1. Take your time to review the JD. Hopefully the company has put a good amount of effort in it. Compare your skillset with the JD. If you have performed what they are asking for, make sure you use the same terminology. If the terminology is different but its essentially the same thing – make it easy on the recruiters and do not assume or take a stand stating they should know this already. Help them out by making it simple. Some recruiters might know, some might not. The easier you make their job, the higher the chances of your resume making it to the managers desk.
2. Since we are targeting O&G industry – please provide specific details on what Asset(s) you worked on. If it was Unconventional – was it Shale, Heavy Oil, etc. Maybe even put percentages on how much experience you have in Shale.
Similarly – If you have done Fracture Simulation in addition to Reservoir Simulation – state the same with percentages. This example is being provided as we have seen a few jobs around this subject.
3. There are some Hiring Managers who always ask for 10 to 15 years of experience. For such job postings – it is very difficult to apply when you have more than 20 years. Even if you do not write the year of Graduation, they will figure it out eventually during interviews. Our suggestion is to let that opportunity go. The right one might be coming up.
4. Putting a percent on Skillset acquired and when that skillset was used will also differentiate your resume from the pack. And if you update it often – it will be current!
5. There are companies and hiring managers who value experience and they need that experience to ensure that their product is robust. And so – my recommendation to a lot of Geoscientists is to look for a R&D role – Product Manager or Software Tester! Your domain experience and workflow knowledge will be very valuable to the client. We have placed 2 domain experts in this area. In this case – age proofing is to re-align your expertise and apply it in a different way.