Is my resume not up to par?

jahaziel

Sometimes I feel like my resume is hurting me while on my job search. I been trying forever to get into a "real" system administrator job for over a year now. What do you guys think of my resume? Any help is appreciated.

techfiend

The resume looks good to me and a lot like mine with more experience and certs. I'm in the same situation and share your frustration. The main thing that's been holding me down is the lack of a bachelors, excluded from the interview process twice because of it. One thing I plan to do after obtaining CCNA is dropping A+ and Network+ from my resume. It will land in fewer databases but show that I'm looking for a more advanced position.

xD Lucas

techfiend wrote: »

The resume looks good to me and a lot like mine with more experience and certs. I'm in the same situation and share your frustration. The main thing that's been holding me down is the lack of a bachelors, excluded from the interview process twice because of it. One thing I plan to do after obtaining CCNA is dropping A+ and Network+ from my resume. It will land in fewer databases but show that I'm looking for a more advanced position.

I don't understand what taking them off your resume would accomplish. In my opinion, the more certifications, the better. Does anyone else care to elaborate on why you'd remove them?

techfiend

The reason I plan to take them off, at least interim to see what happens, is I get approached for many entry level positions even though my resume is titled sys admin. The way I think it works is A+ is going into recruiters databases and they contact me for positions that are looking for A+ without looking at my resume. OTOH the sys admin title on my resume has some recruiters coming after me for basically senior engineer positions that I'm unqualified for but I give my best effort during the interview process. I send my resume to admin positions I'm qualified for but rarely hear back from them.

With certs I think of it as having certs listed to what you're experience and abilities are. I figure I've advanced past A+ level and CCNA is more of an advancement of Network+. I'll keep Security+ and Project+ on my resume because those are in a different domain.

goatama

Overall it looks pretty good. My recommendation would be to beef up the summary section. This area, along with your Cover Letter, is where you sell yourself. Other than that, the biggest problem is the change of tense throughout. For example: "· Repaired PC hardware issues. Also, investigate issues with software or group policies and resolve for clients." Repaired is past tense, investigate is present tense. As our resumes evolve through the years it's very common for that to happen. Just go through it and make sure everything is in the same tense. Pick one, I prefer past simply because I'm not doing that anymore.

You might also want to pare down the number of bullet points for each position. Using multiple sentences is okay, but having so many may make recruiters gloss over a lot of it.

Definitely nothing wrong with your experience and certs, though, you've got that in spades. Not having the degree done yet, may be hurting you a little bit, though. I put out lots of resumes with my estimated date and never heard back. It wasn't until I actually *finished* my degree that I started getting bites. Which definitely sucked, but made me bust my hump even more to finish.

goatama

techfiend wrote: »

With certs I think of it as having certs listed to what you're experience and abilities are. I figure I've advanced past A+ level and CCNA is more of an advancement of Network+. I'll keep Security+ and Project+ on my resume because those are in a different domain.

This. It's like regular education: you don't list your high school diploma once you have your Bachelor's, that's assumed. A+ is for desktop techs, not sysadmins. If you don't have very many certs, or much experience, it might not hurt to have them all listed. But once you get some of the higher level certs, you don't really need to list your entry level ones anymore unless they're in a different domain that would bring value to the specific job you're applying for.

jahaziel

Thanks everyone. I'll drop A+ off my resume too. I'll go through and fix all the past tense to make sure its the same throughout the resume.

I seem to struggle with cover letters and never seem to send them...

techfiend

I'd be interested to see what happens with dropping the A+. If you are pursued for a lot of entry-level jobs and sick of seeing them, I'd think it'd stop most of those which is my main intent. I'm not sure it will help gain a higher-level position, I mean I don't think it will necessary look bad to most HR but if you have a long list of lower level certs listed that may look bad.

I'm also terrible at cover letters and wish there was some advice on this forum.

srabiee

Here are my thoughts regarding how to improve this resume:

I agree that your professional summary is a little on the skimpy side. Ideally you want three or four sentences in this section. I'll link you to some good examples.

