budget for it
While there are a lot of universities abroad to pursue your MBA from, here is a list of those Top 10 highly ranked and affordable universities as per the Financial Times Ranking 2022 that will give you a complete package of high quality education, good placement opportunities and an international exposure all within your budget.
Top 10 Highly Ranked and Affordable Programs for MBA Abroad
The search doesn’t get over here. Once you have finalized your dream university and program, it is highly important to choose an MBA specialization that will add value in your journey. The right specialization can help you gain practical experience while also developing specific skills that will help advance your career path. Be sure to have a clear understanding of the specialization you need for your career here:
Hopefully, these tips will help you come to a decision. The idea here is that you can invest your time and money into getting a good MBA education, but what really matters at the end of the day is whether or not it will help you advance your career. And to that end, having a low-cost education with a high ROI should be your main goal.
Getting an MBA degree in one of the most preferred MBA specializations is a great way to advance yourself in your career. While MBAs are business-focused, you do not need a background in business. In fact, many MBA students come from a wide range of industries including engineers, lawyers, and doctors.
MBA studies are focused on finetuning your skillset to be better equipped for the business world. MBA specializations include education on accounting, finance, marketing, management, and other essential functions of a business.
Getting your MBA is important because it teaches you how to run a business. This will allow you to move up in a company, pivot into a new industry, or start your own company. Here, some of Stanford’s MBA students explain how they were able to use their MBA degrees to pivot into new industries and quickly rise the ranks at internationally renowned companies.
While you can be the best software developer in the world, if you don’t know how to make a balance sheet or manage a team of employees, your ideas may never get off the ground. Understanding what MBA specializations there are and how the programs work is crucial, so here is some basic information to get you started!
List of MBA Specializations
The great thing about MBA programs is that not all are the same. There are tons of specialized MBA programs that are suited for various industries and what you might want to do with the rest of your career. While there are dozens of specialties out there, here are a few of the most popular.
1. MBA in Marketing
Pursuing a study in marketing is probably the most familiar to people. Back in 2017, Forbes estimated that the average person sees anywhere from 4,000-10,000 advertisements a day. We see advertisements on every product, on every type of surface, and at every hour of the day. So, for non-businesspeople, marketing awareness might feel the most natural to learn.
But marketing is more than just making a perfect advertisement. Marketing includes complex strategy, sales and data analytics, psychiatry, and more. The marketing department at any company is responsible for bringing in new business, increasing sales, managing the company’s image, and more.
2. MBA in Information Systems (IT)
The primary focus of studying IT is to bridge the gap between business needs and the available technology. Businesses that invest in having cutting-edge IT systems are often at an advantage. They are able to work more efficiently, collect more data to analyze, and reduce pain points throughout a businesses’ operations.
The IT department encompasses more than just the team that installs software onto computers. This team is vital to many businesses today because almost every company has a website and various social media accounts as well as e-commerce stores, data analytics systems, supply-chain management systems, and more. IT is the engine of every modern company so being able to understand these systems makes you an incredible asset wherever you work.
3. MBA in Finance
Finance is one of the most popular MBA programs since it trains students on how to raise capital for companies, operate the cash flows of a business, and how to leverage assets to achieve company goals. While many engineers are already good with numbers, finance is slightly more complicated than the simple underlying equations.
Finance requires strategy and a thorough understanding of domestic and international markets, as well as the right personal skills to lock in investors and deals. Without Finance specialists, there is no fuel to run the car, so mastering this skill is highly prized amongst top companies.
4. MBA in Operations Management
Acquiring a specialty in operations management encompasses the understanding of keeping a company running smoothly. The majority of your responsibilities could include functions such as vendor management, inventory management, purchase management, supply-chain management, and resource planning. These functions are what keep the business running and are the main components in maintaining the cost of goods, the quality of products, and how fast products and services can be achieved.
Operations specialists are incredibly valuable because they make the whole business possible. While Financiers find the money to pay for the inputs and Marketing figures out what products or services to make, IT and Operations Management are the two functions that help the business run smoothly. If you have read anything about supply-chain issues in the current market and think you can improve the system, operations management might be your calling.
5. MBA in Consulting
Consulting is a fancy industry term for a fixer. When companies hire a consultant, they are looking for someone to come in and figure out the problem or find the solution to any problem. Consultants are the Swiss-army knives in the professional world because they need to analyze all aspects of the business, from Financing, Marketing, IT, Operations, and more.
