Resume and Cover Letter Review Please for a Recent Graduate

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superfrogtw

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Hi everyone,

I just recently graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering. I'm kinda just chillin' at the moment but I'll be job searching in the near future. That said, I'd like to get my resume and cover letter polished before I start applying anywhere and everywhere. So established EngineerBoards community, if you have time, can you please help me look over these two essential pieces?

Truthfully, I understand that while much of it especially the cover letter can be quite lengthy and wordy, I would just like to know your take on where/how to cut down everything. From the objective to the opening statements to the bullet points to pretty much anything and everything, let me know which parts are good, which parts are totally unnecessary, tacky, over-the-top, and essentially what I can and should do to make it even better.

I am all ears and would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism and feedback as I take the next step towards my career. Thank you all so much for your time and help with this.

Gratefully,

frogger

P.S. I've used some placeholders to protect my confidentiality.

Cover Letter.pdf

Resume.pdf

 

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For the resume for a new grad with no work experience its pretty good, I would move the technical skills part under the Educaton part so potential employers will now that you have the basic computer tools (micristation / inroads a plus).

Maybe go into a bit more detail on the class project (I cant tell what the specific goal of the project was?)

Cover letter

Try and get to 1 page. Remove section about EIT, just say I am / have an EIT.

 
Wow, that's way better than most new grad resumes I encounter. A few tweaks I would make:

Objective -- Trim, too wordy. They know you're giving them a resume for a reason, just focus on communicating that you are driving for the PE and want to work in transportation.

Projects -- Agreed with RG, on the senior design project, the goal is unclear. You may need to name the specific project.

My general rule of thumb on resumes is to apply the "why do they care" test. You can probably improve a few of your descriptions to better suit that, but like I said, this is far ahead of most resumes I've seen.

I'm torn on the cover letter -- in one sense (and in my opinion), few managers will want to read all of that. On the other hand, those are just as likely as not to toss the cover letter aside anyway, and the managers who will want a cover letter will appreciate your detail. So I can't offer you much advice there.

 
I agree, it is very good. Before I read it, I was already thinking of some of the things I would be suggesting to you.... only to see you already had it in there! You already did a lot of this but this is my general advice: Make the employer feel as if they are the only firm in which you are applying (even though everyone knows that is not realistic). Find out the name of the person who is receiving the applications and use their name in the intro. Show that you want to work for their company and state why and show that you have spent the time to learn about their company and the specific work they do. Show excitement for the position/firm. Emphasize how they can benefit from hiring you. It’s ok to state that you want to also gain benefit from your employment but include extra focus on what you can do for them (maybe add this to your objective). Taylor your experience to the line of work the firm does and how it will help you (help them) with your new position. Throw in the cliché eager learner, fast learner, responsible, pride/ownership in your work, organization skills, etc. List any MS Office applications you are familiar with. Again, you did much of this already. I just thought I’d throw it out there for you to keep it at the front of your mind. Good job. Good luck.

PS Should CADD have 2 D’s? Computer Aided Drafting and Design?

 
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Thanks, everybody so much for the help and feedback so far.

I'm really learning a lot so please keep 'em coming.

 
Tater, I've seen CADD and CAD. In the civil world, I've probably seen more of the latter (maybe because in theory, our design is done elsewhere).

 
Tater, I've seen CADD and CAD. In the civil world, I've probably seen more of the latter (maybe because in theory, our design is done elsewhere).


I could be wrong but I think of CAD as name brand (specifically short for AutoCAD) and I think of the the general act of working with AutoCAD (or MicroStation) to be CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design). Regardless, perhaps CADD might look better on a resume? The extra 'D'. :)

 
Tater, I've seen CADD and CAD. In the civil world, I've probably seen more of the latter (maybe because in theory, our design is done elsewhere).


I could be wrong but I think of CAD as name brand (specifically short for AutoCAD) and I think of the the general act of working with AutoCAD (or MicroStation) to be CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design). Regardless, perhaps CADD might look better on a resume? The extra 'D'. :)
That seems logical too... hmm

 
Ya....try to keep everything in one page even the cover letter. Keep it brief and simple. Most of the resumes will be scan through by HR prior it went through to the actual hiring manager. HR personnel looks for key words and terms..(yes it's stupid but it is what it is)

One thing I think would add a line...references available upon request

 
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Tater, I've seen CADD and CAD. In the civil world, I've probably seen more of the latter (maybe because in theory, our design is done elsewhere).


I could be wrong but I think of CAD as name brand (specifically short for AutoCAD) and I think of the the general act of working with AutoCAD (or MicroStation) to be CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design). Regardless, perhaps CADD might look better on a resume? The extra 'D'. :)
That seems logical too... hmm
Yes and no...

you need to mentioned which are you familiar with..Microstation, auto cad, Inroads etc, not just cad. Like I said before, HR will scan for key words!

 
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