Top Skills You Should be Looking for on a Technical CV
A CV is an invaluable tool for employers and job seekers alike, especially within the technical and engineering field. For prospective candidates, a CV allows them to highlight their key skills and abilities, as well as any notable experience they have amassed. For employers, a technical CV allows them to efficiently identify job-specific skills and filter out those with irrelevant or insufficient experience.
If you’re an employer and are wondering what you should be looking for on a technical resume, here are our top picks.
Job Related Skills
First and foremost, you need to be able to identify skills related to the job at hand. Engineering is a highly competitive – and skilled – industry, so whilst it’s possible that someone with minimal experience can be the right person for the role, they need to possess job related skills in order to succeed.
For example, in the case of a design engineer, it’s essential they’re familiar with computer aided design (CAD) software as this is integral to the job at hand. This is a job-related skill that you will expect the candidate applying for the role to have at the bare minimum.
In essence, job related skills are the essential components a candidate must have as a base point. They tend to be unique to the industry or role being applied for, especially in the case of engineering.
Transferable Skills
There are some skills that can be transferred across several job roles, and these should be something you look out for because they can give you a good idea of what a candidate is like on a personal level.
Examples of transferable skills may include:
- Attention to detail
- Good communication skills, both verbal and written
- Problem solving
- Conscientiousness
No matter what role a person is taking on, the above skills are transferable across the majority of industries and therefore are good traits for a job candidate to list on their CV. They are useful for a wide range of positions, making them a good thing to look out for when reviewing a CV.
Adaptive Skills
In a similar manner, there are some skills that are adaptive. This means they are versatile and can bridge certain gaps in a team, or that the candidate has the ability to work in any environment and still thrive.
Examples of adaptive skills may include:
- Innovative nature
- Flexibility
- Critical thinking
- Ability to work independently
As an employer, hiring a candidate with adaptive skills is highly beneficial because it shows they can integrate with your team and possess skills that will lend themselves to the role in question.
Teamwork
Being a team player is essential in almost every career, especially within engineering which requires multi-level communication in nearly every role. Working independently and on a personal initiative is a must, but so is being able to work as part of a wider team with seamless communication and no friction. Always look out for this on a CV.
Key Achievements
The final thing you should be looking for on a technical resume is key achievements. These will give you an indication as to the experience a person has, though remember to note that this isn’t the be all and end all. Notable key achievements can range from how many projects a person has worked on at once, through to any rewards that the candidate has won.
Technical Recruitment with BMS Performance
At BMS Performance, we are experts in engineering recruitment for technical roles in maintenance, manufacturing, and construction. As an exceptional technical sales recruitment agency, we take the hassle out of finding a technical candidate. Contact us today to speak about how we can help you find the person right for your team, including by screening CVs.
