Stop Losing Aerospace Engineer Interviews
Identify and correct the resume mistakes that keep hiring managers from noticing your expertise.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Chances
Each mistake includes why it hurts, how to fix it, and before/after examples
- Hiring managers can’t see your specific aerospace value
- ATS filters often ignore vague statements
- It wastes prime resume space
- Replace the generic sentence with a 2‑sentence value proposition
- Mention years of experience, key aerospace domains, and measurable impact
Objective: Seeking a challenging engineering position where I can apply my skills.
Summary: Aerospace Engineer with 5+ years designing propulsion systems for commercial aircraft, delivering 12% weight reduction on three projects.
- Recruiters skim for quantifiable results
- ATS scores higher when achievements contain numbers
- Lacks proof of performance
- Add specific metrics (% improvement, cost saved, weight reduced) to each bullet
- Use the formula: Action + Metric + Result
- Designed wing structures for a new aircraft model.
- Designed wing structures that reduced overall weight by 8% and increased lift efficiency by 5% across the new aircraft model.
- ATS may miss key skill keywords
- Hiring managers lose time searching for relevant tools
- Create a dedicated "Core Competencies" or "Technical Skills" section
- List skills as bullet points or a comma‑separated line
Experience includes working with various software tools and engineering methods.
Core Competencies: CFD analysis, MATLAB/Simulink, SolidWorks, ANSYS Fluent, DO‑178C compliance, Systems Engineering, Flight Test Planning
- ATS may fail to parse irregular layouts
- Recruiters lose interest after a cluttered page
- Use a clean, single‑column layout with standard headings
- Limit to 1‑2 pages for <5 years experience, up to 3 pages for senior roles
- Employ consistent fonts and bullet styles
[Huge block of text with multiple fonts, tables, and a 4‑page length]
[Clean 2‑page PDF with uniform headings, bullet points, and white space]
- Doesn’t address specific aerospace job requirements
- ATS keyword mismatch reduces ranking
- Tailor each resume to the target role by highlighting relevant projects and keywords
- Swap out unrelated experience for aerospace‑focused achievements
- Managed a team of software developers for a retail app. - Conducted market research for consumer products.
- Led a multidisciplinary team to develop a satellite payload integration process, meeting launch schedule 2 weeks early. - Conducted aerodynamic testing for a UAV program, resulting in a 10% drag reduction.
- Use a professional email address and phone number
- Include a headline with key aerospace terms
- List core competencies in a dedicated section
- Quantify every achievement with numbers
- Tailor each bullet to the target job description
- Save the final file as PDF with searchable text
- Convert bullet points to action‑oriented statements
- Add quantifiable results
- Insert industry‑specific keywords
- Standardize date and location format
