Are you writing good cover letters that address the job descriptions in the ads you are responding to?

I'm in the middle of hiring; our job posting requests a resume and cover letter. It is striking to me the number of people who don't submit a cover letter. The cover letter should be where you explain why you are best suited to the specific job you are applying for. If there are bullet-point job or skills descriptions in the ad, then cover as many of them in specific detail as possible. I have about two minutes to devote to each resume/cover letter I see -- so if I am looking for a specific checklist of items, make it easy for me to see them.

^ I apologize for formatting, I hope you can get the gist of it

In your example OP, you listed what anyone doing that job would have had to do.

You need to explain what YOU did "extra special" to make yourself stand out. People reading your resume know you had to make sure the roof was sound, etc.

Here are some examples (I'm imagining as I don't know your field so bear with me):

Project deadlines met 100% of the time, including roof work
with double permit checks
Saved client 10% in energy bill yearly, as calculated by EPC standards by devising innovative way to incorporate *insert fancy solar panel name" on original materials
Passed all city, state and national standard checks, including emissions and materials, on first inspection
Lobbied for collaboration with Xyc company and was successful in establishing contacts that allowed abc

Stop laughing at my examples, I know nothing about your industry
Now, do you see how it's vastly different?
You can put a sentence or two about the general idea of what the project was, but the rest of it needs to be focused on how you specifically knocked it out of the park and someone else with your job title may not have

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all the advice! Wasn't sure if I'd get any takers who felt so generous as to hand out tips just because.

I've seen the recommendation before to focus on accomplishments like under budget, etc. but honestly am unsure how to best apply it to what I do (building consulting).

For example, I'm currently listing something as "Led project to design equipment installation on Famous Landmark Building XYZ roof." What I did for the project in long form: researched the original building design, verified capacity of roof to support equipment, designed structural detail to ensure proper attachment, coordinated with roof panel manufacturer to develop waterproofing detail to maintain existing warranty, and observed and load tested initial installation. During extent of project, I coordinated with contractor and site management/security re:timeline and access as well as agency reviewers for design approval.

Trying to brainstorm what the accomplishments could be listed as for that example:
"Managed equipment installation project on XYZ Roof, including detailing to maintain existing product warranties, successfully coordinating XYZ Gov't Agency approval of modifications, and implemented load-testing procedure to verify strength of installation."

Are those reasonably concrete accomplishments? I feel like it's not as neat and tidy as "$5 million under budget," but budget is not something that's necessarily relevant to my work.

To me what you wrote in this paragraph sounds better than what you wrote in the following one because those are concrete examples of what you did.

If possible, include numbers (wrote x number of reports, supervised x people, gave x number of presentations, etc). Also, send in PDF--so you know formatting does not change when opened on a different system.

Anonymous wrote:Is your work experience just that one firm you've been working at for 6 years? Have you been in the same role for those 6 years?

I have some other internships during college and one related position before while I was in grad school.

My responsibilities have greatly expanded over the time I've been working with this company (I manage projects on my own for the last couple years) but no official title change. It's a small consulting firm with <10 people, so there's not much of a hierarchy or structure, ie there's no track from Associate I/II/III -> Senior Associate -> Manager.

Thanks for all the advice! Wasn't sure if I'd get any takers who felt so generous as to hand out tips just because.

I've seen the recommendation before to focus on accomplishments like under budget, etc. but honestly am unsure how to best apply it to what I do (building consulting).

For example, I'm currently listing something as "Led project to design equipment installation on Famous Landmark Building XYZ roof." What I did for the project in long form: researched the original building design, verified capacity of roof to support equipment, designed structural detail to ensure proper attachment, coordinated with roof panel manufacturer to develop waterproofing detail to maintain existing warranty, and observed and load tested initial installation. During extent of project, I coordinated with contractor and site management/security re:timeline and access as well as agency reviewers for design approval.

Trying to brainstorm what the accomplishments could be listed as for that example:
"Managed equipment installation project on XYZ Roof, including detailing to maintain existing product warranties, successfully coordinating XYZ Gov't Agency approval of modifications, and implemented load-testing procedure to verify strength of installation."

Are those reasonably concrete accomplishments? I feel like it's not as neat and tidy as "$5 million under budget," but budget is not something that's necessarily relevant to my work.

Anonymous wrote:A big one that I find a lot of people miss out on:

Focus on accomplishments, and data.

"Engineered/Designed/Implemented X, serving Y purpose, accomplished ahead of schedule and Z% under budget"

Looks a lot better than:
"Performed engineering planning for X things"

And it's astonishing how many people, even in senior positions, focus on duties and day-to-day rather than accomplishments and numbers.

This is doubly true in engineering fields.

Extrapolate to fit your career/goals/history.

+1

Especially if you've been with the same employer for several years, you want to highlight your skills and accomplishments in concrete terms.

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Is your work experience just that one firm you've been working at for 6 years? Have you been in the same role for those 6 years?

Make sure the working and overall document organization is very clear and concise.

Does your school offer resume reviews to its alumni? Most have a career center that do.
Does your resume have a section called technical skills which lists specialized engineering skills that make you stand out, such as familiarity with certain instrumentation?

A big one that I find a lot of people miss out on:

Focus on accomplishments, and data.

"Engineered/Designed/Implemented X, serving Y purpose, accomplished ahead of schedule and Z% under budget"

Looks a lot better than:
"Performed engineering planning for X things"

And it's astonishing how many people, even in senior positions, focus on duties and day-to-day rather than accomplishments and numbers.

This is doubly true in engineering fields.

Extrapolate to fit your career/goals/history.

Avoid over used buzz words
Have a good combo of specific skills and general skills
Highlight initiatives or projects you lead and actual results that were seen, an improvement in something tangible
Leadership - again be specific.
Project management - be a little specific
Look at LinkedIn for bad examples, many resumes appear written by the same person
Paste some examples of your buckets here, we will give ideas
Network network network

Anyone out there (maybe in HR?) who can share some good tips on helping resumes stand out, or what to avoid? I've googled my heart out for advice, but not seeing much useful or applicable that's making me think "oh, I should change XYZ."

I've had several good intro conversations and interchanges with recruiters and potential employers, but then after submitting application/resume, the lead fizzles. This is making me think my resume is weak, somehow. FYI I'm a female, in an engineering field, master's degree from a well-regarded school, and a solid 6+ years of work experience with a small firm working in the same market to which I'm applying (have been looking at larger firms now, is that a problem -- "moving up" per se?).