Regarding the Skills section, instead of listing out a bunch of software, technologies, and protocols, I would rather see you expand upon this information and explain HOW you are proficient in these skills, especially in a business/enterprise environment. Ideally I would recommend that you incorporate this info into your professional experience, and then drop the skills section altogether. For example, you list VMware ESXi 5.5. What have you done with it and what is the extent of you experience with it? As a hiring manager looking for a sysadmin/engineer with extensive experience in ESXi, these questions are going to immediately come to mind. That's also another reason why it's always a good idea to tailor/customize your resume for each individual position that you apply for.

Within the professional 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. I will link you to a resume that's a great example on how to format and write this properly (you've probably already seen it though). I would recommend expanding on your experience as much as possible, especially as it relates to the specific job that you are applying for. Again, tailor the resume for the job position.

You did a good job beginning each bullet with an action verb and writing in the past tense. Try to vary your language a little more though and write as academically as possible. For example, you begin several consecutive bullets with the word "repaired." You also used the words "worked" and "assisted" several times in close proximity. The thesaurus is a great tool to help you find other words to convey the same thoughts. I will also link you to a large list of action verbs that you can use.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend removing CompTIA certs from your resume at this time. Don't be afraid of getting low-balled or offered inferior positions simply because the A+ is on your resume. I think this happens to all of us from time to time, especially earlier in our IT careers.

Let me put it this way: whichever recruiters or companies out there that are offering you low-level, low-paying helpdesk positions are freaking idiots. Your resume speaks for itself. Your experience as a "Network Technician" and "Engineer" as well as Hyper-V and ESXi experience are clearly beyond the realm of general tier 1 or tier 2 desktop support. Again, your resume spells it out clearly. Kindly tell these people to bugger off and stop wasting your time. There was a thread fairly recently where someone went through a 2 or 3 interview process to get offered a salary that was a 50% pay cut. It was recommended you should always establish the salary range for a position before you even agree to the interview process in the first place. Will save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run, especially if you are employed and taking PTO time to attend the interview(s).

I won't go too much into the content and writing of your resume at this time, so as not to overwhelm you with suggestions. Try to get a revised version uploaded after you work on this some more. If you need further assistance, let us know.

This is an excellent resume guide with example resumes, a huge list of action verbs, sample summaries, etc:

http://www.filedropper.com/resumeguide

This thread contains a fantastic example of a properly formatted and written resume (ptilsen's resume):

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/91333-resume-time.html

Someone recently uploaded this document regarding the "STAR Method" of writing resume content. You may want to take a look at it and see if it helps you.

http://www.filedropper.com/starmethod

techfiend

Any advantages of keeping A+ on there? I realize it can show progress but like goatama said it's like listing high school when you have a BS. A+ is good for getting in recruiter databases which may have some hidden advantage but so far I haven't seen it. I've never seen a mid-level position asking for A+. I also wonder if there's any reason keeping an old AAS degree on a resume after a BS is acquired?

Mike-Mike

techfiend wrote: »

I'm also terrible at cover letters and wish there was some advice on this forum.

I almost never use a cover letter

srabiee

A+|ce is only valid for 3 years anyway. I would remove it when it expires. No real need to renew it (or any CompTIA cert for that matter, unless the job position specifically requires it). But I also wouldn't worry about it "hurting" you by being on there, for example if you obtained the A+ before CompTIA began the ce program. Probably won't help, most likely won't hurt. My advice would be to remove it once you reach MCSE, CCNP, or VCP level. Again, that's my opinion though.

I would definitely recommend leaving the AAS on the resume, however, especially if it's IT or CS-related. Why? For the same reason we don't remove the bachelors degree when you obtain a masters degree. Shows educational progression, initiative, etc. Although if the AAS degree was in something like botany, feel free to leave it off.

Ahh, cover letters. You just reminded me to start a new thread on that topic. I don't have a good one either, and need to remedy that.

jahaziel

Thanks everyone. I'll go through and do everything you mentioned. I believe I'm getting depressed about my situation. I don't even want the extra cash.. I just want to work on things I like.. Is that so bad to ask. Only reason why i ask for extra cash is mostly because of the locations are farther away.Attached is my edit. Please let me know what you think. I changed a couple of lines in the resume. I seem to have a hard time on a summary tho.

epcg

Well if his AAS was in something different lets say Telecommunications the person may want to leave it on there. But if its in IT and then they get an BS in IT I can see leaving it off.