Recent Grad Trying to Find a Job!

pointdex10

I recently graduated in December from college with a Computer Science degree with a concentration in IT and Security. I am having difficulties finding a job. I have been applying to entry level and recent grad jobs such as System Administration or Information Technology Specialist or even Cyber Security jobs and no response. My resume seems pretty good and I am still pursuing my Security+ certification which I can hopefully get soon. Any tips or other areas of work I should look at?

cyberguypr

Do you have any experience?

pointdex10

No other than school related projects that simulated real world problems.

TheFORCE

Post your resume, maybe your resume needs some polishing. Remove your PII when you post it.

pointdex10

Objective
Computer Science IT/ System Administration position in the public, private, or government sector in the _______ commuting area.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Information Technology & Security, December 2015
Courses included:
· CPSC 121 Introduction to Programming
· CPSC 122 Intermediate to Programming
· CPSC 221 Introduction to Data Structures
· CPSC 222 Server-Side Programming
· CPSC 322 Introduction to System Administration
· CPSC 422 System Administration
· CPSC 423 System Administration II
· MIS 342 E-Commerce
· CPSC 491 Seminar: Special Problems Designing Cyber Systems Architect
· CSPC 491 Seminar: Special Problems Cyber Security Administration
· CPSC 345 Database Management
· MIS 343 System Analysis and Design
· MIS 406 Project Management & Practices


Skills
· Systems Administration Skills: VMWare ESX/vSphere, LDAP, Web Services, Power Shell Scripting, IIS – Apache, MySQL, Troubleshooting, SAN
· Networking & Protocols – Active Directory Domain Controllers, DNS, TCP/IP, Routers and Firewalls, LANs/WANs
· Programming Languages: Java, HMTL, CSS, SQL
· Have 40 CPE credits from InfoSec Institute in Security+ training
· Certification: Planning to pursue CompTIA Security+ Certification

Other Work Experience (Non IT-Related)
· Office Clerk (June 2015 – August 2015)

Produced digital copies of documents for retention purposes by scanning into system

Made adjustments necessary to assure that scanned copies were legible
Organized scanned documents on local network

· Warehouse Worker (May 2014 – August 2014)


Performed work associated with delivering supplies, materials and equipment to and from schools.

Inspected goods delivered and picked up to insure proper quantity by special request.

· Administrative (May 2012 – August 2012)
Provided assistance and administrated written tests to students. Also, filed paperwork and help with the certification of permit drivers to provisional licenses.
· Camp Staff (Commissioner) (June 2010 – August 2010)
Helped campers improve leadership skills and confidence in providing guidance in extra curriculum activities. Performed personal evaluation of camper’s basketball skills at the end of camp and reported findings.

techfiend

Change objective to summary. This is where you make a first impression so talk yourself up in 3-4 sentences. For example " Recent CS graduate that's been exposed to a plethora of real world scenarios involving vSphere, Server 2012" etc.

Rather than listing all your courses, maybe mention a few that are related to the opening and list accomplishments while attending.

Move your cert pursuit to it's own section and put an expected month. For example "Security+ (expected March 2016)" show as much ambition as possible. I'd strongly suggest A+ first, it's the entry ticket for so many IT pros.

Find some translatable skills from your previous positions and list them. Did you deal with customers/clients? Troubleshoot? Work as a team?

jt2929

I posed a thread titled ISSO Needed. Take a look.

Russ5813

Extremely generic resume-- these can get filtered out pretty quickly by HR. Your objective statement will be a huge turn-off for most hiring authorities. Like Techfiend said, this is your chance to make a good first impression-- use it to address the position directly. Also, consider removing some of the fluff. For instance, an entry-level help desk job probably won't care that you've taken classes for E-Commerce. This will make your resume more focused and easier to read, which is much more appealing to potential employers.

thomas_

I would delete the courses and the skills part that just lists a bunch of different things. If you did projects in college I would describe thise different projects and use those same keywords where relevant to describe the project. I would probably list each project on a separate bullet with a short blurb describing it. Depending on the number of projects you did, I would only list ones that matched the skills needed for a job, but would have one big resume that listed everything for personal reference.

NetworkNewb

In the section Other Work Experience (Non IT-Related)... just title it "Work Experience". By putting in "Non IT-Related" your just giving HR a reason to discredit everything below it.

Also, the wording could better in the work experience section as well. Need to use wording like "Responsible for..." or "Managed...". Some type of wording that shows you took control of a job function there and made it your own.

jmanrta

My advice to you is stay humble. Since you have no experience try aiming for helpdesk jobs, they tend to be abundance. A lot of temp agencies have short term contract help desk positions you can use to build your resume. Some of the contracts could lead to permanent employment with the company your temping for as well. While you are working help desk try to pick some certs along the way so you can be more marketable in the job market or even promotable.

If you can't find a job soon, try volunteering your skills. That is another way to get experience, build and harness your skillset not to mention a great way to network. Volunteering is how I broke into the field originally, and how I broke in after being out a few years. It sucks having to work for free but your getting paid in building your skillsst for a nice paid position.

scaredoftests

Yes, get rid of non-it related..glaring. Get rid of courses..

nikalis

Since you do not really have experience i would try and make your skills stand out.

Anyone can list routing as a skill but this really means nothing, instead put ospf, static route, etc, the actual routing skills you know. That is if you actually know it, because as soon as you list a specific skill they are going to ask about configuring it in the interview

same with all the other skills you listed, be more specific

$bvb379

Did you do any internships? A common factor with all my friends who have STEM degrees is that they pursued the STEM degree, did an internship or two, now have great jobs. Seems really easy from a systematic stand point to me. Lol.