Pursuing an MBA in consulting is a great choice for people who have no business background because consultants can be highly specialized. If you’re a software engineer, you can easily find a niche as a software consultant and work with companies to find software pain points and improve their systems.
How to Choose Your MBA Specialization
Understanding what MBA specialization means is only half the battle. Before committing to a program, consider taking some of these steps.
Think About Your Career Path
Are you someone that wants to work for a large company or create your own? Do you want to stay in the same industry or pivot into a new one? Think about the jobs you would want to have and assess which MBA program would best help you get there.
Understand the Classes and Subjects in Each Program
A quick summary of the course isn’t going to be enough to understand what it can provide you. Look at the different classes offered in each program and think about if those will help you in the job you want. MBA programs are more than just a base understanding of knowledge. These classes are meant to teach you highly specialized skills that companies will seek you out for.
What Companies are Looking for and What are they Offering
If you are driven by the industry you want to enter or the company you want to look for, looking at what these companies are desiring in the current market can give you an advantage. If you want to work at Meta, having a background in IT systems to help in their e-commerce efforts may be your best ticket in.
It’s also important to look at the salaries and jobs that are being offered. This can give you a great idea as to the value of your MBA degree in the current market.
Most Attractive Specializations for Engineers
MBA programs are a great way for engineers to move up the corporate ladder and learn about the fundamentals needed to run a business. While there are dozens of MBA specializations out there, the best ones for engineers are going to leverage an engineer’s natural analytical abilities, as well as help engineers, learn all skills needed to manage a business.
While this list is not in any order and may not be relevant depending on your specific career goals, these are the best MBA specializations for engineers:
Finance
Marketing
Consulting
Operations Management
IT Systems
Business Analytics
International Business
Final Thoughts
Pursuing an MBA is an exciting next step in anyone’s career path. Every job is geared towards improving a business, whether you’re a doctor or engineer. Understanding the fundamentals of business will make you an incredibly valuable employee at any company.
Before you start applying to MBA programs, you will definitely need to fix your resume. Here is a great resource to get you started:
Salary Negotiations can be difficult and stressful but are an important part of any interview process, annual employee review, or promotion. Having the opportunity to negotiate your salary over email has some pros and cons. Negotiating over email gives you the benefit of carefully crafting your statements and reducing impulsive decision-making, such as accepting an offer you’re not truly comfortable with. On the downside, salary negotiation over email limits what you can say as you must be concise, and means that your tone or personality can get lost over text. Despite these obstacles, we have a few templates that provide a solid foundation for any salary negotiation email.
#1. Applying for a New Job – Compensation to Match Experience
Hi Ms Johnson,
I wanted to thank you again for our great discussion over the phone and let you know I have received the job offer package from HR. I believe I am the right fit for this role, and I am truly grateful to have been considered for the position.
Before I can accept this offer, I would like to further discuss the compensation outlined in the package. As we discussed, I have over 8 years of experience in the field, with five of those years in a managerial position. At my previous company, my team exceeded its quota by 30% and was the highest-earning group within the company. Further, in the last two years, I was able to increase my team size to over 20 people, which was one of the largest teams managed in my company. I believe that my experience makes me a valuable candidate for this job and goes above and beyond those requirements requested. As such, I feel that an annual salary of $105,000 – $115,000 is fair.
I know that I can bring the leadership and value that is required to do this job successfully. I am extremely excited about this opportunity, and I hope to discuss the salary further.
Thank you again and I look forward to talking with you soon.
Best Regards,
Monica
#2 Applying for a New Job – Compensation to Match Job Requirements
Dear Mr. Bedi,
Thank you for offering me the Account Manager role. I want to express my gratitude and excitement about working for the company.
Prior to going ahead with this offer, I would like to continue the conversation around my compensation. While the offer is greater than my current salary, I feel that the increase does not match the average cost of living to where I would relocate to. For instance, according to government statistics, my average cost of living would increase 22% while my salary would only increase 15%. Additionally, I will have to spend more time commuting to work.
For these reasons, I think a salary of $85,000 is reasonable to cover my increased expenses and continue to the same standard of living I currently enjoy. However, I understand this is a new role, and I am willing to consider other forms of compensation or reimbursement if also possible. This role is an incredible opportunity, and I would love to work for this company.
I want to thank you again for your consideration. I hope we can come to an agreement and move towards the next steps. Hoping to talk to you soon.
