10 Tips To Make Your Data Engineering Resume Stand Out From The Rest

Being a data engineer if you’re simply switching your job or kick-starting your career as a newbie, your resume must be matchless at all costs..A poorly designed and structured resume can add a big blotch to your professional image. Understanding some basic key elements of a data engineer’s resume becomes vital before sending it to your employer.If you’re looking to add an extra jewel to your resume, here are some elementary tips to make it stand out from the crowd. 

 

1.A perfect format makes a perfect resume

 

Most of the data engineers miss out on this part. Formatting is the key to making your resume perfect. For building up your resume you can choose one of the following three formats –

 

1. Functional Format 
2. Reverse Chronological format
3. Hybrid format 

Functional formats are straightforward and crisp. They focus more on skills rather than work experience or history. This format is best suited for newbies and freshers who are looking to apply at a company for the first time. The reverse chronological format showcases your work experience from latest to the oldest. It obeys a much diverse spectrum allowing your employer to get a good idea of both your work history. It is better suited if you’re switching from one company to another. Hybrid format strikes a balance between your skills and work experience. It is a much humbler approach for curating a resume.

2. Going with the trend

 

What this simply means is that sometimes following a orthodox format for applying in a versatile and dynamic company might be a bad idea. For example, Google doesn’t always demand a corporate or cosmetic resume. If you can pep it up in the form of a video or add some graphics, your chances of getting hired can be drastically improved. However, you must analyse which company you are applying to and understand their forte. Some MNCs will require you to hand them a fully formal and corporate resume for your data engineering job. Understanding the trend and going with it is the key. 

3. Never ignore the resume header 

 

The header is a small chunk in the entire resume but it makes a huge impact on your chances of getting hired. Most data engineers tend to ignore this section and move ahead with other details. A well described header must contain your name, current job profile, email address, official website (if any), your location and a contact number. Such small tweaks in your resume create a stark difference. These details when mentioned in the header would definitely catch the eye of your employer and add credibility to your resume. 

 

Example-

 

Your Name

Senior Data Engineer                WRONG! (X)

 

Your Name

Senior Data Engineer 

@Email                 LinkedIn:      Bangalore,India   +91-123456          CORRECT !          

4. Data Engineer Resume Summary- First impression is the last impression 

 

Professional summaries are a critical part of your data engineer resume. They elaborate your professional story in a crisp and straightforward manner, allowing the hiring managers to get a sneak peek of your talents and skills.It allows them to analyse how you can contribute to their organisation. The reason why your resume summary holds such great importance is that if a recruiter finds the resume summary to be a bit off the line, he/she usually won’t proceed to read your entire resume. 

 

Your resume summary should not be more than 4-5 lines. It should be brief, elaborative and should highlight your skills, experience and current position. Here is an example to go with- 

 

Senior Data Engineer with a broad range of experience technologies. Looking for opportunities as a Data Analyst in a reputed organisation.           .     WRONG! 

 

Senior Data Engineer with 6+ years of experience in building intensive data applications, handling architectural challenges in Marketing. Currently assisting XYZ company with petabyte scale reporting pipeline.                                                         CORRECT !

5. Mentioning your educational qualifications

 

As a data engineer, your skills are tested more than your educational qualification, but mentioning your qualifications will provide you a superior edge over others. Data engineers tend to either skip this section or merely mention one qualification in it. For a shining resume, you must add recent as well as a previous few educational qualifications which you have achieved over the years.  Mentioning the name of the institution, the year of passing and the degree obtained from it, will allow your employer to keep a track of your educational map and analyse your professional track accordingly. 

6. Elaborating your work experience

One of the most important sections of any resume- the work experience. This section is crucial as most of the hiring managers would first focus on it and then analyse the other sections. Your work experience showcases your entire work profile and history and therefore builds up an image of your professional  career in front of the recruiter. If you are an experienced data engineer, it might be tempting to add all your experiences in this section. However, this should be avoided. 

If you hold an experience of 12-15 years, it is wise to add only the key achievements and decorated job profiles. For a mediocre with 5-8 years of experience, you might add all the experiences here, keeping in mind they are related to the job profile you are applying for. Freshers can add their internships, volunteer works, workshop experiences in this section. This allows the hiring managers to understand how efficiently you can carry out your professional duties. 

7. Never miss out on the skills 

 

Eliminating your skills section could be a big blunder. Most of the other candidates might have the same qualification as yours, or hold the same years of experience. What would really make you stand out from others are your skills. This includes both hard and soft skills. 

Hard skills are the ones directly related to your professional forte. For example, if you have learned an additional programming language, you can smoothly add it to your hard skills. Soft skills include the ones which enhance your professional performance and efficiency. These are communication, leadership, team-building, time management and other interpersonal dexterity. Highlighting these skills will definitely make you a top choice amongst other candidates. Keep in mind not to include those skills which have no relevance or won’t enhance your job profile. For example, cooking skills- they have nothing to do with a data engineer’s work proficiency. Hence, such skills should be avoided. 

8. The more the certifications and projects, the better the resume

 

Most of the data engineers are known for their advanced knowledge of maintaining, transferring, collecting and sorting high volumes of data. Highlighting any projects or certifications of such kind will make you stand out from the other candidates.It is always a good idea to add any relevant certifications which you have achieved. This makes you a much more valuable candidate, as the recruiters are always looking for people who can be utilised in versatile positions. If you are a fresher with no certifications, adding your most valuable projects or internships would add essence to your resume. 

9. Add a cover letter to your resume

 

A cover letter to your resume is like a preface to a book. However, most data engineer just mention a summary of their entire resume on the cover letter. Cover letter and resume are not the same. Resume focuses on elaborating your professional skills and work experiences, while a cover letter explains how your experiences pertain to the job you have applied for. It focuses more on the current and future objectives. Never make your cover letter a replica of your resume. Your cover letter should explain why you are qualified and fit for the position applied. 

10. Design your resume smartly 

 

Now that you are well aware of all the essential tips for writing your data engineer’s resume, the design of your resume must be chosen sharply. You must use professional fonts and spacing, as it would make your resume neater. Use of casual fonts should be avoided. Instead of writing large paragraphs, you must stick to bullet points. SEO keywords and those related to the job you have applied for must be included. Adding these keywords boosts your chances of being chosen if the recruiter uses Applicant Tracking System (ATS). These systems are highly sensitive for keywords in the resume. You can use metrics and charts to elaborate your accomplishments and highlight your professional timeline. 

 

Since we have understood some vital strategies of curating your resume, now it’s time for you to make the change.