Would you mention that on your SOP or CV?

[weaver159]

I am currently aplying for EE MSc (and maybe some MEng programms too).

I am ambivalent for mentioning my work experience on my CV and my SOP. Right after I started college I also started working as a Software developer on my own, for about a year.

Nothing important really. I just founded projects from software firms that could be outscourced and completed them.

Afterwards, for about two years, I worked for a local publisher, translating engineering textbooks from English to my native language.

Both of this jobs are not related to any real accademic or profesional experience and I am not sure if I should include them to my sop or my cv.

I was kind of hopping to use them as an offset for my grades. They are not actually bad, they are good, but they could be much better.

 

Thanks for the help!

[peachypie]

I'd at a minimum mention them in your CV in terms of work experience.  If you'd like to mention them in your SOP (and you most certainly can), then I would use them as evidence for how it has helped you decide or enhanced your ability or decision to pursue your degree in material science or mechanical engineering.  It is one thing not to include your high school job as a movie theatre employee it is another to include the jobs you held while you were in college or what you have been doing following your graduation and whatnot and things at least in the general field.  Remember holding a job isn't just about the material you work with every day, it is about the ability to succeed, work in a new environment, work independently etc.  So there are skills and valuable things you learn in a job that doesn't only happen when you hold a position in the field you wish to pursue.

[Vene]

I'd at least include them in your CV. It's not as valuable as research experience, but it at least says you have been working and using your engineering skills instead of bumming around. If there's something particularly valuable you did at either job or if you have a way to relate them to research interests or why you're applying to graduate school by all means bring it up in your SOP.