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Has Eng-Tips buffed up your resume? 5

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KutEng

KutEng

Structural
May 27, 2019
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Hi all,

I'm a firm believer that my time on Eng-tips has been beneficial to myself and the work i do currently. I've actively engaged and posted questions which i never would've found the answer to through traditional means and discussions whilst stumbling upon posts that have sparked my interest in topics i never would have thought of. I can say in some instances i've gained more from Eng-tips than i have from any formal education I've received. I'm sure there's many of you that would agree

What i want to know is if anyone has ever put their experience on Eng-tips on their resume?
If so where did you fit it in and how did you present it? Did your employer bring it up during an interview? Do the majority of engineers even know about Eng-tips?

Would love to hear from some of you guys who've done this

 
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Not sure I see how discussion in online forums is resume worthy... I have discussions with my fellow engineers every day around the water cooler, in the lunchroom, etc., and I'm sure I would be laughed out of an interview if I put THOSE discussions on my resume. Do you bother putting time spent reading industry mags on your resume?

Dan - Owner
Footwell%20Animation%20Tiny.gif
 
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Perhaps you could quote the number of votes you've received or the number of FAQ's that you've written, and if you've been recognized for having the most helpful posts, etc. You could also describe how you use Eng-Tip as a resource for research and confirmation of ideas. But then one could make the same argument about your prowess in using Google, or any other search engine for that matter.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without
 
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While this is undoubtedly an invaluable resource - and a pleasant way to pass some time interacting with like minded individuals in technically engaging conversations - it's not a resume builder.

Even if you write up some good answers to others questions, you'd be better off refining it a little more and sending it to a journal and having it reviewed and published.

Use the knowledge you gain here to increase your performance, and let your increased performance be what you display on your resume.
 
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Nope. Its entertaining, interesting, and a few of the obscure things I have learned here have proven useful but I'm not about to put it on my resume. Like most everything on the internet, you have to take advice given here with a grain of salt and I would not want a manager's negative opinion of this board to reflect back on my abilities.
 
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If you were going for a job that had a large training, mentoring or teaching element and you had a lot of quality posts of a highly technical nature explaining the intricacies of a topic it might be okay to use ET as a reference for your ability in this respect if you had nothing else.

Regards
Ashtree
"Any water can be made potable if you filter it through enough money"
 
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It would be best listed as an interesting hobby and not an accomplishment. Unless you are one of the users picked out for the advisory board than it could be considered leadership or recognition. If you mentioned it as a resource you use during the interview that would make sense to me. That isn't to say that the input you make to the forum and the respect you earn is not real. It is just hard to translate that to something beyond the forum especially for someone who is not on it.

There is one consultant that used to be here alot who has this on his website. I would not know who that consultant was otherwise.
"• Voted number one plastics expert in 3 global professional internet forums with ~ 15 000 members*
* where I have posted free advice since 2005

Voted MVP and ranked 1st in the Polymer Engineering, Plastics Resin Engineering and Plastics Engineering forums"​
 
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I've had ET near the bottom of my resume for some years.
It occasionally starts a side discussion, but not often.
I include no puffery with it; a Google search will provide enough reading material for anyone.




Mike Halloran
Corinth, NY, USA
 
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ProEpro said:
Unless you are one of the users picked out for the advisory board than it could be considered leadership or recognition.
Click to expand...

"Leadership", that's funny. A bunch of guys sitting around bad chatting posters, making fun of people and criticizing at every chance. Been there, quit that - and would never consider it something for a resume. Quite the opposite.
 
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I have learned a lot from participating in various forums over the years but to put it on a resume is a stretch.
Lets be honest, how would it read?

"I have spent countless hours chit chatting with others in an online forum trying to solve their engineering problems while neglecting my own while on the clock at my real job"
 
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Disagree. I've actually been hired twice by, should I say, "my followers" on Eng-Tips, to which I had no idea that any acually existed. No, don't search my handle. I have gone incognito these days. But trust me, mention your handle & Engineering Tips in the right circles and you never know where that might lead.

“What I told you was true ... from a certain point of view.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Return of the Jedi"
 
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Don't underestimate how many people come across Eng-Tips when searching for online technical info. Noting on your resume that you are an active ET member can't hurt - unless you have posted incorrect or worthless responses. Your ET posts may tell people a lot more about your qualifications than does your resume. Your posts can demonstrate your expertise - or not!

 
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I'm always open to unusual facts and claims on a person's resume.
A coworker recently interviewed someone at a local university for a co-op position. He had claimed on there, that he created a Minecraft mod with some-many-millions of downloads. Another coworker who plays Minecraft claimed something along the lines of "You met /THAT GUY/ ? That's one of the most popular mods out there for <whatever>" Given what it takes, technically speaking, to program and maintain a mod (Java, or javascript, I believe, not to mention the personal commitment and planning) that receives that level of popularity, it actually earned him some points.

Anything that sets you apart from the "norm" in a positive way is good. I would say an internet forum participation is a double edged sword. You better be proud of what's in your history. Another is that you should consider your audience. Some people may not value internet peer discussion. On this topic, you can't even make an educated guess based on age or demographics, because IME, it's hit or miss whether a person of any age has embraced this type of technology for professional development and aid.

Risky move. Choose wisely.
 
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