Job hunt advice

jb4479

I am seeking some advice after being turned down yet again for a position. This was a job that paid decently for my area and would have involved being the only support for the local company office (oil and gas company). I was informed that the company decided to go with another candidate. The managers initially loved my resume and the interview seemed to go well, so I don't know what happened (though I am being to think age may have something to do with it, though I can't prove it, I'm 48 though I look a little bit younger, early 40's, the manager and the lead tech were late 20-somethings.)

I'm not applying to places where there would be a massive flood of resumes (HP, Intel, etc. all of which have campuses just 50 miles down the road.) So, I'm linking the resume that I currently use, and you can tell from the positions that I have held that I have been in field and tech support my entire career. I stick with it because I enjoy it. I've spent the last several years as an independent contractor/consultant but I just can't compete as a one man show anymore, and most of the contractors I worked for have either gone away or joined the race to the bottom on salary.

I guess I'm just frustrated and trying to figure out a direction to go.

http://tinyurl.com/h3kzdvd

ramrunner800

Honestly it's a pretty nice resume. One thing I noticed was that you have 3 different sections that provide summaries of your skills/qualifications: the Qualifications Summary, Areas of Expertise, and the Technical Summary at the end. Condensing those down some might improve the flow a bit, but it's honestly pretty good right now.

Is there a particular reason you aren't applying to the larger tech companies in your area? I'd recommend casting your nets in that direction, even if only for the interview practice. Companies like those probably have more positions available than smaller companies, and with the amount of experience you have I don't think you'll get lost in a flood of resumes. I think that larger shops may also be more bureaucratic and less subject to the whims of a young hiring manager.

636-555-3226

I'd pull out the qualifications summary & areas of expertise & put them into a cover letter specifically targeting the areas the job listing is asking about.

otherwise it looks good. who knows, maybe they already had an internal candidate they were going to hire and were just doing their due diligence by interviewing you. keep at it!

DatabaseHead

I agree the resume doesn't look bad at all, however a few pieces didn't sit well with me.

Don't take my word but ask others they may or may not agree. The first sentence you mention a tech support specialist and Project/Program Manager. I would remove that if you are looking for a pure tech position. In fact in the paragraph summary you don't mention anything else about it. I also noticed your first bullet coming out of summary paragraph is a management bullet. If I am hiring a tech and see that I am not interviewing that person. It sounds like you want to become a manager not a tech. Bullet 5 smells like that as well. I would ratchet back the management terms and go with mentor or train, which you do mention. Supervisor, program manager no way......

Just my two cents.