Career Advice (Hello and resume posted)

ssampier

This is a belated hello! I am relatively new to TE, but you all have been so warm and friendly to me. I thought I could ask for some career advice.

I have 5 years experience in I/T and I love it. However, I am having a bit of trouble getting to the next stage of my career.

I am currently unemployed. It's not really important why I left my last employer--I resigned, though, so at least the ball was in my court. I spent the last six months applying to jobs and working on my MCSA and Security+ certifications. I earned them last week. Hooray!

My goal is to be the sys admin unofficial "security guru" of the organization, helping write policies and enforcing them with GPOs and working with firewalls and other security devices. Working with virtualization and SANs sounds fun, too.

Long term I would like to work with security full-time, but in what aspect (consultant, auditing, etc) I'm not sure yet. I am strongly considering graduate school since my B.S. degree is not in CS, IT, or business.

Job Search Strategy

Region-wise I would like to stay in the Mountain States region of the U.S. I have applied to jobs in Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. But I am pretty open, otherwise, since I am single and rent an apartment. If a really good opportunity arose I would pack stakes and move where ever.

I haven't been aggressive in my job search as much as I probably should have. My job search philosophy has been "don't poke the bear", meaning don't bother companies that probably aren't hiring/just laid people off. I think I need to revisit this.

I did already hassle my former I/T colleagues, but they are not as well-connected as I thought. I have since left them alone.

My former sales representatives to the stars has recommended a short list of employers I'd like to work for. I put PacifiCorp, Qwest, and Swire Coca-Cola on his list. I have worked for PacifCorp subsidiary before and I have worked for a small telecommunications company before.

I mostly avoided looking for work in the education sector. The politics of public ed are not for me, I'm afraid.

Attached is a text-only copy of my resume. Feel free to give constructive criticism and see if my resume is written with my career target in mind.

In closing, thanks for all the help and encouragement!

earweed

It basically looks good. You have a few grammatical errors and some of the writing is kind of awkward in places. example: Self-driven and self manged technology priorities and projects sounds awkward and Would be better as Self-driven individual managed technology priorities and projects.
I'd probably put thye employment history before technical skills as you kind of lose the skimming reader during that long list.

ssampier

earweed wrote: »

It basically looks good. You have a few grammatical errors and some of the writing is kind of awkward in places. example: Self-driven and self manged technology priorities and projects sounds awkward and Would be better as Self-driven individual managed technology priorities and projects.
I'd probably put thye employment history before technical skills as you kind of lose the skimming reader during that long list.

I will have to read through the resume again. I thought I found all those little buggers

earweed

I usually can't catch all my own grammatical errors and have a friend read it over for me.

erpadmin

Your certs I would put after your experience but before Education. That's the sell.

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If you don't put anything under "SPECIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES", then take it out.

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Certified Sysadmin with specialties in Security and Linux should be

Certified Systems Administrator with additional focus on both Security and Linux

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Here's a little tweaking of your summary:

* Experience with networks, servers, and desktops in mid-sized organizations with various budgets in widely-ranged environments.
* A proven self-starter in a variety of technology projects, with an uncanny problem solving ability.
* Extremely budget-conscious, with a proven track record of identifying long-term savings.
* Highly praised by colleagues.

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I will definitely look at your experience, but I found it somewhat hard to read your resume (did you write this in Notepad?) But I think we have enough for now. If I add anything else (I most likely will), I'll re-edit this post.

Also, I'm going to add that sometimes, using a word like "uncanny" will raise an eyebrow to someone reading it. It might be enough for you to get a call just to see how "uncanny" are you. If you get that, then the resume did its job.

ssampier

Yes, it was in Notepad. Most jobs that you apply to want a resume in text and PDF/Word. I started with text so we didn't focus on appearance first

I appreciate the advice.

P.S. I remember why my resume was a bit hard to read. I had a number of people look at it and make suggestions, muddying the waters.

Revision 2

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

Yes, it was in Notepad. Most jobs that you apply to want a resume in text and PDF/Word. I started with text so we didn't focus on appearance first

I appreciate the advice.

P.S. I remember why my resume was a bit hard to read. I had a number of people look at it and make suggestions, muddying the waters.

Revision 2

You didn't change the sysadmin though... You will want to write that out in your resume.

ssampier

Here is the PDF version. I took my real resume, copied, edited it, and print to PDF; I may have missed a few of my final changes.

earweed

I like the way you did the technology section now. Putting them in columns to remove the white space. Pluis it dropped it down to 2 pages which I think is better.
Looks much better.