#3 Applying for a New Role/Promotion in your current company
Hi Brad,
I wanted to express my gratitude again for our conversation earlier about the new role and let you know that I received the compensation package from HR.
Although I love this offer, I would like to review the salary amount that has been offered. While the salary increase is the company standard of 10%, I believe that because of my years of commitment to this company and the value I bring to the team, I think a 13%-15% increase should be considered. Following the obstacles faced by the team last year, I took on roles and responsibilities that were far greater than expected of me. I increased my team from 2 to 7 members while still growing our group revenues year over year.
I understand that due to budget constraints, this increase may not be possible. However, if this is the case, I would be willing to discuss other types of compensations such as an increase in PTO days, an increase in my commission percentage, or something similar.
I truly enjoy being a part of this company and I hope to continue to help our team grow. I’m excited to continue the conversation and hear your thoughts.
Warm Regards,
Erica
What Next?
These three email templates should provide the foundation for any salary negotiation conducted over an email. Don’t forget to make the emails as personal to your experience as possible. Include examples and quantitative data that are appropriate to your arguments. And always try to have another person read your article or use a website like Grammarly.com to edit your emails; poor grammar and spelling errors make you look less professional. The most important factors of any email are to remain confident, be concise, and be respectful.
At the end of the day, you will still have to work with the people you are negotiating with. However, these people have also been in your shoes and know the importance of negotiating a salary. It can be an intimidating process but learning how to negotiate a salary is a necessary skill to earn your fair compensation and hopefully be on the other end of the negotiations one day.
Whether you are applying for a new job, discussing your annual salary increase, or interviewing for a promotion, negotiating your salary can be a difficult and stressful process. Depending on the size of your company, the industry you work in, and dozens of other factors, the salary negotiation experience can look quite different. However, there are a few key steps to prepare you for any situation, so let’s go through them.
With any salary negotiation, the key to success is being prepared. Since you’re reading this article, you’re likely ahead of the curve already!
1. Prepare your numbers
Arguably, the most important data point to bring to your salary negotiation is the salary or hourly wage you think you deserve. For hourly or task-based work, this can also include metrics such as per-task payment, commission percentages, sales quotas, and bonuses. Here are several important factors to consider
Years of Industry Experience – Showcasing your experience is often more important than your academic or technical credentials. Employers value on-the-job experience because it is proof that you can use your skills in a way that produces revenue for a company.
Years of Leadership Experience – No matter what job you are going for, even more, technical roles such as engineers or IT support, proving that you have leadership qualities in the workplace is a must. Proving that you can work effectively on a team means that you will help the company run more efficiently, making you more valuable as an employee.
Skills – Similar to your Industry Experience, outlining the various relevant skills you have for the job is crucial for your employer’s understanding. Research the job description to make sure you have examples for all the skills that are required, plus any skills that improve your value as an employee.
Education, Licenses, & Certificates – Providing these credentials is the bare minimum to proving you can do the job and can provide your employer with an understanding of your background in the field. If you don’t have space to include all your credentials here, pick the ones that are most relevant or most impressive based on your research of similar jobs or people already in the role.
Geographic Location – Cost of living can greatly differ depending on the city you live in. This includes costs like transportation, average rent, utilities, and so on. If you are moving to a more expensive area, this alone could be a reason for a salary adjustment.
These factors provide a great starting point to use as a basis for calculating your fair value as an employee. By looking at similar job descriptions with listed salaries, using websites like GlassDoor.com that share salary and wage statistics for different companies and jobs, and even asking around the office, you can get a sense of the value that each of these factors plays in calculating your salary. Find the market average salary for the role you are negotiating and use these factors to get a starting price before moving forward.
2. Prepare your talking points
Now that you have a salary price in mind, it’s important to express your thoughts concisely. Whether you’re negotiating in person, over the phone, or through email, it is important to exude confidence in yourself and your beliefs. Here are a few points to mention in your negotiations:
– Achievements
Mention achievements that are relevant to the role. It is important to explain why these experiences make you a valuable employee in the position. When possible, provide quantitative examples such as:
I grew sales X% vs. Last Year..
I increased work efficiencies by X% in 2021
I helped the company achieve (blank) goal, which did..
– Relevant Experience
Provide years of industry and leadership experience that are relevant to the role. If you have more than the required experience, explain why it makes you valuable. If you have less experience than required, explain why the experience you already have is more valuable
– Skills
Explain why your relevant skills or certifications make you a valuable candidate for the job. Skills that are in high demand, like coding, IT certifications, or cold calling will inherently express value towards your employer.
