Please critique my resume(s)

Hey guys, I've been out of a job for about 6 months or so now, pounding the pavement working on networking and getting my resumes out for positions that interest me, while working on certifications to improve my appeal on paper. I've been accepted into WGU for the BSc. IT-Sec program and plan to attend as soon as I can secure some work, currently hoping for March.

My biggest drawback is likely my lack of any post secondary degree/diploma, which is why I want to get into WGU.

Please tell me what you think.

Coloured: clean resume2

Clean_resume2.pdf

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Comments

srabiee

I took a look at the b&w version.

In your heading, I would recommend listing your Linkedin address under the email address.

The first sentence of your professional summary needs to be reworked, as it reads like a run-on sentence. Lose the semicolon and convert this into multiple sentences and/or rewrite it completely.

The summary includes too much fluff, IMO. How about starting with something like this:

"Accomplished IT professional with over five years of technical experience as a network security specialist..." Include your own action verbs and tailor as you see fit.

Within the job experience section, each job description should begin with a high-level overview of your daily duties and responsibilities, and then use bullets to highlight special achievements, projects, promotions, etc. Don't rely solely on bullets like this.

This is just my personal preference, but I always recommend the following: Instead of listing a bunch of software, technologies, and protocols, and I would rather you explain to me HOW you are proficient in these skills, especially in a business/enterprise environment. Ideally I would recommend that you incorporate the info in the technical proficiencies section into your professional experience, and then drop the expertise section altogether.

Ideally, you want to include separate sections for Education, Certifications, and Professional Development. If you can do this and maintain a single page resume, I highly recommend that you do so. Dropping the Technical Expertise section would help.

Good luck!

H3||scr3am

Thanks srabiee, anyone else able to provide any further feedback, I'll need to update it again as I passed my Sec+ exam this morning, but I'll post the updated version later this evening. Would like feedback on the coloured version now, as I believe it's the resume I'll be distributing more.

srabiee

Honestly, and this is just my opinion, I would lose the color version completely. It looks more like a Linkedin page than a resume to me. These overly formatted, overly flashy resumes just aren't my cup of tea.

It's a lot easier to manage and update a single resume format than to try and juggle two resumes.

Or you could take ideas from both and combine them into a single comprehensive resume with some color here and there.

H3||scr3am

well I seem to get far more responses from the color version then I do the B&W, so I think I'll be sticking to it. I believe it's because of the skills section, and all the keywords getting me past the HR and screening filters.

JeanM

Ideally you want to match your skills section with your work experience. I understand you probably wanted to list of these to get past the filters/HR I think? But some of these are very broad..and some are very specific, try to match these to your actual work experience on how you used these skills.

"Linux (Kali, Backtrack, Ubuntu, Gentoo, OpenSUSE), Network Security, ComputerSecurity, Security, Information Security, System Administration, Firewalls, IntrusionDetection (IDS), Network Administration, TCP/IP, VPN, Servers, Computer Hardware,Bash, Ubuntu, Python, Programming, Reporting & Analysis, MySQL, Troubleshooting,Threat & Vulnerability Management, Risk Management, Risk Assessment, Snort, ITIL,Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), A+, Network+, Windows,Perl, Tcl, Expect, SaaS, PostgreSQL, Process Automation, Electronics, WirelessNetworking, Internet Troubleshooting, Internet Security, Physical Security, ClientRelations, Technical Support, User Docuementation, Regular Expressions (Regex), ITILv3 Foundations, Overclocking, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Scripting(Expect (Tcl), Bash,Python), Packet Capture & Analysis (wireshark, tshark, tcpdump,ethereal, tcpreplay), Web Traffic Capture & Analysis"

For example - can you elaborate on network security, system admin, firewalls, SaaS, electronics, wireless ? What analysis with packet captures have you done, etc etc...

Plus some of the key words above need spell check.

networker050184

First thing I'd do is lose the forum moderator thing. Screams amateur to me. It seems you do a bit more than moderate the forums though so if you really want that on your resume then I'd suggest finding a different way to title it.

Second I'd get rid of the odd formatting with all the white space on the side. This could easily be a single page resume without that wasted space.

I really hate the skill sections on resumes, but as you really don't have much in the way of actual experience you might be able to make it work if you clean it up and format it a bit better. As someone who reads resumes often, a big wall of random words is never a good thing. Bullets, short sentences etc. are the way to grab someones attention.