Expert advice to help you stand out — from structure and formatting to making every sentence count.
Structure, content, and the details that get you interviews.
Your CV is the first filter between you and an interview. Recruiters spend 6–8 seconds on an initial scan — they're pattern-matching for signals of competence, not reading every word. Every section, every bullet, every piece of formatting either earns your place in the yes pile or loses it.
Keep it to one page for undergraduates, two pages maximum for postgraduate or experienced candidates. Use a clean font — Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman at 10–12pt. Crucially, your CV must be ATS-friendly: no tables, no text boxes, no images, no columns, no fancy graphics. Applicant Tracking Systems parse CVs as raw text. Anything that breaks that parsing — even a subtle two-column layout — may mean your CV is never seen by a human.
Save as PDF unless the job posting specifically asks for Word. Name the file clearly: FirstName_LastName_CV.pdf. Use 1–1.5cm margins and consistent heading sizes throughout.
Every bullet should follow this structure: Action verb → what you did → how you did it → measurable result. This is sometimes called the "XYZ formula" — Accomplished X by doing Y, resulting in Z.
Compare these two bullets for the same project:
❌ "Worked on a robot for a competition"
✓ "Designed and built an autonomous navigation robot using Arduino and ultrasonic sensors, implementing PID control to achieve a line-following accuracy of ±2mm — placed 2nd in the national IET competition"
The second bullet tells a story. It shows technical depth, names specific tools, quantifies the outcome, and gives external validation. That's what gets you shortlisted.
Most undergraduates have similar grades and similar part-time jobs. What sets you apart is what you've built. For each project, answer these four questions in two to three lines: What problem were you solving? What tools/methods did you use? What specifically did you design or build? What was the outcome or performance metric?
Formula Student, rocketry societies, hackathons, personal Arduino/Raspberry Pi builds, university lab projects, research placements — all count. Even well-explained coursework projects demonstrate technical depth if you write them properly.
Avoid generic statements with no evidence ("I am a hardworking team player who thrives under pressure"). These read as filler. If you are a hardworking team player, prove it with a bullet about a project you delivered under a tight deadline with a team of four people.
Don't use dense paragraphs in the experience section — bullet points only. Recruiters skim; walls of text get skipped. Don't list skills you can't back up in an interview. And never include "References available upon request" — it wastes a full line and every recruiter already knows they can ask.
Tell your story. Show genuine interest. Win the interview.
A cover letter is the single biggest differentiator at the application stage — and the most consistently underused one. Most candidates either skip it, paste a generic template, or repeat their CV in paragraph form. A genuinely strong, tailored letter can move you from the bottom third to the top of a shortlist. Here's how to write one that actually works.
One page. Four to six paragraphs. Professional business letter format — your contact details, date, and the employer's details at the top. Address it to a named person wherever possible: check LinkedIn, the company website, or the job posting. "Dear [Name]" instantly signals more effort than "Dear Hiring Manager." Use "Yours sincerely" if you named them, "Yours faithfully" if you used a title.
Font: match your CV (Arial or Times New Roman, 11pt). Consistent margins. Save as PDF. And check out our industry examples at the bottom of this page.
Research depth matters. Read their annual report. Look at recent press releases and LinkedIn posts. For engineering roles, search for their patent filings, technical papers, or engineering blog. When you reference something genuinely specific — a paper a senior engineer published, a test they ran, a challenge they've publicly discussed — it shows a level of preparation almost no other candidate will match.
Be technically precise. Don't say "CAD software" — say SolidWorks 2023 or CATIA V5. Don't say "simulation tools" — say ANSYS Mechanical or OpenFOAM. Precision signals expertise. Vagueness signals you're padding.
Quantify relentlessly. "Reduced mass by 15% while maintaining structural integrity under 3g loading" is memorable. "Made the design lighter" is not. Numbers give your achievements scale and credibility.
Connect theory to practice. Mention tolerancing, material constraints, manufacturing feasibility, cost considerations, or regulatory requirements — the real-world factors that make engineering in industry different from university. This signals commercial awareness and genuine readiness.
"I believe I would be a great fit for this role." Don't believe — demonstrate. "I am a quick learner." Everyone says this; it means nothing. "I have always been passionate about engineering." Since when? Prove it with a project, a competition, an extracurricular. "This opportunity would be invaluable for my development." That's about you — what's invaluable to them?
The best cover letter you can write is specific, technically credible, clearly researched, and written like a professional engineer — not like a student who found a template online. That's the bar. Clear it.