“Manufacturing is more than just putting parts together. It’s coming up with ideas, testing principles and perfecting the engineering as well as final assembly.” – James Dyson .
Good day! After reading thousands of resumes for high tech jobs, I can without any doubt say that standing out as an engineer is not easy – it’s a very competitive landscape with a lot of niche competences which require a lot of years to practice. Therefore, it’s smart to build and maintain a project portfolio from your side. What aspects should you mention?
What to take into account ?
Some companies have strict policies when it comes to the engineering work, primarily from an Intellectual Property point of view. This means that what you can inlcude in your portfolio, is limited. However, this does not mean that you can refer to parts in existing projects without havingt to disclose specific design parameteres. Use these rules for your portfolio :
- If you have worked in an open intellectual property setting – you’re free to include parameters and specific design sheets.
- If you have worked in a closed intellectual property setting – you’re not free to include parameters, but you can refer to already published designs/ parts.
Other things to take into account are:
- Make sure to have a logical buildup – this means that it is wise to focus on career and project progression. Recruiters generally like to see growth and precise references.
- If there are things worth mentioning from an engineering point of view, mention them – if you for example had to do a wide variery of simulations, include this. This will give insights into your engineering competence scope.
- Give it a personal touch and finetune a template to make it look more original. It’s your portfolio, after all! If you want a template example, please use my contact details below.
Good luck and if you need further help or want me to review your portfolio, send me a message on Linkedin.
*Picture credits: Ryoji Iwata
Best of luck! Jake