Check out these Top 10 Emerging Skills by Harvard that you need to enhance your expertise.
3. The Actual Process of Salary Negotiation
Now that you are armed with knowledge and research, it is time to negotiate your salary. Regardless of the type of job or format, there are a few additional steps to take before or during your negotiation. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to keep in mind:
– Don’t Pass on Negotiations
No matter what, if you’re changing jobs or titles, you should try to negotiate. If you don’t negotiate, you may be leaving money on the table which can have financial implications for the future – many wage increases are percentages on your base pay. Don’t forget to show that you know your value and that you’re willing to fight for it.
– Don’t Accept the Negotiations Right Away
Always leave the negotiations saying you need time to consider your discussions. This shows that you are a careful thinker while giving you proper time to review the negotiations and come back with suggestions if needed.
– Don’t Mention Salary Right Away
Doing this can show you’re only focused on the money, and you may lose out on the opportunity altogether.
– Don’t Be Afraid to Walk Away
If the offer isn’t right, that is ok. Some employers may be paying below industry standards or not enough for what you need. You are valuable and should work for a company that sees that.
– Do Practice
Whether it’s with a trusted friend, co-worker, or mentor, practice makes perfect. If possible, try to practice with someone who has conducted a salary negotiation and/or works in the same industry you do.
– Do Ask for More
Justlike bartering for goods at the street market, you always want to plan to negotiate down to a price. If you want $70,000/year, start at a price 5-10% higher to give yourself some room to negotiate. However, be reasonable in your counteroffer, as you don’t want to insult your employer.
– Do it with Confidence
If you can’t show that you believe you are worth the salary you want, your employer likely won’t either. Even the best employers are still worried about their bottom line, so you need to be your #1 advocate. You did your research, you know the fair market value for yourself, don’t sell yourself short, you earned this!
– Do have Flexibility
Not all things are possible. Some wage increases can be capped by company standards, or even legitimate budget restrictions. If your employer says your requested salary isn’t possible after a long negotiation, that may be the truth. If this is the case, consider some alternatives to salary (listed below).
4. Non-Salary perks to negotiate if wage increase is not possible
Sometimes, there isn’t enough money to go around, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to negotiate. These items can be included with your salary negotiation or simply added in when discussing your annual wage increase.
PTO/Day’s Off
Planned Salary Negotiation in Future – This is a great tactic for when employers say they need more time to evaluate your performance either for a new or current job.
Flexible Work Schedule
Transportation Stipend – This is especially effective when moving to a new location or if your new job will require a longer commute.
Stock Options (when applicable)
While Salary Negotiations are a tough and uncomfortable process, they are crucial in illustrating your value to your company and understanding how your company values you. Don’t forget to do your research and be confident!
Here are 7 specific steps to make your LinkedIn profile ready for job hunt. You are most likely doing it wrong.
Have you noticed when a classmate walks up to a company representative at a networking event to try getting a job — and completely bungles it? It typically goes like this:
Unprepared candidate: Hey, my name is ___ and I’m a big fan of the work you guys are doing…
Company representative: Hey, so, tell me about yourself
Unprepared candidate: Umm…Sure, I am a Master’s student at University of Chicago. I love the course and was working at Accenture previously. I was the student representative in my school and I love taking responsibility….<2 min awkward ramble>
Company representative: Uh huh…great, so, good luck!
This is not only true for offline events but imagine a recruiter viewing your profile on LinkedIn and getting no clue about what you want or why you are good at it.
Check out this infographic (using data from expandedramblings and omnicoreagency) that shows the insane growth and influence of LinkedIn platform.
With 500M users, 11M+ active job listings and 20K companies in US alone using it for recruiting, LinkedIn cannot be ignored when you are crafting your internship and job hunt strategy.
And yet…80% of LinkedIn profiles I come across are not fully utilizing the power of the platform. I find it amazing that people choose to ignore such a public part of their professional life.
Unfortunately, most people do not realize the long term impact of LinkedIn presence. Which is why, I am going to talk about some LinkedIn myths first and then dive into exact steps to get your profile exactly right. Of course, we cannot change our background but what we can do is write it intelligently and make our profiles more searchable and memorable!
