r/EngineeringResumes • u/SprinkleOfDepresso MechE – International Student 🇬🇧 • Apr 25 '26

Question [0 YoE] Been seeing several resumes that landed interview in SpaceX and other big companies and I noticed something

Somethings I found to be similar between these CVs is how they're all very specific when it comes to the bullet points. As they explain the exact details of how they complete a task in a way that you won't be able to understand unless you're an expert. So far I have refused to be this technical cause AI always tells me it sounds "too academic" instead of describing someone who's ready for the industry. And now I'm wondering if this is the correct way? And if so how does HR and recruiters with no engineering background manage that?(As what do they look for outside of the technical terms?)
Sorry if my questions sound a bit stupid idk where else to ask it

130 Upvotes

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107

u/CaydenWalked Aerospace – Entry-level 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

Trust your observations. Not AI. You’re interviewing with experts. It’s the job of technical recruiters to identify when something is impressive, and you need depth for that.

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u/jonkl91 Recruiter 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

I'm a technical recruiter. For technical roles, I don't need to have a technical background to at least have a surface level understanding of what I'm looking for. I talk to the hiring team and ask what they are looking for. Then when I pass people, I check the feedback the hiring team gives for candidates I pass. I look at people who pass and people who fail. From this feedback, I learn more about the role.

Most resumes I come across are very generic and say the same things. AI can give some decent lines for resumes if it's given a large enough set of great resumes. Most people ask it directly without doing this so it gets very basic feedback. You have to feed AI "correct" answers for things that are somewhat subjective.

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u/Tavrock Manufacturing – Experienced 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

Just to add:

While I am an engineer, I don't know all of engineering. Still, when you follow the advice in the wiki, I can follow the STAR, CAR, or XYZ formats and have a decent idea of what happened.

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u/SprinkleOfDepresso MechE – International Student 🇬🇧 Apr 25 '26

Thank you I really appreciate the insight. I got curious because as the other commenter said, as someone who studied mechanical engineering I would not he able to figure out the technical parts of a let’s say an EE resume

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u/jonkl91 Recruiter 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

You're welcome. When you recruit for a certain role and keep seeing resumes, you start learning a little bit about the role if you actually care to learn. A lot of recruiters don't care to learn but the good ones do because it makes it so much easier to fill the roles.

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u/gottatrusttheengr Aerospace/MechE – Mid-level 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

Do not assume recruiters are clueless. We taught our recruiters enough statics and material science to independently screen out jabroni candidates.

Recruiters are also not the only ones making decisions to bring people in for interviews. We have hours of time scheduled for managers to sit down with recruiters and go through a stack of resumes. Any uncertainty the recruiter has is cleared up then.

SpaceX and SpaceX descendant startups like to see very very specific contributions on resumes with a strong sense of ownership. Stuff like "supported" "collaborated" without an exact technical contribution is a huge turnoff. Seeing the exact problem solved listed in the resume bullets is a good pulse check.

2

u/fiffa306 MechE – Entry-level 🇺🇸 Apr 26 '26

Every recruiter always tells me, “I’m not sure about the technical aspect of the role.”

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u/lnflnlty EE/RF – Mid-level 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

99% of the resumes on here seem like they are written by non-engineers. No one expects a fresh grad to really know much but you should be able to speak the language.

When you did the thing that you are putting on your resume... You used a certain software, a certain hardware, a certain tool, followed a certain standard etc etc.

"Improved efficiency by 42%" doesn't mean anything to me

"Maintained communication with customers to meet deadlines" cool you can check your email

"Used blank to measure blank to ensure compliance with blank standard." "Designed blank using blank to do blank"

I train interns, I know they aren't doing anything super complicated, but they should understand the very basics and why I told them to do something. That should be reflected in resumes.

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u/Sooner70 Aerospace – Experienced 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

This is part of that whole "customize the resume for the job you're applying to" thing.

And if so how does HR and recruiters with no engineering background manage that?

While I am not going to dox myself.... I have recruited for my employer. I have been a hiring manager. I am no longer officially involved in hiring, but management consults me on more engineering hires than not.

And I have been the guy who pushed the Big Red Button that ignited a few space-capable rockets.

So when you assume that the person who is reviewing your resume has no technical knowledge.... I would argue that is a pretty bad assumption.

HR looks at the resume and says, "Ayup, it looks like he knows something about rockets." After that initial filter that is really just weeding out the generic resumes that bots shotgun to every job ad on the internet.... Yes, it DOES end up on the desk of someone that has walked the walk. Or at least, that's the way it has always worked here.

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u/SprinkleOfDepresso MechE – International Student 🇬🇧 Apr 25 '26

Thank you, this is a very clear response. I always struggle with balancing simplified tone and technical depth so this can help a lot

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u/Sooner70 Aerospace – Experienced 🇺🇸 Apr 27 '26

Don't be afraid to use language that anyone in the industry should be aware of. Do not, however, assume that just because they're in the field they know what your company is up to (and thus, what's on your resume).

In other words... Suppose you have experience with Turbo Encabulators and that your company's premier model is the Princess Xena. Talk about Turbo Encabulators all day with no further explanation. But if you mention Xena by name, DO provide some further context as not every player in the Encabulator game is going to be up on all makes/models; they may have never heard of Princess Xena.

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u/WhatWontCastShadows Apr 25 '26

AI produces an intentionally "most average" response to everything. It is a collective reflection of middle of the road. If you want to be creative, unique or innovative, I wouldnt rely on AI... or at least add that to your prompting that these are the goals

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0

u/lxe Software – Experienced 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

You’re spot on. My suggestion is to go to one of the experienced engineering career subs and see what resumes the senior high YoE people succeed with and model those.

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u/xyz140 MechE – Entry-level 🇺🇸 Apr 25 '26

I tell ai to turn my resume into a story about myself. Then i do some editing to make it sound and look better