Senior instrumentation and control engineer skills for your resume and career

Examples of having applied the knowledge gained in their studies to practical examples of solving engineering problems that require the combination of skills and at least some understanding of system engineering aspects are important signals that graduating engineers are ready to be productive in a real-world setting are always important. Obviously, participating in projects that address current "hot topic" problems, e.g., in robotics, AI/machine learning, power systems, biomedical applications, or that resonate with specific problems an employer is currently working on, will raise a student's profile.


Supplemental skills, such as Entrepreneurial or business training, can enhance and differentiate a student's resume. This shows that an engineer is not solely focused on the core technical engineering skills but does have an understanding of the driving forces and their interaction in a real-world business setting, that are not only part of the design requirements for a product (e.g., design to cost), but also often drive the selection of technical solution paths, after all, every development and product has to make business sense. Imagine two young engineers proposing a solution to their manager for a new product: one maybe even over-exceeds the technical requirements, but the development and/or manufacturing and servicing effort and cost is significantly higher than a colleagues solution that may only just about reach the requirements, or maybe even compromise on some specifications, but that is far cheaper to develop, make and service and that may allow entering a far larger market- chances are very high that the business may decide to go for the "inferior" solution from a technical point of view, that is, however, the better product. This supplemental skill set is a significant competitive advantage to have as an engineer.