Resume with no work exp

Techytach

Name

Phone:
Mail:
Email:


Education

Bachelor of Arts
Arizona State University Tempe - Arizona – US

Certification
Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching (CCNA)

Experience
1 year lab experience with Cisco switches and routers

Techytach

I clearly need a lot of help spicing it up.

I haven't had much work due to past medical reasons leaving me disabled (which are finally solved thank god, it was epilepsy that went undiagnosed for a long time if your curious). The little work I had was part time and unrelated. (it would just look like a red flag, at least this way they think maybe I'm just a recent grad and I can get an interview.) So I figured it better to not even mention it. Its also why I didn't mention any dates. I'm 31, seeing that I graduated a decade ago would be another red flag.

Listing skills seems redundant, like I would just be describing my CCNA experience, and anything I didn't put down, they would assume I don't have...help!

NetworkNewb

Really listing any job would help out. That just shows the employer you can hold a job and take on some responsibilities.

Could also add an "Objective" section towards the top describing yourself, what kind of job your looking for, and what qualities you would bring.

scaredoftests

Have you set up labs at home? Mention that..

doctorlexus

Add:

Techytach Consulting Services - (unemployed date range)
[insert description here, e.g. repaired customer pc's, set up small office networks, etc.]

Techytach

Name

Phone: xxx
Mail: xxx
Email: xxx

Education
Bachelor of Arts
Arizona State University Tempe - Arizona – US

Certification
Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching (CCNA)

Experience
xxxx Consulting Services (current)
Repair and build PCs, set up SOHO, Troubleshooting, LAN/Wifi connections

1 year lab experience with Cisco switches and routers

Substitute Teacher
Managed, planned, enacted activities for 20-30 children

Petco (retail)
stocked, cleaned, customer service, cash register, sales

---

Does everyone agree with putting the consulting thing? I agree it looks good, but won't it look bad when I reveal its not a real job or? I mean I have built, fixed, troubleshot, etc for me and my friends for over a decade but is listing it like that stretching it too much?

provisions

Techytach wrote: »

Name

Phone: xxx
Mail: xxx
Email: xxx

Education
Bachelor of Arts
Arizona State University Tempe - Arizona – US

Certification
Cisco Certified Network Associate Routing and Switching (CCNA)

Experience
xxxx Consulting Services (current)
Repair and build PCs, set up SOHO, Troubleshooting, LAN/Wifi connections

1 year lab experience with Cisco switches and routers

Substitute Teacher
Managed, planned, enacted activities for 20-30 children

Petco (retail)
stocked, cleaned, customer service, cash register, sales

---

Does everyone agree with putting the consulting thing? I agree it looks good, but won't it look bad when I reveal its not a real job or? I mean I have built, fixed, troubleshot, etc for me and my friends for over a decade but is listing it like that stretching it too much?

The consulting thing is probably the best work experience you have on it right now, unless you got any others like that. I would not recommend putting you worked at Petco on there since it is more of a money earner job than a job/accolade to show on the resume. You may also want to include your GPA somewhere and your interests. Also important in the header add your name, phone number and email. This si so that employers can contact you back and it looks nice than slapping it in with the bullets. There should be a few samples online that show the general structure.

Here's an example:
https://resumegenius.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Resume-Template-Professional-Gray.jpg

Techytach

I've added a skills section now. I plan to study some windows powershell, AD, type stuff to add later. But for now what do you think?

Skills: Windows OS installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Cisco switches and routers. Technical documentation. Repair, build PCs. Set up, troubleshoot SOHO, LAN, WiFi. Network monitoring via wireshark, syslog, SNMP, and Netflow. Knowledge of security via ACLs, firewalls, and switchport security. Configured DHCP, DNS, NAT/PAT, VLANs, VPNs, OSPF and EIGRP.

anhtran35

Techytach wrote: »

I've added a skills section now. I plan to study some windows powershell, AD, type stuff to add later. But for now what do you think?

Skills: Windows OS installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Cisco switches and routers. Technical documentation. Repair, build PCs. Set up, troubleshoot SOHO, LAN, WiFi. Network monitoring via wireshark, syslog, SNMP, and Netflow. Knowledge of security via ACLs, firewalls, and switchport security. Configured DHCP, DNS, NAT/PAT, VLANs, VPNs, OSPF and EIGRP.

Well...put yourself in the hiring manager shoes. He/She will prob. drill you on those skills since you don't have real life experience. My suggestion is find an entry level help desk job and stick with it for a year or two and then become a network admin.

Techytach

anhtran35 wrote: »

Well...put yourself in the hiring manager shoes. He/She will prob. drill you on those skills since you don't have real life experience. My suggestion is find an entry level help desk job and stick with it for a year or two and then become a network admin.