Here are some misconceptions that people have about LinkedIn:
#1 I do not have a good background to create an effective profile
Well, just like you need a to create a good resume with what you have, same with LinkedIn. It is possible to showcase your profile more impressively by using the basic techniques we discuss here. Everyone starts from somewhere. The profiles that you find so impressive today started with very basic stuff.
#2 LinkedIn is just my resume
LinkedIn is so much more than your resume. Plus, while the resume is tailored for a specific job position, your LinkedIn profile has to look good for a broader category of jobs and companies.
#3 Nobody responds on LinkedIn
I have personally connected with leaders in my industry through a cold email on LinkedIn and connected some of them into clients as well as referrals. If you are not getting the desired response, you are probably doing it wrong. Important things to consider are –
Are you using correct keywords?
Is your headline wisely crafted?
Does your professional summary and experience section tell the recruiter what they are looking for?
Unless you address these, LinkedIn profile will not work for your job hunt. As simple as that. And it is a long-term strategy but if you do it consistently and always keep up to date, you will see results!
1 Understand what recruiters/employers are looking for
More than 94% recruiters use LinkedIn actively. The fact is that every interviewer checks the profile of the candidate before interviewing them. It is the biggest candidate profile database and you need to understand what recruiters are looking for in suitable candidates.
Most importantly, this is what they dislike seeing:
No project descriptions under positions
Incomplete/outdated profiles (up to date profiles are 18x more likely to be shown in the search results)
Unclear summaries
Unprofessional photos (read selfies)
Very few connections (on an average, a CEO on LinkedIn has 930+ connections, try having 500+ yourself)
What they are looking for:
Crisp summary to get a good idea of your background and expertise quickly
Impact that you have been able to create in various roles (quantify!)
Intelligent activity – what posts you like, share, comment etc.
Recommendations from senior folks that sound personalised and genuine
2 Decide what role you want
LinkedIn profile is a part of broader job hunt strategy. To create an effective profile that aids in your hunt, you first need to prioritize 2-3 roles that you are targeting to recruit for. More than 3 can become hard to manage.
I recommend targeting related roles which require overlapping skills and fit with your background (experience or/and program of study).
For e.g. a Computer Science grad might target Software Engineering, Data Scientist, and Data Engineer.
Another CS grad might target IT Analyst, Business Analyst and Program Manager roles.
An MIS grad might be targeting IT Consulting, Software Engineering and Product Manager roles.
Targeting divergent roles which require very different skillsets is hard to manage because a visitor/recruiter may be confused about your ambitions.
We will discuss below another very important reason why you must figure out what roles you are looking for.
3 Research keywords
Job hunt has become very keyword driven process because given the exploding amount of data online, employers need some mechanism to filter relevant candidates. The downside is that the search results can be only as good as the process. As a candidate, you need to make it easier for the employer to find you and this is where it is a must that you understand how keywords work.
Employers use application tracking software to review resumes and online job applications. Such software looks for keywords within your resume or application to filter out applicants who may not be qualified. So, even if you have a good profile for the role but you are missing out on standard keywords related to that job, you might miss out on being shortlisted.
That said, we are not going to go paranoid on keywords. But we will make sure, we use whatever keywords are relevant to us. Please understand that keywords alone will NOT get you recruited but it helps to be shortlisted.
I recommend a two-step process for finding 6-7 relevant keywords for your profile:
Research job postings
Research the profiles of seniors and other experienced professionals
For the sake of this article, I will focus on product management role.
#1 Research job postings
We first need to understand the mindset of our employer and speak the language that they are speaking. Best way to do this is to read 20-30 job descriptions for our target role and find commonalities.
You can search for jobs on LinkedIn by specific location. Put in your criteria (I would recommend not narrowing too much at this point – remember, we are just researching keywords right now). This is what I found for a basic search of product manager positions in Bay Area.
If you are looking for internships, look into product manager internships.
Next step is to read through 20-30 of these roles. What you are looking for are the job descriptions that clearly mention the skillsets required in a candidate. This is usually listed under:
Who You Are
Responsibilities
You will find 5-7 openings which are more specific in their descriptions. These are the ones we want. For example, Spotify had a Product Manager opening and I am picking it because it mentions specific skillsets they are looking for.
If you scroll down, we will come to the section of our interest-
This section usually gives you the best keywords for this role. I can spot the ones underlined in red. Another example from Equinix-
Scanning enough of these will give you a list of 10-15 keywords to begin with.
