Hiring RF Engineers: Matching Personality and Organization

Whether you are hiring or looking to be hired, a resume is an inevitable introductory step. For us RF engineers, a typical resume is very much like a technical spec sheet, detailing the diverse range of skill-sets to include every achievement, course and technology.

Yet, one aspect is often ignored—the human perspective.

Microwave engineers typically seek to satisfy more than one goal when making a career decision. They also tend to get bored if the job is not challenging enough or if the professional challenges turn out not to be within their line of interest. Workplace environment is a factor affecting the success of the match because it relates to personal likes and dislikes. Successful placement will therefore have the engineer placed in a position where he or she is most comfortable, creative and passionate about their job.

Many hiring managers include and highlight the workplace environment among other benefits in published job descriptions. They know that this increases the value of their proposition. These recruiters have already realized what people look for in a workplace beyond compensation and technology. In a similar way, the manager reading through piles of resumes is looking for the person behind the skills.

The words of wisdom in the article below highlight these important and often overlooked aspects when writing your resume. These observations really boil down to the basic things people look for in a workplace, in colleagues and employees. This is definitely something to think about when writing your resume or reading someone else’s.

Isaac Mendelson
ElectroMagneticCareers.com
Isaac@ElectroMagneticCareers.com

The Boring Resume: Who Are YOU

Our DC to Light crowd is undoubtedly made up of great engineers, technologists and researchers, but to sift through these resumes is like reading one technical paper after another. Don’t get me wrong—you will be hired for your technical skills and your ability to produce for the company.

The resumes I see just bore me to death and I know why. You have all read books on “How to Write an Effective Resume” written by an unemployed person.

Rules of Thumb:

1. Put yourself in the position of the person that may want to hire you. Imagine trying to cram 13 years of experience on to one page. That cannot work!
2. Write as many pages as you think the hiring manager will be interested in for the position.
3. Show that you are versatile and can multitask, which will be an asset to the department and company.
4. List your goals so the company will know what you want.

Who You Are:

With my almost 40 years of recruiting primarily in the RF/microwave/defense fields, I have found that people who are interesting get hired first even if they have less experience.

When I interview a candidate I also interview the spouse (if they have one) and the children. I look for the family’s goals and interests (hobbies) to insure that the hiring company is right for them including location.

For example, a small paragraph at the end of the resume stating:

My outside interests are running, white water rafting, volcano hiking, fishing (salt water), golf, hiking and reading.

I am married to Mary who is a volunteer for the Red Cross, and has a part-time business teaching people basic computer skills.

We have two children, Jack who plays soccer and swims on the school team, and Jenny, who is a violinist and plays field hockey. Both children are on the dean’s list.

With this, you have given to the company your personality and a better reason to hire “A PERSON”. All this extra shows WHO You ARE beyond a spec-sheet of skills.

David Germond
Cleared Executive Search
dave@clearedsearch.com
(813) 425-3100