Your Job Title Doesn’t Always Tell Us What You Actually Do

One of the challenges with engineering recruitment is that job titles can mean almost anything.

I’ve spoken to people called Design Engineers who spend much of their time managing projects, Project Engineers who are extremely hands-on technically and Maintenance Engineers whose responsibilities range from straightforward planned maintenance through to complex fault finding, PLC work and continuous improvement.

That’s why simply putting your job title and dates of employment on a CV doesn’t always tell us very much.

When I’m looking at an engineering CV, I’m interested in what you actually do. What equipment have you worked on? Which software or systems do you use? What sort of products have you designed or manufactured? Have you been involved in installation, commissioning, testing or development? If you’re managing projects, what size are they and what responsibility do you personally have?

You don’t need to turn your CV into a technical manual, but giving some context makes an enormous difference. Two people with exactly the same job title can have completely different experience, and recruiters and employers can’t always guess what’s hidden behind yours.

The same applies when your official title doesn’t really reflect your level of responsibility. Perhaps you’ve gradually taken on supervision of other engineers, become the person everyone turns to for a particular technical problem or started dealing directly with customers and suppliers. Those things are worth mentioning even if your employer has never changed the title on your contract.

It’s particularly important when you’re moving between industries. An employer may initially think your background isn’t relevant because you’ve worked with a different product, but once they understand the processes, materials, technology or engineering principles you’ve been using, there may be far more crossover than the job titles suggest.

At ASL Technical, this is one of the reasons we like talking to candidates rather than relying entirely on what’s written on the page. A conversation often uncovers experience that simply wasn’t obvious from the CV.

Final Thought

Your job title is only a label. Make sure your CV tells employers about the engineer behind it.




Photo by Resume Genius on Unsplash

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Your Job Title Doesn’t Always Tell Us What You Actually Do
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Co-Founder & Director