My nephew, David, is a mechanical engineer who worked at a life science medical device manufacturing company. After eleven years, he wanted a new job. I helped him because I am a resume writer (and his aunt!)
QUESTIONS FOR A RESUME
I asked if he had any patents, expecting the answer to be no. But yes, he did have a patent pending for a medical device pump. Really!? It had not occurred to him to mention it because he downplayed the importance.
APPLYING FOR A JOB
That resume got him an interview with Amazon for a job as an engineer. The posting included:
Invent, design and implement engineering solutions to complex materials flow/transformation and human/machine efficiency problems throughout the global Amazon supply chain.
This was back in 2013 when Amazon was hiring 7,000 people, with many of them in their fulfillment centers and warehouses. My nephew said they were looking for engineers who understood patents and could help streamline their processes during this period of fast growth.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
The candidate requirements were what you would expect:
“Experience designing and delivering complex automated material handling systems, packaging technologies and systems including robotics and high-speed manufacturing.”
That was different from his work with medical devices. Ah, but part of the preferred qualifications included:
“Patent holder”
Amazon wanted this because they were facilitating a patent process as part of their commitment to innovation. But for him, material handling, packaging, and fulfillment centers would have been a real change from medical devices.
DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHAT IS IMPORTANT
David didn’t think that a “patent pending” would be of interest to an interviewer, so he didn’t tell me about it.
I only found out because of my thorough resume writing process designed to pull out any relevant information.
I knew it could come up as a keyword for a job application.
He did not get the job, but the Amazon interview would never have happened if I hadn’t asked about patents.