Cover pages for resumes?

[supton]

Bit off topic, sorry.

Are cover pages "needed" for engineering jobs? It's been a few years since I had to review resumes, and if there were cover pages, HR must have removed them. Just seems like something to perk the interest in HR dept and it's possible that nobody else at the company (the people interviewing you) might even see it.

Trying to figure out how to write my resume as it's been a long while since I touched it. Apparently you don't have to include the "references available upon request", that's a nice change. The rest of it, eh... I'm seeing mixed messages about if an objective is required or not, I plan to leave in. But I'm old enough that I think I can leave my GPA off now.

Am guessing that if I ever applied to a position, the ad would indicate if a coversheet is necessary, and I could just make one up as needed, using guidance on the web, making sure to tailor to the position and company specifically. Maybe toss one in, even if not requested, small work and might make me stand out? Little cost for a possible gain.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I just happened upon this. The problem is that HR might be using a screening process that scans your resume and fills it into a “standard” format. You may need to include the buzz words that were in the job description to get by the initial screening. If you know any HR people currently in recruiting positions, have a chat with them. In any case a cover page won’t hurt.

 

[Escape08]

Resume + Linkedin with your picture

 

[supton]

Resume + Linkedin with your picture

Got LinkedIn set up. Resume is basically a rehash of that.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Unless your being referred in by someone already there, you likely need to get by the AI bots which will scan for key words. Employers are getting smarter too and not just looking for the same words they put in their job add.

Once you have the interview then you want your resume to highlight the things your want to talk about in the interview. So if you don't want them wasting your time asking about something, don't have it on your resume obviously.

 

[The Lube Guy]

On LikedIn you can be the CEO of Google, Microsoft, and Apple, all at the same time.

 

[ripcord]

Definitely go with Comic Sans if you want to seem friendly or Courier New if you're going for the competent engineer vibe.

Don't listen to me, though, as my resume is still using a template included in Word 97.

 

[99Saturn]

No mention of what size company you may be look at, could be important.

My $.02 as someone that is a hiring manager and has moved around through a handful of companies - cover letter is not needed but could be a nice to have. Smaller the company the more impactful it could be, but if passed along to the hiring manager at a company of any size, might make you stand out. That said, I personally don't ever have them. Definitely a chance that the screening software may pick up some buzz words that could bring you to the next round.

I'm at a large well known company. If I post a position for a week, I can easily get 50 to 100 resumes if not many more. HR should get me down to 10 candidates they think are worth of time, then give the list to me to see which ones I want them to screen, usually targeting 4 to at most 6 good candidates. To state what everyone already knows, the system is pretty imperfect. I've posted two positions within the last year and asked to look at every resume that's been submitted. A few good candidates did get missed, but a bunch of junk resumes I should have not wasted my time with reviewing got passed over, which is exactly what HR should have been doing. All candidates I hired or made offers to were in the original pool of candidates provided by HR.

 

[andrew_j]

Cover letter , objective , all date you as not relevant and in tune with modern hiring.

It honestly does not matter if you sending directly to hiring manager however HR will block you so fast on that stuff.

The new cover letter is a brief concise message or email with your resume attached.

The best way to stand out , directly contact the recruiter and find out what they really are looking for.

 

[ripcord]

In this modern day and age, resume's get parsed and sliced and diced by automated systems. What gets your resume in front of HR folks is what comes out of these automated systems. All the old school fluff just obscures things for the content parsers and prevents it from getting as many "hits." Think search engine optimization.

 

[Lubener]

If you are older than 40, I would leave out anything that "dates" you. Employers want an inexperienced kid that they can pay less and form into their liking.That includes pictures, years of graduation and dates of school attendance. Your first goal is to get your foot in the door. The cover letter gets looked at first and I would not even place an objective (that is old fashioned) on it but what YOU can do for them.. If it is poorly written, the resume doesn't even get looked at and everything ends up in the trash. HR people will look at your social media listings too, so watch what you say online..