#2 Research the profiles of seniors and other experienced professionals
People who have been in industry for sometime are used to interviewing and know what it takes to be recruited. Just like practice makes you perfect at something, researching and doing your homework on good profiles and experts in your fields can help you avoid the common pitfalls.
Begin with a LinkedIn search for your desired job title in the people section.
That is the beauty of LinkedIn, it shows me 500K+ search results for ‘Product Manager’ in United States!
We will look into 10-20 profiles, especially focusing on the Profile Summary written on the top. Keep looking till you find a well written summary with a list of keywords. I have a great example here-
People usually list keywords under:
Specialities
Area of Focus
You know you are looking at good keywords when you can find it both in the job descriptions and the profile summaries of good professionals. For e.g. we have seen ‘A/B testing’, ‘Machine Learning’, ‘Analysis’ in both of our searches which validates their utility!
Next step is to pick those keywords on this list that you created which are relevant to your prior work and academic experience. For e.g. if you have never touched upon A/B testing, don’t use it. (and this is a great way to figure out what skills you are missing, may be you want to do a quick refresher and experiment on A/B testing now so that you can use it in future!)
By the end of this step, you should have 5-10 keywords that you can use. Voila!
4 Use keywords in the right places
It is time to start designing your profile using the keywords we have shortlisted in last step. I recommend using keywords at two places:
Experience
Professional Summary
5 Write great description for positions under professional experience
The worst thing you can do is just add titles in your positions and not describe what you did. For one, titles cannot clearly communicate your accomplishments in that role. A simple approach is to copy paste the bullets from your resume in this section. But you can be a bit smarter!
Ideally, we want to have a 2-3 lines summary paragraph that highlights the big things you have done in this role followed [optionally] by 2 bullet points mentioning the details of your two most important projects/deliverables. I would not keep more than 2 short sentences under each bullet.
The summary gives a quick refresher of your skills and responsibilities and big picture impact you created. Bullet points provide details that someone really interested in your profile might be looking for!
Let’s look at this example. The first paragraph wisely describes what the company does (important for lesser known startups). Second and third paragraphs summarize this person’s contribution.
What can be improved here?
The title Partner does not indicate the seriousness or level of seniority – it will be better to mention specific functional role and responsibilities
Quantify the impact of his BD efforts – e.g. contributing to x% increase in sales or partners
What is already good?
Talking about innovative approaches taken in the work – e.g. his recruitment using business simulations (can add the impact on sales)
How to use keywords?
Now, it is time to pick the relevant keywords we shorlisted in previous step and use it in our description here. For e.g. following profile does a good job at integrating the industry relevant keywords (underlined).
6 Write a good professional summary
Next step is to write an effective professional summary for your profile. It is the section that appears at the top of your profile – between your photo and your experience section.
Some people try to copy this section from their resumes but this is how it is different:
Resumes should be customised for a particular job position but LinkedIn is more generic. Therefore, you should have a broadly relevant summary on LinkedIn and very targeted summary on your resume.
We saw in the beginning of this article how many people struggle when asked to ‘introduce’ themselves. And that is just sad given that you already know that you will be asked to introduce yourself time and time again. Consider your LinkedIn professional summary as your online introduction. No one likes to hear a long ramble and no one likes to hear a bore. So, our two thumbrules for a good professional summary are:
Keep it short
Keep it human
#1 Keep it short
LinkedIn website collapses anything more than 200 characters on desktop and 90 characters on mobile devices. So, you want to write important stuff in first 90 characters. One can expand to read it but even then you don’t want to write more than 2 paragraphs.
In fact, the preferred format is one summary paragraph and then, a list of your expertise. This is what we noticed in our examples in our ‘research the keywords in profiles of professionals’ step.
#2 Keep it human
This is your chance to tell your professional story – not only what you have done (which is evident from the experience section anyway) but why and how. This is where we add a human touch and stand out from our competition. And, you can add if you are looking for internship/job.
But, if you read a bunch of LinkedIn profiles, you will come across some that make no sense whatever.
Imagine reading something like-
“To obtain a career that will allow myself to take full advantage of my passion and experience in software engineering and computer science.”
Or
“Motivated self-starter with a proven track record of success.”
These are epic fails because – 1. They tell you nothing about the qualification/expertise of this person 2. They tell you nothing about the personality/achievements/dreams of this person. We remember someone because we can put a face to them but descriptions like these make you robotic and totally unremarkable.
