As a Hiring Manager - Would My Resume Attract You for this Position?

jws86

A little background:

I have been in the IT world for almost 4 years. I have an Associates Degree in Information Technology. I have been with the same company for nearly 4 years. I love it here and I love the team I get to work with. I am currently in a Tech Support role. However I wear many hats and do anything from Level 1 support up to basic Network Administration/Systems Administration. I've been heavily involved in projects such as upgrading our Citrix back end as it was quite outdated. Worked closely with a Citrix rep during this process. I'm involved in managing our images for Citrix (updates, patches etc.). I don't see much of a path forward here in terms of progression though.

Currently self studying for CCENT on the path to CCNA. I should have done this a long time ago but to be honest have been enjoying building relationships at my current role with team members as well as customers. I feel though I'm ready to move into a more permanent Admin role and want to obtain a CCNA to help with that. I am actively seeking a different position at this time. I came across the position below on Indeed. This is the type of company I want to work for. Someone who seeks out candidates that are willing to grow and they want to help them grow. As hiring manager for this position would my resume attract you? Anything I could change/add to my resume to make it more attractive since I don't have the MSP or IT outsourcing experience they are desiring?

Position:
We are currently seeking a Junior Desktop Administrator seeking career advancement in the Managed Services, Cloud, Hosting industry.

You’ll be joining a nationally ranked Cloud and Managed Services Provider with 100+ employees servicing the small to mid-size business market (SMB). Having worked for a Managed Services Provider or Outsourced IT company or Hosting company or Cloud Services company is strongly desired.

The Junior Desktop Support Technician will be part of a Data Cloud and VoIP IT company.

The position is ideal for junior technical candidates looking to advance and learn; they will receive certifications training and tests, on site training working on projects and interaction with lead engineers.

This position is ideal for someone looking to learn to enhance their technical skills, gain experience in a fast paced environment supporting multiple clients and move into a managerial role.

Junior Desktop Administrator Description:
Job Responsibilities

• As a Help Desk engineer, you will act as an escalation point from Tier 1 and 2
• Provide Post-implementation support
• Hands-on support of virtualized systems (VMware and Citrix)
• Provide technical support for Windows Desktop and Server Operating Systems, hardware, software, virtualization and Cisco networking firewalls/switches
• Manage workflow in Connectwise
• Build and deploy servers and networks. Manage them using Labtech or Kaseya

Learning/Advancing Responsibilities:

• We are seeking motivated, driven, and curious people to join our rapidly advancing company
• Obtain VMware VCP, Cisco CCNA, Windows MCSE/MCSA, Citrix certifications within 18 months
• Work alongside two different project teams (Networking and Systems Support) to pick up new skills and learn from on-the-job training
• Must enjoy working in a team and play well with others

The Junior Desktop Admin will be performing two key functions:
1) Working in a 7 person team environment, providing Tier I and Tier II Help Desk support and Systems Administration, and…
2) Be a sponge! Advance as quickly as possible by working alongside Senior Networking & System Engineers to perform Virtualization (IaaS) Solutions.

Classroom training and certifications are strongly encouraged and paid for. During the first 18 months of employment you can obtain 6 certifications.

This is a full-time, salaried position with health, training, and retirement benefits.

Resume: Cut out the bottom part of it. Picture shows specifically my technical experience and education.

mikey88

Why would you want a Junior Desktop Support role? Do you want to progress in your career or not? Finish up your CCENT and start applying networking roles.

If you search around this forum, you'll notice that MSP's are not the most desirable places to work for.

johndoee

For the record, I didn't look at your resume.

But But But, I like internal placements. I think that you get the competitive advantage prior to the rest of society. At my company, I can see the recruiter and hiring manager for every position. That means I can contact them and shoot my shot prior to applying. I can at least see exactly what's mandatory and what is not as far as experience.

You have 18 months to get any or all of those certifications. I think it's a task that's not hard if you apply yourself.

What I do feel is that having any or all of those certifications prior to applying would benefit you.