 

[Escape08]

Your status in life is more important to them as well as work experience. Via search engine, they can find out your credit history, criminal background, political affiliation, sexaul orienatation, marital starus, places where you lived currentlly and in the past, age, etc.....Google, Bing and Yahoo yourself from time to time and see what it's out there. Don't be surprised if the comapny searched your spouse (or family members) as well

 

[Escape08]

And also, if I may add, if online interview is available that is even much better. Employer already knew something about you (through online search) before the interview and often times will play mind games with you. It is crucial to them about what your reactions will be. So be ready for that

 

[The Lube Guy]

Employers want an inexperienced kid that they can pay less and form into their liking.

They want someone docile who blindly follows orders, works overtime for free, is loyal to a fault - to the company, and rats on his fellow coworkers when he's asked to do so.

What the employee gets in return: nothing besides a paycheck. And when he's fired or laid off, he had 15 minutes to clear out, or sometimes, he gets turned around from the entrance when he comes to his job.

As an employee, do what's reasonable for a paycheck, don't work overtime for free, and don't buy into the corporate "family" and "friendship" mantra.

You're spot on about the cover letter: tell them what you can do for them, what you bring to the table, and what problem you can solve for them. When you're face to face, don't be afraid to ask what you're worth. With any company, if you start on the wrong foot, and get hired, they will not respect you, try to overwork you, and ultimately they won't pay you enough.

Just my personal opinion.

 

[97prizm]

Bit off topic, sorry.

Are cover pages "needed" for engineering jobs? It's been a few years since I had to review resumes, and if there were cover pages, HR must have removed them. Just seems like something to perk the interest in HR dept and it's possible that nobody else at the company (the people interviewing you) might even see it.

Trying to figure out how to write my resume as it's been a long while since I touched it. Apparently you don't have to include the "references available upon request", that's a nice change. The rest of it, eh... I'm seeing mixed messages about if an objective is required or not, I plan to leave in. But I'm old enough that I think I can leave my GPA off now.

Am guessing that if I ever applied to a position, the ad would indicate if a coversheet is necessary, and I could just make one up as needed, using guidance on the web, making sure to tailor to the position and company specifically. Maybe toss one in, even if not requested, small work and might make me stand out? Little cost for a possible gain.

From my job hunting over the last few months the majority of employers want cover pages now.

 

[supton]

Good thing BITOG is my only social media. I'm sure it's not hard to correlate my user name to to who I am, but not going to get too far past that. No FB, no arrest records, and not much between. Tax records at the town I guess.

No mention of what size company you may be look at, could be important.

Preferably "bigger"? While a small company can be rewarding in that you can own many hats and run with large autonomy, it also comes with risk. Bigger companies tend to be more mature in doing things, and even when it's not right, it's at least predictable. There can also be the chance of lateral "promotions", moving from one group to another.

To be clear, I haven't gotten to the point of applying anywhere, just that I've realized, I should at least be looking periodically.

 

[97prizm]

If you are older than 40, I would leave out anything that "dates" you. Employers want an inexperienced kid that they can pay less and form into their liking.That includes pictures, years of graduation and dates of school attendance. Your first goal is to get your foot in the door. The cover letter gets looked at first and I would not even place an objective (that is old fashioned) on it but what YOU can do for them.. If it is poorly written, the resume doesn't even get looked at and everything ends up in the trash. HR people will look at your social media listings too, so watch what you say online..

This is what burns me up. When America's Test Kitchen had a contest to find 10 people to compete to be one of their next hosts they wanted links to your Instagram, Facebook,and your website. I don't have any of that but that shouldn't make me less of a candidate.

 

[andrew_j]

The way to apply to a job in 2024. Find any sort of connection possible to place, make relation and have them help you email resume in past the HR initial screening that typically fails and weeds wrong people out.

LinkedIn is helpful .