Sample Technical Resume for a Manufacturing Engineer CAD Operator - Critique

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About this Sample Resume Critique

In this sample resume critique, the certified professional resume writer at ResumeEdge explains the process of creating the client's "after" resume from the original resume or raw data that the client submitted.

Sample Resume Critique

Dear Eric,

It was a pleasure to be able to assist you with your resume. I wrote it in Times New Roman font, which conveys the formality and professionalism associated with someone of your experience and seniority.

I started off by centering your name in large and small caps at the top of the page. As you'll see it's a larger, bolded font. This sets it apart from the rest of the type. Your address is directly under your name, and your phone number and email address are flush left and right, respectively. As you'll see, your contact information is in a slightly larger font than your address.

I began the body of your resume with a Qualifications section, emphasizing those points you stated on the goal and skills assessment - i.e. solid industry experience, strong attention to detail, ability to get the job done right the first time around, ability to pass information along and mix well with others.

In wording your qualifications, I chose to start off with a strong blanket statement about your experience (“Accomplished, seasoned Manufacturing Engineer with a solid background in design, layout, and detail for products, tooling / fixtures, and special machinery.”) This will give the Hiring Manager an idea of exactly whom he is dealing with.

I also elaborated on a few of your less technical skills, such as the fact that you have a history of finishing projects right the first time around, as well as your penchant for mentoring junior designers and detailers.

I ended the Qualifications section with a bullet pointed list of software with which you have experience.

After highlighting your qualifications I listed your professional experience. You have a very strong background and extensive experience in your industry. The challenge was to provide as much information as possible while not cluttering your resume

Generally speaking, a resume should not list job experience beyond 15 years, so as not to “date” the applicant. This is why I elected to list your professional background only to Penstrol Engineering.

I re-worded your bullet points for more impact and emphasis on the scope of your abilities. For example, in your proposed first bullet point, you wrote:

“AutoCAD 2000 (Windows 98)”

I re-worded this, with the help of your detailed explanation of your job duties, for more clarity and impact:

“Created assembly drawings, including bills of materials and detail drawings, for the design of corrugated finishing machines, primarily the HyfleXpress flexo folder gluer”

In addition, you wrote (in your work description):

“Work with machine operators and builders to achieve high quality and cost effective designs.”

I rewrote this to say (third bullet point):

“Solicited feedback from machine operators and builders to develop designs of the utmost quality and cost effectiveness.”

This sounds a bit more active and illustrates what a conscientious Mechanical Designer would do: It's not as though you operate in a vacuum; instead, you actively solicit input from the people who know about the machinery.

In the next position, I opted to focus more on what you were designing, rather than on how you designed it. (Example: “Designed and created assembly drawings, including bills of materials and detail drawings, for work holding equipment, primarily special jaws, chucks and tool holders.”)

Instead of restating your duties in the next listing, I created active statements with more impact.

For example, you wrote:

“Checking new designs and detail drawings, correcting for workability, customer standards and cost effective fabrication.”

I rewrote this to say:

“Evaluated and adjusted new designs and detail drawings to ensure practical completion while adhering to customer standards for usage and bottom line expenditure.”

In addition, you stated in your assessment that you were:

“dealing with many customers and standards, both large and small.”

I reworded this particular point to read,

“Functioned as product and process information source to diverse customer base.”

This indicates that you were responsible for keeping customers informed, whether it be on the actual product (usage), or on the process (time frame, costs, status reports, etc.).

For the remaining jobs, I kept the descriptions to a minimum. Of course, by the time we get to page two of your resume, it's important to keep the information brief and concise. We don't want to keep elaborating on your experience using the same verbiage that we used in your first three positions. The Hiring Manager should know based on your title of CAD Operator, what you were doing, especially when we've given details on page one.

In order to show your hands-on expertise with specific software, I ended each of the job descriptions with a list of the software that you used while in that position.

Eric, thank you for the opportunity to assist you with your resume. Every decision to modify and exclude material was in keeping with the guidelines and standards of the Professional Association of Resume Writers (PARW). With this resume, you now have a powerful tool that's packed with easily accessible material while also being aesthetically pleasing.

It was a pleasure serving you. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

ResumeEdge Editor
Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

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