New Graduate – How to Properly Showcase Your Engineering Management Masters

Your resume is meant to act as your own personal marketing piece. It is how you advertise your skills, talents, knowledge, and experience, and it’s meant to contain enough information that will hook potential employers and motivate them to contact you and set up an interview.

A good resume is also one that can set you apart from the competition and give you that all-important cutting edge, which can be hard to come by in a crowded field.

With that said, one of the most important pieces of information to include on your resume is your educational background, especially when pursuing a career where education is a requirement.

If you’re a new graduate or a soon-to-be graduate of an engineering management master’s, then there is no doubt this is the kind of information that should be prominent on your resume.

Because you will be applying for senior-level management positions such as a VP of manufacturing/production, corporate/executive management, engineering management, and R&D/product development management, you need to make it clear why you’re a candidate, and your master is a big part of that.

So, let’s take a closer look at tips and advice that will help you to showcase your newly obtained engineering management master’s on your resume in an effective way.

 

Using the Proper Order to List Your Degrees

The first rule to be aware of is the order in which you list your degrees. They should always be listed in reverse-chronological order, so your most recent degree is the one that is listed first. In this case, that would be your engineering management master’s. You can then follow it with the previously earned degrees that you have.

Be sure to include the years in which you attended the program/school, the name of the school, the city/town, and the name of the degree in that order. For example:

1. The Year in Which You Attended the Program (2018-2020)
2. Name of School, City of School
3. Name of the Degree

If you haven’t yet completed your master’s but you want to get a jumpstart on the job ladder, you can include an expected graduation date instead of the date completed.

 

Beefing Up the Education Section

Besides listing the actual date and name of your degree, it’s wise to create a full education section on your resume. You can skip adding your high school education and instead focus on post-secondary schooling.

Many employers appreciate seeing extra information regarding your particular degree on your resume. Again, it’s a great way to stand apart from the competition, and highlight particular areas where you shined and really focused on. So whether you’re getting an engineering degree or an accounting diploma you’ll want this section of your resume to really stand out to prospective employers.

Let’s take for example the Master of Science Engineering Management program available through Kettering University Online, which you can read about here. Some of the things you can highlight as “extra details” include:

• The courses you took, be specific if some are of interest
• If you obtained a graduate certificate and if so, which one
• Particular skills that were taught

It’s about adding sustenance to your resume and really giving it more depth.

 

What About Honors?

Of course, if you have graduated with honors this is most definitely something you want to include on the resume. This shows how dedicated you were to the program, how hard you worked, and how much knowledge you have most likely gained.

On the flip side, there is no need to list your GPA score, especially if any length of time has gone by that you’ve been out of school.

 

Where Should the Education Section Go on the Resume?

As to where the education section should go on your resume because it is so vital to many jobs, it needs to go up at the top. Because you’re applying for a position in which a degree is necessary, you want to have that information front and center. Candidates are often weeded out in the first round due to a lack of educational requirements, so you want to be sure your degree is clear.

In terms of formatting, the resume always starts with your contact information, and then a career objective (if you decide to include one). Directly after that objective comes the education section. Here’s an example:

1. Contact information – your name, address, phone number, email address, online resume if applicable
2. Career objective – keep it to one or two sentences so it is right to the point – direct.
3. Education – listing your degree and relevant information that pertains to it

The only time education isn’t listed first is when the substantial time has passed between your graduation date and your job hunt. As long as you have graduated in the last three years, let this section take center stage.

 

Keep It to the Facts

As you list your degree and any additional details, it’s important you stick to the facts and don’t elaborate too much.

You want to include just enough to grab a potential employer’s attention, but not so much information that they end up glazing over it and losing interest. Of course, you don’t want to lie either and exaggerate any details.

 

Be Prepared to Discuss Your Masters in an Interview

Finally, you want to be sure you are prepared to discuss your masters and your relevant knowledge/skills in an interview. If you are a recent graduate looking to land that all-important first job in the field, then you may not have much if any, relevant working experience, so you’ll need to really highlight your schooling.

You can also spend time thinking about any previous job experience or hands-on experience that you can relate to a field that you can bring up in the interview.

Rather than going into an interview blind, take the time to practice general responses. Common questions will be:

1. What are your goals?
2. What are your strengths/weaknesses?
3. What unique factors/skills can you bring to the table?
4. How did your schooling/experience prepare you for the job?

 

Opening the Door to Your Career through a Resume

So, if you think a resume is nothing more than a piece of paper with your contact information and a few details on it, it’s time to think again.

A well-written and engaging resume is one that can, in fact, open doors to a future career and really gives you the upper leg on the competition. Making sure you showcase your engineering management master’s degree in the appropriate place and manner will help to get the attention you deserve.