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

Here is the PDF version. I took my real resume, copied, edited it, and print to PDF; I may have missed a few of my final changes.

OMG MUCH BETTER FOR THINE EYES!!!

Now I can really read it instead of reading it "hard and fast...like Brannigan's Law" LMAO.

I do have to step out for a few, but I can definitely read the experience upon my return.

Bl8ckr0uter

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]I will be 100% honest with you.
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[FONT=Courier New, monospace]
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[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Independent Study, 03/2010--Present. Study and research for the MCSE certification.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]This needs to go like ASAP. It sounds weak and doesn't make sense. If I were hiring you I would ask, why did it take you 6 months to research for the MCSE (and you didn't get it). Not good.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Certified Sysadmin with specialties in Security and Linux[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]I think this is ok but I think it needs something. Sure you are a certified admin but why are you applying for this job? I think you need to rework you "mission statement" or "objective". Some people would say that you don't need it but I would say that you do.
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[FONT=Courier New, monospace]SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New, monospace]* Professional IT administrator with more than 5 years experience with networks, servers, and desktops in mid-sized organizations with tight budgets and fast-paced environments.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New, monospace]* Self-driven and self managed technology priorities and projects.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New, monospace]* Budget-driven, proven ability to identify long-term savings.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New, monospace]* Excellent problem solving ability. Highly praised by co-workers for my troubleshooting skills and ability to fix things.[/FONT]

The others are ok but the last line needs to go or needs to be reworked. I personally don't think you need the summary page since your resume is only three pages.
[FONT=Courier New, monospace]
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[FONT=Courier New, monospace]CERTIFICATIONS[/FONT]


[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA): Windows 2003, September 3, 2010[/FONT]


[FONT=Courier New, monospace]CompTIA Security+ (plus), August 31, 2010[/FONT]

They don't need to know when you got your certs (unless they are many many versions old or comptias from 1999). You have them so as far as they are concerned, you have been certified for 5+ years (ya dig? ).


[FONT=Courier New, monospace]I think you need to move you education up. [/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]SPECIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES[/FONT]


[FONT=Courier New, monospace]MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP ABILITY[/FONT]


[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Team tasked minded to help other technology staff with yearly teacher conference organizing projectors and other necessary items, and troubleshooting issues. Facilitated and presented at monthly technology meetings with five technology directors. Planned and organized yearly Federal education E-rate training. Self-driven, independently planned, scheduled, organized, and promoted technology training fair with thirteen vendor representatives.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Completely remove this. Incomplete pages look bad on a resume (this was told to me by a HR director from a National Store).
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[FONT=Courier New, monospace]There some work to be done but you can clean it up.

EDIT: Just saw the PDF version. So much better
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ssampier

I like 100% honesty.

I am avoiding objective sections like the plague.

Yes, that independent study part is a bit lame, I'll admit. However, I have been out-of-work for 6 months. That raises a big flag for many employers ("was this person in jail?"). It used to be study for MCSA and Security+ certifications which I just earned.

To me my experience is more valuable than education since I don't have a IT degree and it was 6 years ago.

Bl8ckr0uter

ssampier wrote: »

To me my experience is more valuable than education since I don't have a IT degree and it was 6 years ago.

Who cares?!?!? Rule number 1: Get a BS Degree. Rule number 2: Try to make it IT oriented. There are a few guys around here who don't have IT degrees at all. There are also plenty of people (like me) who don't have a degree at all. Having a BS could help you out plenty but not if the employers don't know you have one . Move it up, preferably close to or right above your certs.

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

I like 100% honesty.

I am avoiding objective sections like the plague.

Yes, that independent study part is a bit lame, I'll admit. However, I have been out-of-work for 6 months. That raises a big flag for many employers ("was this person in jail?"). It used to be study for MCSA and Security+ certifications which I just earned.

To me my experience is more valuable than education since I don't have a IT degree and it was 6 years ago.

Had I read the pdf version (or really forced myself to read the other formats), I would have said the same thing!. You can replace independent study with consulting/volunteer work. That will always explain away gaps, but you have to be a bit creative in that sell.

You are wrong on the IT degree though. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU HAVE A DEGREE!! A bachelor's with a couple of certs makes you more valuable than someone who isn't degreed. HOWEVER, where I disagree with knwminus is that while you should put the Education above the Certs, keep it below Experience. Experience will always trump education, but education is just as important. (Take it from the guy who makes almost six figures and is also going back to school.... ).

