For IT Professionals...

[thecoffeeguy]

So ya, I was hoping to get some help from the fellow IT Professionals here.

I am in the process of updating my resume, but not really liking the way it is turning out. I have a lot of information (skills, experience etc.) to put on the resume, but trying to figure out how to display it is a challenge.

For those that work in the field (or anyone who reviews resumes for that matter), anyone have some suggestions and perhaps some samples?

I have a couple of jobs I am going to applying for and I am trying to knock out this resume here so I can quickly provide it to the companies.

I appreciate all the help.

Oh ya, rep will be provided.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by thecoffeeguy

So ya, I was hoping to get some help from the fellow IT Professionals here.

I am in the process of updating my resume, but not really liking the way it is turning out. I have a lot of information (skills, experience etc.) to put on the resume, but trying to figure out how to display it is a challenge.

For those that work in the field (or anyone who reviews resumes for that matter), anyone have some suggestions and perhaps some samples?

I have a couple of jobs I am going to applying for and I am trying to knock out this resume here so I can quickly provide it to the companies.

I appreciate all the help.

Oh ya, rep will be provided.

I'll give you a sample from my resume. This is from one of my Listed job experiences 7+ years ago. When you have a wealth of variance in your experiences, it is acceptable to list them as long as you provide a little context. It can be difficult to try covering all the different items with seemingly just listing a bunch of stuff.

"Administer and maintain the 2000+ user 2003 Active Directory infrastructure using OUs and GPOs. Design, implement and maintain environment solutions for clients in all aspects of Information Services. Provide technical documentation, training and guidance to the support group. Network administration and monitoring across LAN/WAN environments using Cisco devices. Firewall, Web Proxy filtering and Mail filtering administration. Exchange and Blackberry Servers administration. Administer and support the Backups using SAN and Storage devices (Arcserve and Backup Exec). Use VMWare extensively."

[jd1020]

Glitter around the edges of the paper is always a nice added touch.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Glitter around the edges of the paper is always a nice added touch.

I prefer doodles.

[thecoffeeguy]

Originally Posted by Zeke

I'll give you a sample from my resume. This is from one of my Listed job experiences 7+ years ago. When you have a wealth of variance in your experiences, it is acceptable to list them as long as you provide a little context. It can be difficult to try covering all the different items with seemingly just listing a bunch of stuff.

"Administer and maintain the 2000+ user 2003 Active Directory infrastructure using OUs and GPOs. Design, implement and maintain environment solutions for clients in all aspects of Information Services. Provide technical documentation, training and guidance to the support group. Network administration and monitoring across LAN/WAN environments using Cisco devices. Firewall, Web Proxy filtering and Mail filtering administration. Exchange and Blackberry Servers administration. Administer and support the Backups using SAN and Storage devices (Arcserve and Backup Exec). Use VMWare extensively."

Thanks. I do appreciate it.

I was trying to get some ideas from a format perspective, trying to figure out the best way to display the information, without overdoing it as well as putting in the most pertinent information, without making my resume 2+ pages.

[Kerberos]

I was at a Job fair out here in Vegas about 8 months ago and there were HR chicks (some damn fine ones albeit)from about 3 different Hotel/Casino conglomerates that gave all of us the impression that your resume should be pretty much editable to the job you are submitting it for.

If your last two positions have little to do with the job you are applying for but your job BEFORE the last two was a pretty good match they suggested that you post it FIRST on your resume and then the all of the others in order of relevance to the job you are seeking with A-B-C company.

It's an employers market right now and the less crap they have to read to get to your exact qualifications the better. They said when they have 200-300+ applications/resumes to review if yours is too hard to understand or has way too much fluff it will get a #13 filing.

I was seeking IT professional job too and not long after that job fair I landed a job with Edison Learning here in Las Vegas. Some of what they had to say made a lot of sense so I used that knowledge to my advantage.

[ChiefGator]

PM me your email address and I will send you mine. I had the same challenges creating mine, and finally liked the way it turned out.

[chasedude]

Good luck with this one!

I'm an IT pro too but my organization of composition skills are lacking greatly.

I find this often with IT people. We can hunt down and get rid of the gremlins in our servers and workstations but we can't write about it too well

[thecoffeeguy]

Originally Posted by chasedude

Good luck with this one!

I'm an IT pro too but my organization of composition skills are lacking greatly.

I find this often with IT people. We can hunt down and get rid of the gremlins in our servers and workstations but we can't write about it too well

Ahh....

Funny enough, I actually have a degree in history with a minor in English.
Where I struggle with is that I am a perfectionist. Its a blessing and a curse.

I have everything down that I want on the resume. It is just formatting it to my liking is where I get antsy.

[jsmax]

Whitespace is key, as it looks clean, inviting and easy for a reviewer to spot key words. As mentioned, you are probably competeing with 200-300 people for an interview, which means that your resume has about 10-15sec to grab someones attention and make them want to spend a bit more time reading it. It does need to be tailored to the job you are applying for to make the relevant parts stand out and grab their attention. Also, your resume needs to grab their interest and make them want to talk to you to get more details.

I would still list jobs in order, but jobs that are irrelevant, just get a short summery of the job with emphasis on anything that could help like performance rating, longevitiy, etc.

2 pages absolute max, a resume is to highlight your skills, experience and education and grab interest, not tell your professional life story.

Lastly, spelling and grammer must be correct. If I can find errors in my 10-15sec glance I will be done with it.

[chasedude]

Originally Posted by thecoffeeguy

Ahh....

Funny enough, I actually have a degree in history with a minor in English.
Where I struggle with is that I am a perfectionist. Its a blessing and a curse.

I have everything down that I want on the resume. It is just formatting it to my liking is where I get antsy.

I'm not a perfectionist, esp in IT work. If it works now and didn't before, it's fixed. Often times there is much other shit on my calendar I should be doing in its place. There's always someone with an "emergency" somewhere

My whole IT department is ME and ME alone. My organization skills have improved greatly because of this from necessity.

My documentation is horrible, but I was hired for my IT prowess not my writing skills

[Otter]

Originally Posted by chasedude

My documentation is horrible, but I was hired for my IT prowess not my writing skills

[petegz28]

If you have any certifications make sure they are noted. HR peeps and uninformed hiring managers love to see certifications.

[phisherman]

Originally Posted by petegz28

If you have any certifications make sure they are noted. HR peeps and uninformed hiring managers love to see certifications.

do you know this from experience?