I had a CCNA at one point in my life and let it expire. Your results may vary. The higher the Cisco certification map you go the more money that's involved. But, it's an old saying regarding obtaining certs and experience for jobs you want not a job you have. Either role is entry level in most people's books.

jws86

mikey88 wrote: »

Why would you want a Junior Desktop Support role? Do you want to progress in your career or not? Finish up your CCENT and start applying networking roles.

If you search around this forum, you'll notice that MSP's are not the most desirable places to work for.

I think the title doesn't necessarily match the job description? It also says Jr Desktop Administrator. It seems that the responsibility and job tasks are a little more involved than what I do now. It also pays 10k more than what I make now as a starting wage. I figured it would be a good way to learn and expand knowledge while having someone else pay for all my certifications and a company that backs my growth and career development.

Also, didn't know that MSPs weren't desirable. I'll search around as to reasons why. Thank you for your input though.

jws86

johndoee wrote: »

For the record, I didn't look at your resume.

But But But, I like internal placements. I think that you get the competitive advantage prior to the rest of society. At my company, I can see the recruiter and hiring manager for every position. That means I can contact them and shoot my shot prior to applying. I can at least see exactly what's mandatory and what is not as far as experience.

You have 18 months to get any or all of those certifications. I think it's a task that's not hard if you apply yourself.

What I do feel is that having any or all of those certifications prior to applying would benefit you.

I had a CCNA at one point in my life and let it expire. Your results may vary. The higher the Cisco certification map you go the more money that's involved. But, it's an old saying regarding obtaining certs and experience for jobs you want not a job you have. Either role is entry level in most people's books.

These both make a lot of sense.

yoba222

Looks like a good match to me.

You're approach concerns me a bit though. In my experience, landing a job is more of a fishing process. You can't just eyeball the perfect fish from above and expect to catch that exact fish. Generally you up casting a net by applying to many positions, where in all likelihood you'll only catch one or two among the dozen you hope to.

So while it looks like a good match to me, I wouldn't get too excited about the position because it's a long shot.

N7Valiant

I don't know if I would transition from in-house IT to an MSP unless the pay and benefits were quite lucrative.

jws86

N7Valiant wrote: »

I don't know if I would transition from in-house IT to an MSP unless the pay and benefits were quite lucrative.

I haven't been able to research the reasons as to why MSPs are not well liked on here. Care to provide a little insight as to why you would not make a move like this?

jws86

jws86 wrote: »

I haven't been able to research the reasons as to why MSPs are not well liked on here. Care to provide a little insight as to why you would not make a move like this?

Nevermind, I just did a little research. Had no idea MSPs were like that. I don't know much about the field in terms of work environments other than what I'm currently in and have experienced first hand. I can say that an MSP now after some of the posts I've read are really not something that I would look for.

Sorry for wasting everyone's time and thank you for the responses for those that answered.

AvgITGeek

Just out of curiosity, what posts were flagged as working for a MSP is a bad thing?

N7Valiant

jws86 wrote: »

I haven't been able to research the reasons as to why MSPs are not well liked on here. Care to provide a little insight as to why you would not make a move like this?

You could also look at Reddit on /r/sysadmin for years worth of reading material on that note.

It's fantastic for getting a leg up and they're probably the most likely to give you a shot if you don't have any experience. But I just finished a 10-hour shift (which will no doubt be a trend) and I will likely be pulling some Weekend shifts sometime soon.

Yeah, you learn a lot...

But the operative words are "burn out" and "putting out fires". Like the Help Desk, you start off there, but you don't want to end up in that direction.

jws86

AvgITGeek wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, what posts were flagged as working for a MSP is a bad thing?

Just search Managed Service Provider and you can read down through the comments of the 3 threads that come up. The general consensus is not overall very good.

AvgITGeek

If you don't want to be working on call, IT for a large company isn't for you (until you get to a certain level). I will agree with N7Valiant that you will use all of your skills and have to learn some with an MSP. Even if you have skill, you will be challenged. That is what I loved about it. Never bored and motivated me to get back into the CCNA due to how much I work with Cisco devices. Just got done building a Server 2016 domain and network infrastructure for a new client.

Depends on what MSP you work for and your team members I guess.