Engineering Professional
Development
How to tell your story
EGR 110
Today’s Agenda
 Get involved! The secret to telling a story is to have a
variety of experiences to draw skills from.
 You’ll complete an exercise in tracking experiences
for a resume and identifying areas to grow in.
 We’ll explore resume sections you can use.
Which one catches your eye?
The difference is experience
 You don’t have to have a paid job.
 You don’t have to be the president of a club or group.
 You don’t have to volunteer for thousands of hours.
 YOU DO HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!
 START GETTING ENGAGED!
Engagement on campus
At no other time in your life will you be surrounded by so
many opportunities to grow by showing up and getting
involved.
 Clubs & Organizations
 Lectures
 Professional Associations
 Cultural Activities
 Volunteer Immersions and Service
 Student Government
 Honor Societies
Why does engagement matter?
92.6% of employers care about EXPERIENCE
Keeping tabs on experience helps!
 The Resume Building Worksheet will help you track your
experiences and map out new ones!
 Start by tracking what you already do.


List the experiences you have.
Paid, unpaid and volunteer, it doesn’t matter
 Identify where you want to grow!
(Even if you have a resume you can fill out this section)


List experiences you want to have along with the ones you’re already
involved in.
This could be joining a club, volunteering, or an internship you’d like
to get.
Sections of a resume
 Heading
 Profile (optional) or Objective (optional)
 Education
 Experience (Related or Relevant)
 Other sections may include




Academic Projects
Activities (Extracurricular, Leadership, Volunteer)
Skills (Computer, languages)
Honors/Awards
Heading
 Heading should include name, local address, phone
number, and email address:
Ima Pilot
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland OR 97203
apilot16@up.edu
503.943-7201
 Name should be larger than contact information.
 May include permanent address if you are applying for an
opportunity back home.
Profile
Profile
• 3-5 student
sentencewith
summary
of background
and Strong
BSCE
a double
major in Math.
qualifications.
leadership
skills combined with the ability to effectively
work
in teams.
Excellent
written and
oral and
• Customize
to meet
the employer’s
needs
communication
Surveying, Civil
3D proficient.
highlight skillsskills.
and qualifications
in relationship
to
the position.
Education
Include:
 Institution, City & State, Degree*, Major, Minor, Study
Abroad Experiences
Optional:
 GPA, Scholarships
University of Portland, Portland OR
B. S., Majors: Civil Engineering and Math
 Presidential Merit Scholarship
University of Portland Salzburg Program, Salzburg, Austria
GPA 3.6
May 2019
2017
Experience
Every experience paid or unpaid must have 4 elements
 Title of the position you held
 Employer or organization
 Location
 Dates of the experience
Sample:
Title, Organization, City, ST
Dates
Applied and Academic Experience
APPLIED
Project Engineer, General Contractor, Clackamas, OR
 Assisted with processing of RFIs.
 Compiled submittal packages for engineering review.
 Prepared documents tracking LEED certification points.
Summer 2017
ACADEMIC
Pill Sorter Project, Intro to Engineering, Portland, OR
Fall 2015
 Worked with four classmates to create a device to sort pills.
 Built team working skills and gained knowledge of problem solving,
production, human resources, and research and development.
 Presented project to class and received third place in class competition.
Accomplishment Statements
Good:
Better:
Updated membership database.
Analyzed and implemented new procedures for
updating member contact information in Excel,
reducing data entry time by 50% and increasing
data accuracy to 80%.
Good:
Better:
Decreased customer complaints.
Implemented a customer service incentive
program that decreased customer complaints by
10%.
Good:
Better:
Managed wait staff and servers.
Managed 15 wait staff and servers at a restaurant
grossing more than $10,000 per night.
Attempted accomplishment statements
 Skills: Attention to Detail, Team Player, Motivated,
Attention to Detail.
 Experience: Stalking, shipping & receiving.
 Seeking a party-time position with potential for
advancement.
 Consistently tanked as top sales producer for new
accounts.
Additional sections
 Academic Projects
 Community Involvement
 Volunteer Experience
 Extracurricular Activities
 Campus Involvement
 Leadership Experience
References
 Not needed on a resume.
 Include name, job title, organization, phone number
and email address.
 Always ask your reference contacts before you add
them to your list.
 List references on a separate sheet of paper and bring
to the interviews.
Resume Don’ts
 No fancy graphics, colors, pictures etc.
 No smaller than 11 point font; ideally it is 12 point.
 No spelling or grammar errors.
 No “I” or “my” statements.
 No exaggerating or misrepresenting.
Resume Tips
 There is no one “right” way to make a resume.
 Must be clean and easy to read.
 Important information should be easy to find.
 1 page.
 Emphasize your strengths and experiences

(paid and unpaid) in relationship to position and organization

include relevant/related information
What’s a cover letter?
 Cover letters are a one page introduction to you as a
professional.
 There are three parts to a cover letter:



Introduction
Body
Closing
 The goals of a cover letter are:
 to direct the reader to the skills listed on your resume
 to let the reader know why you are specifically interested in
this position
 to invite a follow up conversation perhaps in an interview
Questions?