Resume Critique Please

TechnicalJay

Hi all,

Could I get some professional feedback on my current resume from people who have been in the industry for a while? I feel like it can be much better but I'm not sure how. I'm also leaving jobs out that were construction and labor so it gives a little gap in the work history.

Thanks.

scaredoftests

Get rid of the bullets. Write a few paragraphs for each job. Get rid of technical experience (or put that on a summary or cover letter). If you did not complete college, do not put anything for education. or do you mean 'some college'? I was confused. Get rid of Background and just put in Education. Get rid of the dates. Did you graduate?

EANx

You might want to take a look at a few previous resume review requests and read the various comments.

Get rid of the bullet points, describe what you did in sentences.

Address the two-year gap. I'd rather see you doing something non-IT related than to wonder. (School? New kid? Hiking up Everest? Jail?)

The summary was so vague as to be almost useless. You describe yourself as "highly skilled" and "customer focused" with "outstanding customer service and communication abilities". Who would describe themselves otherwise? Details, please. Same thing with "patching, installing and configuring hardware and software." All hardware and software ever created? Or just some? Which some?

Getting into those bullets, there's that same sense of vagueness. How did you configure and patch? Which operating systems? What does "highly-skilled at troubleshooting MS Office Suite" mean to you? If I have a problem with a complex Access database, (part of the Office Suite), is that within your skill set?

Under technical skills, you mention Group Policy and Active Directory (you also use periods after each one but that's a different problem). What does that mean to you, when you hadn't mentioned either in either job? I'm not a fan of the "technical skills" section unless you actually have a very solid set of skills that aren't reflected in your job descriptions. You'll typically find that when you've done work at school or in a home lab but again, most people don't do enough to have that solid set of skills, they typically just cover the basics.

DZA_

What I've learned over the years and have come to improve upon is documenting on how you made the business more efficient. For example, employers want to see on how you as the individual has contributed to improving ticket resolution times, enhancing processes or creating cost saving solutions to the business. Provide concrete examples to those contributions. Those are the type of points that companies are looking for vs to the other resumes that often list common roles and responsibilities that most generic resumes have. You will stand out from the crowd.

cshkuru

DZA_ wrote: »

What I've learned over the years and have come to improve upon is documenting on how you made the business more efficient. For example, employers want to see on how you as the individual has contributed to improving ticket resolution times, enhancing processes or creating cost saving solutions to the business. Provide concrete examples to those contributions. Those are the type of points that companies are looking for vs to the other resumes that often list common roles and responsibilities that most generic resumes have. You will stand out from the crowd.

I have been hearing this for years, and I have rarely to almost never found it to be true. Maybe because I am not applying for managerial positions, but my resumes are bullet items outlining technical experience and qualifications and I get 10 to 15 calls a week and I am not actively looking; at least one of my co-workers is the same because we compare notes on the calls. I think it all depends on what job you are applying for. If you are going for a technical job go heavy on the technical experience. If you are going for a managerial job emphasize how well you can lead a team and improve efficiencies. If you do though be ready to back it up, I have sat in on interviews, both at my current position and past jobs and if you tell me that you improved process X by 15% that is one of the things I am going to be zeroing in on and if I think you're bs'ing, I am going to make sure everyone else in the process knows it.

TechnicalJay

Thanks for the replies and feedback.

LonerVamp

Just to add a counter-point, I like bullets when I read resumes. Feel free to keep them in. Otherwise I feel like I'm reading an article and I start to doze. I'm old, humor me.

I do also agree with an above poster. If you've managed antivirus and backups and patches, tell me which ones, either in the bullets or in the Technical Skills. That said, you've given me as an interview plenty of things to ask about, which is good. (And I'll ask how you did each of them!)

If you're going to use bullets, either decide you want complete sentences or not. For instance, periods at the end of every item in TECHNICAL SKILLS is wrong. I sometimes am fine with no periods, even if it's a real sentence. It's about consistency.

I also like the Technical Skills sections. It's a way to add some things you know or should know up front. For instance, someone new to the IT world may or may not know AD, and I'd prefer if they did. Putting it there does not abscond me from asking about it and probing your level of knowledge, but it's far better than just being a relatively blank slate, especially since I've written and read about 5 covers letters for every 50 resumes I'd read or submitted over the years. Yes, bring it up in the interview, but you gotta get to that interview first.

Here's another reality of your resume: You don't need it crazy fancy and amazing. You have what appears to be about 6-7 years of Desktop Support work at 2 companies. And it looks like, from this resume, that you'll be submitting to other Desktop Support positions. Your resume looks and reads just fine to get your foot into an interview at any place I've worked that has a Desktop Support team. I don't mean to be demeaning or anything, but you're likely not applying for a leadership position or something that makes engineer/administrator types of salaries.