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I am casually looking for a job. An acquaintance spoke highly of their employer, and encouraged me to apply for a Network Administrator position. I’ve researched for several days, read gazillions of opinions (okay, maybe not that many), and my brain is toast. And I’m very grumpy.

Looking for opinions on my resume, suggestions, etc. I am not a heavy-hitter in the world of IT, and the place is not looking for one. Basically, it is my current job, only with appropriate staffing so I can flesh out my knowledge.

edited_for_sw_v2.pdf (118 KB)

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Honestly - this looks pretty solid. One of the better ones that I’ve seen posted here in a while. One recommendation: when you list your bullet points of skills and projects, maybe organize them so that daily tasks are grouped together and the major projects are grouped together. And make sure to highlight the major projects - those are the things that will be most impressive. Also - this may be nit-picking but at the top where you list your software I might organize that alphabetically to make it more readable. If they can’t see the software/skills that they’re looking for right away then you might miss your shot.

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Looks good to me.

The only thing I would do different is to have your projects grouped together like Justin mention but also have them stand out to the person viewing, maybe with a heading or something. Don’t forget your achivements as well, awards and sometimes it’s a good idea to add what you are involved with outside of work. Things like Volunteer Firefighter or something like that, I’ve found that employers like that sort of thing as it shows you are active and have other skills other than IT.

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I would suggest that the one thing to take in account is that everyone will make similar claims e.g. “Adept at xyz”, “track record of abc”, “skilled at 123”.

You need to find a way to quantify or qualilfy those statements; e.g. “Certified level 3 administrator at xyz”, “reduced abc errors by 10%”, “4 years experience of 123”

These are the things that make your resume stand out from the crowd.

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How about a Projects section instead of Qualifications?

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My outside interests might be as harmful as helpful. Modding and riding my bike and helping friends work on theirs is #1 - but I ride an enduro, the red headed stepchild of the motorcycle world. Add being a girl greasemonkey, and… Well, let’s just say that the reactions I get from society is mixed, at best.

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warhorse wrote:

How about a Projects section instead of Qualifications?

This might be a decent idea. Try to use numbers and percentages as Anthony suggested - it can mean more to the business that way. I usually leave off personal hobbies and interests, but some companies are genuinely interested in learning these things about their employees. I’ve had questions about these kinds of things come up in interviews before. They want to see what things you do to unwind and get away from work to make sure that you won’t work yourself into the ground and burn yourself out. So if it was me I would leave it off of the resume but prepare a short statement for an interview to describe what other things you are interested in outside of work and technology, in case they ask about it.

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Agreed with Justin. Never put anything on your resume that might disqualify you. Look at anything on there not directly job related, and honestly evaluate it to see if there could be a negative side. Volunteer Firefighter is a great positive, but to the wrong person can mean high risk for injuries, and not being available at times.

Be ready to change the wording of your list of software to match the ad. If *I read “Windows 3.1 to 7” , I know what you mean. But if the ad asks for Windows Xp and Windows 7, the OCR scanner won’t know you have it.

I also like to add a couple of lines about each company, what they do, etc. And my position within the org chart. But that’s just me.

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Okay, I made edits and replaced the doc on the original post. Went with a 'Projects and Achievements" header. I’d love to be able to do some analysis to get hard numbers of time/ money saved - but honestly, it is all I can do to keep my head above water right now. I’ve taken down a few idea for when (if?) things ever calm down.

Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

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As others have said - looks good. Most recruiters / HR appreciate the specific numbers you’ve quoted because it helps them gauge whether the work you’ve done is a match to their environment. You could probably be a little more specific on a few of your bullet points.

I saw a comment above about putting outside interests / hobbies on . I wouldnt unless that specific hobby is directly relatable in some way to the gig youre applying for. Say, if you wanted to go to work for Harley Davidson you might want to try and sneak in that you work and ride on bikes. Otherwise, its risky, not relevant, and takes up valuable space on the page.

As nice a group of girls and guys as we are, Im not sure asking the wolves to vet your resume will provide you with the best advice. Try to find an HR person (or, barring that an EXPERIENCED recruiter) to vet your resume and provide results. Of course, if you’ve got a leg into the organization with your friend, a lot of the heavy lifting is already done.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your new position!

PS - Dont be ashamed of your motorcycling riding. Trust me, people look up to you for your free and adventurous spirit. :wink:

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On the Operating Systems section, did you mean OS/400? AS/400 is the platform.

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BizDPS wrote:

On the Operating Systems section, did you mean OS/400? AS/400 is the platform.

The operating system is OS/400, AS/400 (now iSeries) is the physical machine. I think the most recent incarnation of the OS is now called i5(?) but we are running an outdated version, pre name change.

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YLTO - Eric Price wrote:

PS - Dont be ashamed of your motorcycling riding. Trust me, people look up to you for your free and adventurous spirit. :wink:

I’m not even remotely ashamed. I mostly try to avoid those moments where some hairy-knuckled guy asks me when I’m going to get a real bike. Most wouldn’t even be able to touch the ground on it, let alone pilot it on a rutted, muddy logging road.

If I had a dollar for every guy who tells me he always wanted one but his wife won’t let him…

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warhorse wrote:

Let me rephrase that. You listed AS/400 as an OS.

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BizDPS wrote:

Let me rephrase that. You listed AS/400 as an OS.

D’oh - thanks for the catch and rephrase!

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A big thank you for all the feedback - that resume got me an interview for this afternoon! I didn’t meet the criteria for what I applied for, but Friday the manager sent me the info for a position that was not even posted yet.

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Nice!

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So - the interviewer did not call me, we set things up via e-mail. When I send the thank you letter, do I e-mail it? Or do snail mail?

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warhorse wrote:

So - the interviewer did not call me, we set things up via e-mail. When I send the thank you letter, do I e-mail it? Or do snail mail?

You’ll get replies both ways on that. My take is: Why would IT, the folks that help offices reduce paper consumption/output, ever send anything via snail mail that can’t be sent any other way?