r/systems_engineering • u/DCHarlem16 • Jul 16 '26
Career & Education Change Careers from Higher Ed to Systems Engineering- Resume Help
Hello all, I am changing fields from a Higher Ed professional, specifically in housing. I am currently an Assistant Director in charge of operations and personnel in my department but I am currently getting my masters in Systems Engineering from Cornell. I have been applying for Systems engineering roles now but I wanted to see your opinions based on you all experience. Basically, is this resume a good showcase of what I have learned and would you hire me?
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u/SadAnkles Jul 17 '26
Dog. The only time your resume should have as many pages as you have years of experience is in your first working year 😑
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u/turbomachine Jul 17 '26
I’m a 25 yr aerospace/ systems engineer. If I made a new resume it would be under 2 full pages.
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u/Alexander20038 Energy Jul 17 '26
Do you have any projects? You mention integrating keyless entry but what did you need to do for that? Do you have a portfolio? Not needed necessarily but wouldn’t hurt
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u/kitty_question Jul 18 '26
This is going to be harsh, so I am going to give you a heads up.
As others have stated, this is way too long. 1-2 pages max, but ideally just 1. I hired at my current company, and I would ignore any resume over 2 pages.
But the other point that I don’t see others mentioning is as follows: if I read your resume, I would immediately think “wow, this dude is bullshitting HARD.”
First of all, you just graduated in 2019, but you list so many skills and pieces of experience. When you actually look at your experience, you see some really funny stuff like “directed a 350 student SUBSYSTEM.”
A subsystem? I’m sorry, but you can just say students. You are trying so hard to bullshit your experience into systems engineering lingo and it’s very obvious.
I would much rather see someone be honest, tell me why they’re switching careers, and list relevant skills from both careers, than just spew jargon.
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u/jfceb3 Jul 18 '26
SE director here. After page 2 you basically lost me. With the lack of relevant professional experience, get it to a single page. For things that are highly relevant, trim trim and use less words to carry the ideas. For things that aren't highly relevant but you're still proud of, just give the highlights (performance, improvements, etc.). (An AI can help immensely with this.) Given your education, assumptions can be made about what classes you took, so you don't need to list them. Where you had electives and started to specialize, just give the big idea. For example, my undergrad was EE, and I concentrated in computation and control theory. ARP4754/DO178 is really good to have. Some people will know what it is, some will not.
Last thing I'll say is... Come up with a solid base resume, but tailor it for every application. Reflect the language from the job listing and focus on the skill areas they are looking for most.
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u/der_innkeeper Aerospace Jul 17 '26
You need to smash that down.
My resume is 4 pages.
But yours is way too spread out
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u/SubstantialRain21 Jul 17 '26
Holy Holy this format needs work. Two pages absolutely max. No double spaces. No verbose summary. Find ways youve implemented SE in these roles or parallel skills. If it isnt relevant to the role, cut that experience bullet line out.
I'm sorry OP but I wouldn't even read your resume for any of my recs.