Another Resume Critique

Have been reading the resume threads on here quite a bit lately and based this one off of ptilsen's, but with a mix of recommendations I read and felt better suited my style. It's late but I wanted to stay up and finish this because I couldn't wait to get feedback from y'all, so there may be some simple mistakes here and there. I realize the professional summary is bad, this is the most difficult thing for me to get creative with, so I just kept it short and straight to the point. Also, I'm really targeting DoD positions, if anyone is wondering why I'm randomly bolding certain things. Any feedback is appreciated, good or bad.

Attachment not found.

Version 2:

Attachment not found.

TEv1.pdf

TEv2.pdf

Find more posts tagged with

Save $250 on 2025 certification boot camps from Infosec!

Book now with code EOY2025

Button

Comments

srabiee

I agree the professional summary could be fleshed out a bit more.

I would list the degree above the certs within that section, and rename it to "Education & Certifications."

Under the certs section, make sure the MTA certs also have bullet points and are lined up properly.

I like that you included a high-level overview for each job, and then used bullets under that. You may want to expand on that info a bit if you can think of any other tasks, responsibilities, projects, special achievements, promotions, etc.

Make sure you use a decent sized font for your name at the top of the resume. You want your name to stand out a bit compared to the body text and even the section titles.

Codyy

Alright so now that I'm not half asleep I thought I'd explain a few things. Really appreciate the input srabiee, was looking forward to your post.

Degree above certs. I completely agree, looks a lot more professional as a degree should be more prestige than a cert. 2 things though, I won't have my degree completed by the time this resume is in rotation, so I wasn't sure if the reviewer wanted an incomplete degree to be one of the first things they read. And the other, I plan to have a high level cert or 2 before sending this out. CISSP is the goal, which is the big one in the DoD world as you probably know, so I thought it may be best if they see that first. Thoughts?

I meant to fix the bullet point issue on the MTA certs, I could not get open office to put the points in the middle of the page. Forgot to look up a fix for that before posting, good catch.

Expanding on info, I'd love to as I have a thing or 2 I'd like to add to each position I've held, but I'm really fighting to keep this down to 1 page already(it already takes up every line), and I still have more to add under my current position. If anyone see's ways to cut down on space from my current layout please share. I know of 2 place that I can delete a line of white space but it looks kinda crammed together when I do.

Font for name, noted. I had it in a larger font earlier but scaled it down to save some space.

Again, thanks for the input!

srabiee

As long as you are currently a full-time student, I don't see any problem with listing the degree above certs, as long as it says "Expected" next to the graduation date. That's pretty standard I think.

I agree with trying to maintain a single page if at all possible. What font size are you using in the Word document? I'd recommend 11 and nothing smaller than that. Other than decreasing the page margins, not sure what to do about minimizing white space. You will have to play around with things and see what might work. Ultimately your experience will end up necessitating a second page.

Codyy

I'll go ahead and switch the education/certs order. Font size is 11, anything smaller I don't care for either, even 10.5 is difficult to read.

I really want to keep it to 1 page. I don't feel I have enough experience to justify another, and if I do it will only take up a few lines on the 2nd, which to me looks worse than using an entire page or at least half.

I'll make the changes and repost, then experiment with deleting whitspace and get other opinions on if its looks crammed like I think it does. Thanks.

srabiee

Try decreasing those margins a bit and you might be surprised how much space gets added to your overall resume. I had to do that on mine to prevent it from overflowing onto a third page.

Codyy

Decreasing margins definitely helped. Here's version 2, mainly formatting adjustments. Any other recommendations? Any input on the wording used? Thanks.

Attachment not found.

TEv2.pdf

srabiee

The professional summary could still be fleshed out a bit more. For example, it says "knowledgeable in multiple domains" but doesn't list those domains. The professional summary is more than likely going to be the first thing that the hiring manager reads, so you want to make sure you are descriptive as possible and you want to sell yourself as best as possible. You could begin by saying "Accomplished IT professional..." or "Seasoned IT professional...." Also, I would spell out what DoD stands for, then put DoD in parenthesis. Presume that the reader doesn't know what those acronyms stand for. Again, you really want to be descriptive and sell yourself here. (and also show a mastery of the English language, which also helps to portray intelligence, which is another bonus. The thesaurus is your friend)

The "extremely adaptive to adverse and demanding work environments" should be moved to the professional summary paragraph or deleted. It doesn't flow well with the first three bullets, IMO.

July 2016 (expected) should be raised one line. Just a minor formatting correction.

I would list the Microsoft certs like this:
* Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA): Windows Operating System Fundamentals
* Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA): Windows Server Administration Fundamentals

Then simply title that section "Microsoft." I listed them in full format like that on my resume. Try it and see what you think.

For the CompTIA section, move the CE part down to the certs like this:
* Security+ | ce
* Network+ | ce
* Linux+ (is the Linux+ a ce cert?)

For your job descriptions, justify the work dates to the right of the paper like you did for the first job listed. These aren't consistent.

"Intermediate use of network monitoring tools..." should begin with a past-tense action verb like the other bullets. This doesn't sound right to me.

"Led a team of 4 personnel..." might sound better as "Managed a team of four personnel.." Or use a similar word to manage using a thesaurus.

It's looking good so far.