Hello! Talentometry are an Industrial Automation Recruiter – we recruit across software, sales, and design.

Are you looking to break into control system engineering or want to move into a new automation role to progress your career? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are 10 quick tips to help you to be more successful while seeking a new role working on PLC / HMI / SCADA software.

We come across hundreds of CVs every week and I specialise in the placement of Automation & Robots professionals at Talentometry. I wanted to share these tips to help you get ahead:

1) Double & triple check your spelling and grammar is correct. This is always important but even more so if you are expected to write reports, emails, etc within the new role. Poor spelling and grammar will reflect badly on you.

2) Tailor your CV, especially the skills section to the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a role where you are going to be using PLC’s (e.g. Control Systems Engineer) then make sure to list the programs that you can use and to what level.

3) Ensure that you follow a clear and precise CV format. An engineering CV should reflect the characteristics of an engineer. Therefore, it needs to be concise, straightforward, and structured. You want a chronological format detailing your employment experience and a showcase of your competencies. You want to make it impossible for employers & recruiters to miss your strengths and experiences.

4) Avoid pictures or graphs. Nobody wants to spend an hour extrapolating your experience from a graph you’ve drawn. We’d also recommend avoiding pictures as this can distract people from your skills and introduce bias.

5) Be careful not to under or oversell yourself. If you have no confidence in your abilities and you undersell yourself, you’re not maximising your chances. In contrast, if you oversell yourself and exaggerate your skills and abilities it will come out and again it will reflect poorly on you. No one likes talking to candidate where they have listed every PLC or software package they’ve ever looked at.

6) Make it memorable. Many employers and recruiters read hundreds of CV’s everyday so being able to stick in their mind and standing out gives you a huge advantage. Use one sentence to talk about the impact you have made in each role.

7) Use bullet points. Typically, Engineers do a broad range of tasks within their roles and trying to identify these within a block of text can be difficult. We highly recommend that you use bullet points for each different task to make your CV more readable.

8) Don’t disparage your previous company. There are some details best left to your conversation with your recruiter and the person that is interviewing and that is anything sensitive around why you may have left a position. It’s very difficult to get across context in writing.

9) Don’t include passport or ID documentation details. It’s ok to mention your eligibility to work in a particular country or work visa details but you don’t need to list ID numbers or a copy of any documents which could be used by identity thieves.

10) Member of a professional body like the IET or chartered? Include these details and any other training you have after your education detailing when you took part in the training or received your award.

If you’re looking for a new role and want to speak to one of our consultants, you can reach out and email us here sayhello@talentometry.co.uk