So, avoid the fake or MBA buzz words like ‘self-starter’, ‘go-getter’, ‘motivated’ blah blah. Come up with your words, your way of saying things, your voice and put it up there. As James Altucher says, a good self-promotion has lot of ‘self’ and less ‘promotion’. Let me see your self.
Compare with the following-
“My projects finish on time and in the budget. My PMP is the product of eight years in the trenches, filled with valuable lessons learned. It is tremendously rewarding to leverage my strong influencing skills to ensure resources remain available as expected to ensure my projects hit schedule and budget benchmarks. Equally comfortable with Agile, Scrum, and Lean Six Sigma methodologies, my projects succeed because I remain focused on the big picture while ensuring project members have the resources necessary to achieve milestones.”
I bet you can see a confident project manager behind this who knows how to deliver!
Coming back to a structure for this section, what, I found, works is a short summary in a para followed by list of keywords/skills that are crucial in your field.
This is another profile which did a good job at this-
Notice the human language, a clear big picture and expertise. As the seniority level grows, the profiles become more specialised and you will find a senior professional talking about more and more specific skillsets. As grad student, you can however, keep it relevant to 1-2 fields.
7 Create a kickass headline
Now comes the time for the most visible part of your profile i.e. the headline. It is your business card of the old days. But unlike a business card, it is not a mundane business title qualification that we have to flaunt, we can make it more interesting.
Let us first understand why is the headline in your LinkedIn profile is so important for job hunt. Go on LinkedIn and do any search on people and you will see a list that shows:
Headshot
Headline
Relevant current/past role
Apart from your profile picture, it is your headline that people notice in the search results and that determines how likely they are to click on you. You might have a great profile inside but if you do a sloppy job with your headshot and headline, your chances of being shortlisted go down.
A lazy way of creating your headline is: Position X at Company Y
This is a good approach when you are working at a well-known company and have a flauntworthy title. If not, you will need to be more creative. And if you are actively recruiting, then, put some sincere efforts here!
I like to use the headline to highlight:
Brands in your background – e.g. famous companies/schools in your resume
Titles – Founder (leadership roles), Investor (power words), Data Scientist (any job role in demand) are good to be showcased
Expertise – As shown in above search listing, these people have chosen to highlight ‘A/B testing’ in their headlines. If you are an expert in a niche area and actively recruiting for it, you can consider fitting it in your headline.
For Grad Students, I recommend showcasing top school names, company names and role for which you are recruiting.
Here are some examples-
Ex-Google, CMU grad seeking BigData jobs at startups
Database Research Assistant at NYU | ex-Accenture consulting | seeking Analytics internship
Other creative ways
I came across a profile where the professional had actually listed all his courses under education section. And I thought, what a sneaky (but brilliant!) way to add keywords to your profile! Now, he may have not used ‘Decision Optimization’ professionally in a project but he has still managed to mention it without faking anything 🙂
I would suggest using innovative approaches to make your LinkedIn profile more ‘searchable’ only if you are actually comfortable with these topics. Remember, you can be asked to elaborate on any word in your resume during an interview. You don’t want to be someone who struggles to justify the things he has mentioned in his resume. Nothing mars your reputation like untruthful claims!
To summarize
A LinkedIn basic profile covers these sections
Headline
Professional Summary
Experience under various positions
But, this is the order we follow while writing your LinkedIn profile for job hunt-
Various positions under the experience section
Professional summary
Headline at the end
See it in action
See all this advice in action in this video
Want to get more?
Want to get the presentation used by me in the video? Enter your email to download that right away.
Applying for graduate schools?, we have step by step advice on Scholar Strategy newsletter. Please sign up now.
Creating a resume is an important part of the job application process and there are plenty of ways to make your resume stand out from the rest. While ensuring your former jobs and other experiences align with the job you’re applying for, it is equally important that you highlight the right set of key skills in the resume to show that you are the best candidate for the job.
While there are hundreds of skills that you can mention, a handful are crucial for making the hiring managers feel that you researched ahead of time and are well-rounded candidate. Although the skills should change depending on the type of company and role you’re applying for, here are some general guidelines to help you get started.
What are the Key Skills for Resume that Industry is looking for?