I labbed those skills for 6-8 hours a day nearly every day for almost a year on Cisco switches and routers. Not like a help desk job will sharpen those skills.

I understand that I may need to get a help desk position, but it is a shame because I will forget more knowledge than I gain.

NetworkNewb

A Skills section listing random topics someone has looked at a couple times looks pointless to me especially with someone without experience. Like I said before I would recommend putting an objective section at the top describing yourself and what your looking for.... But if you still have a lot of white space on your resume I guess a skills section wouldn't be too terrible.

Chinook

Write a cover letter. Find examples online & put a whole bunch of effort into it. Let the resume be your business card & the cover letter be who you are (or who you want to present). One thing to remember in life is that how you speak/write is a complete reflection of you so..write a kick ass cover letter.

Introduction
Review your skill sets and how they relate to the job
Introduce yourself. Who you are. Colorize the language too. don't say "I am a hard worker", use other words like focused, driven, impeccable customer service skills, conceptual thinking, etc.

Do that and you'll WALK by all the others. Resumes are static. Cover letters are colorful & fluid. And surprisingly not many people include a cover letter.

MANY employers do not just hire on practical skills. They look for someone who is motivated & someone that fits the culture of the company. Skills can be learned. Fitting into the culture cannot. And understand who you are & learn to accept that. I'm an absymal failure at being anything "corporate manager". Do I have the skills? Yes. Could I do the job well? No. Hell I have trouble tucking in my shirt.

Good luck.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Techytach wrote: »

I labbed those skills for 6-8 hours a day nearly every day for almost a year on Cisco switches and routers. Not like a help desk job will sharpen those skills.

I understand that I may need to get a help desk position, but it is a shame because I will forget more knowledge than I gain.

Keep in mind that a lab does not equal real life situations. You may be familiar with some of those technologies, but you need to start at the bottom in your case since you do not have an extensive work history and just certs. I know it's soul sucking but your best shot of breaking into IT is getting a help desk job. The chances of landing a networking job, even with the CCNA and no work experience (especially relevant) will be a tough sell for you.

As far as the consulting goes. Is that just stuff that you've done on the side and been paid for? Or is it just helping family/friends out? If I were a hiring manager I would grill you on that and on your skills. I don't like fluffing up a resume with non-factual or over inflated things to make it sound like you have real life business experience when you don't.

To your last sentence, you are really setting yourself up for failure. I'm experienced in IT and I have had to take major steps back to take a step forward. I was unemployed (laid off) in 2009 when the economy tanked. After looking and applying at jobs I was qualified and rarely getting call backs, much less interviews I sucked up my pride and applied to help desk/call center jobs. It sucked. But I did it. At that point I had 4 years of IT experience and I had to settle for a help desk role. I quit that after a couple of months to do PC repair because the call center just sucked the life out of me and I wasn't remotely happy and I had to work so I made that move for a couple of months until I finally found a position that actually was a step up work and pay wise to what I was doing prior to being laid off.

Fast forward 4 years and my wife was offered a huge work promotion. I had to leave that job and again, take a contract job so that I was working. I stuck with that contract for about 5 months before I found the role I am in now. I'm again, making more than I did and in a higher level role than I had prior to moving. Sometimes a person has to suck up their pride a bit and take those **** jobs just to get the experience they need.

Reach out to local recruiters and apply to any and all help desk positions. If you want to succeed you need to work. Otherwise you'll be unemployed past the time that CCNA expires and will have to renew it. Having that cert without work experience gets you nothing. Having that cert with a year of helpdesk work is way way better as you will better understand how a business flows and the processes/routines involved.

If you actually learned from your labs, you won't forget everything and it will come back when you do find a networking role down the road.

Ertaz

Techytach wrote: »

I labbed those skills for 6-8 hours a day nearly every day for almost a year on Cisco switches and routers. Not like a help desk job will sharpen those skills.

You are correct, *those* skills are not likely to be sharpened directly. You will pick up others that are more diverse and have more long term value. It really is good to start at the help desk. You see problems in production that you couldn't dream up in a lab. You also get exposed to a lot of technical disciplines that you might never see walking directly unto a network admin job.

Techytach wrote: »

I understand that I may need to get a help desk position, but it is a shame because I will forget more knowledge than I gain.

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. Pick up as much as you can as methodically as you can, then move up or move on. I'm happy to hear your health issues are sorted out.

Techytach

Didn't want to bump this but hate to leave it without any conclusion.

Thanks for the advice. I will aim lower, I don't think I can do call center type of help desk, but I will look for cabling, installation, maybe apple store, best buy computer repair section, etc. And work on my cover letters.