While it makes sense to think that managers hiring for an engineering role want to see the longest and most impressive list of technical skills, that’s just not the case. While all of these skills are crucial to landing the job, companies want to know that you are more valuable than just the technical skills you have. Proving that you are a leader, a creative thinker, and can show value in meetings and not just on the computer will help you land the job. Here are some examples that you can make your own:
1. Leadership
No matter what job you are applying for, even if it’s an entry position, showing that you are a leader is incredibly important. Leadership does not have to mean managing a team or project. It can mean being vocal about new ideas or problems that arise or even being a crucial member of someone else’s team.
Employers want to know that the most technical people on their staff can make tough decisions when necessary and be able to tackle problems on their own.
2. Presentation Skills
Alert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” As an engineer, it is your job to understand and explain extremely technical things to people without an engineering background.
Being able to boil down complex ideas and problems to your superiors or clients can be a daily or weekly part of any engineering job. Knowing how to present ideas in a concise way is a highly attractive skill for engineers.
3. Pressure Management
One hard truth of engineering jobs is the real-world time constraints. As the most technical part of many staffs, engineers are often working the longest hours with the most pressing deadlines. New challenges can arise late into projects so showing your employers that you can handle the pressure is a must.
This does not mean you have to show that you’re the fastest coder or worker. It can merely mean that you understand how to quantify how long tasks will take, know how to delegate them effectively, and communicate these timelines accordingly.
4. Problem-Solving
Solving one problem often leads to two more. It’s a harsh reality of any part of life, from cleaning your house to auditing a business. Showing that you can problem-solve in a business environment demonstrates that you have creativity and critical thinking skills.
Illustrating that you have problem-solving capabilities comes in two parts. The first part is assessing the problem. Understanding that there is a problem and identifying what the causes are is more challenging than it seems, so try to give some clear examples. The next part is showing that you can come up with creative and efficient solutions. These solutions can’t just make logical sense but have to work well within the constraints of time and money, which are most important to employers.
5. Project Management
This skill is important because it essentially wraps all of the above skills, and many more, into one. Leading a project takes leadership, creativity, and a deep understanding of the task at hand. This is where examples of personal projects or large team accomplishments are perfect to explain during your interview. Demonstrating this skill shows that you are organized and efficient while having to take on many responsibilities other than just engineering.
There are essentially two categories all skills can be categorized in. There are hard skills and soft skills.
Hard Skills
Hard skills are more tangible skills that are acquired through accreditation, education, and practice. Some examples include coding, web development, and prototyping. Hard skills are important to share because they give a value to the efficiency and productivity of an individual.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are more based on personality and not easily transferable. For instance, it’s easy to teach someone how to code, but not as easy to teach someone how to communicate. Some examples of soft skills are communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and pressure management. These skills show employers the type of worker you are and how well you can fit into a particular team or work culture.
Where Should You Display Key Skills on Your Resume?
There are typically two places you can list your skills. The first and main place is in the skills section of your resume. Generally, this section is at the bottom of the page or the right-hand side of your resume and consists of a short-list of bullet points, about 8-12. Each skill should only be listed in name and have no other explanation. You will have the chance to attach stories and examples to each skill during the interview process.
The second place you can add these skills is embedded in your career experience itself. Using words like “Managed a project that..” or “Presented ____ to ____” will illustrate that you have these skills while tying them to a particular event. This practice makes your resume stronger and can save you space.
Best Skills for Engineering Resumes
While the above list of skills is important for the current engineering job market, there are a few more that should be considered for most engineering positions. As Google points out in its hiring practices, tailor everything to the job you’re applying for.
Computer Science
Teamwork
Creativity
Communication
Research Skills – can include types of research you specialize in.
Quality Assurance – can include a specific industry you have experience in.
Design Abilities – can include specific products you have experience in.
Software Skills – you can list specific software you specialize in. Include if listed in the job description.
Supplies Management
Data Management – can include types of data you have experience in.
Accounting Skills
Systems Management
Language Skills – types of languages you speak with a level of proficiency (e.g., fluent in French, conversation mandarin)
Machine Learning
Data Structures
Web Development
UX/UI
Cloud Management
Debugging
Cyber Security
CAD
Prototyping
Troubleshooting
Project Launch
Workflow Development
Budgeting
Project Lifecycle Management
Like we said, there are dozens, if not hundreds of examples you can use. It’s always best to research the job description and company you are applying for to assess key skills that are most valued there and then fit them in your resume. Remember, it doesn’t just matter what you think is the most relevant and valuable, it matters what they think. Think of yourself as a product you need to sell and the skills are what’s on the packaging.