Now getting to your experience....yes get rid of Independant Study and put something like Private IT Consulting, volunteer or something creative. You fixed PC for family, even though it was unpaid? Congrats, you were a consultant. Did it for friends? You volunteered...it's all about being creative! If you actually did do some volunteer work, put that in there!

I would go with a bulleted format on your experience and call it "Duties" or something like that. Instead of getting specific with 500 GB of data, I would just say gigabytes of data (yes spell it out). I do like how Accomplishments are bulleted.

You also have some dead space....I am sure you can find some way to fill that dead space. Two page resumes are fine, but I would like to see the dead space gone.

That's about all I got right now......overall not bad. Right tweaking, it's ready for Monster and Dice. Let's see how round 4 does. (In PDF, of course....)

ssampier

You guys are awesome.

I made some minor adjustments. I actually like the paragraph + bullets. I'd hate to remove the duties, but I don't think they are important enough to bullet.

Dead-space? Like too much white space? Or not enough detail or "uhmph"? Too much potatoes and not enough meat?

ssampier

I added a new resume with the same information, but a different format and font.

I think this one stands out more and looks more full. But I'll let you be the judge.

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

You guys are awesome.

I made some minor adjustments. I actually like the paragraph + bullets. I'd hate to remove the duties, but I don't think they are important enough to bullet.

Dead-space? Like too much white space? Or not enough detail or "uhmph"? Too much potatoes and not enough meat?

Too much white space (sorry I'm not an English major.....lol). If you're gonna have 2 pages, you're gonna need to fill it somehow. But that would definitely look better.

Also, I can see why you have your phone numbers the way you do, but I don't like how that looks...so get a Google Voice number, set up a number in Utah (or really, anywhere) and attach both your cell and home phone to it. When they call it, it will ring to both phones. Google Voice is definitely the best for that, not to mention FREE. But you won't have to list your numbers like that anymore. It'll take you not even two minutes to get that done.

Aside from that, is looking pretty decent. One thing though, I wouldn't be so specific on the budget either, same reasoning for the amount of data....if for anything else, it is something they can question you on during the interview. Also, you don't want to sound so subjective (i.e. tight).

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

I added a new resume with the same information, but a different format and font.

I think this one stands out more and looks more full. But I'll let you be the judge.

Definitely "pops" out more visually. As for info, see last post. The phone numbers though definitely fits better here, though GV is still not a bad idea for you.

ssampier

I never thought of the way I list phone numbers. I actually do have a Google Voice number, but I have never used it. Most people just call the cell (which costs me money versus the home line which is free for me).

As for budget, I know $15k is pennies to most I/T shops. If they can't afford that, can they afford my salary etc?

Something to think about, though, so it doesn't sound "negative".

Xcluziv

Your resume is looking better from the initial one, good job

Some sections I would bold (i.e certs, education, technology, etc.) gives the person reading a definitive place where the next section starts even though you capitalized the whole words which is okay, thats just me though.

erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

I never thought of the way I list phone numbers. I actually do have a Google Voice number, but I have never used it. Most people just call the cell (which costs me money versus the home line which is free for me).

As for budget, I know $15k is pennies to most I/T shops. If they can't afford that, can they afford my salary etc?

Something to think about, though, so it doesn't sound "negative".

The phone numbers the way you have it in the line from your original pdf format just looks cluttered. You might be better off with one number was what I meant.

The budget is something I wouldn't be specific on...$15k is a couple of Proliant servers.....the fact that you managed a budget is good and it gives the interviewer something to press you on, if that's where he wants to go with it.

ssampier

Understood. Thanks for all your help. I did take out the budget entry and replaced it with [FONT=&quot]Responsible for technology budget for new equipment for region[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. I'm sure I can improve that phrase.

As for bolding, one of the chairs in my University career department helped me. He said to bold only your name and titles of positions. Granted his advice probably comes from the type writer/early word-processor era. [/FONT][FONT=&quot] I amended that advice quite a bit, however. [/FONT]
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Now, applying for jobs. This is the tricky one. I usually apply for jobs that I meet about half of all requirements. When they want a specific degree (IS, CS, Math, Engineering) is where I pause a minute. Unless the job is building servers or programming I usually apply anyway.

Salary range: I used salary.com and I used the median salary for my region and experience in my long range (+/- $10,000).
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erpadmin

ssampier wrote: »

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]When they want a specific degree (IS, CS, Math, Engineering) is where I pause a minute. Unless the job is building servers or programming I usually apply anyway.[/FONT][/FONT]

You're applying for a job, not trying to "make it with a woman" [nor infoming the men, either...lmao]! There is no harm in applying for a job YOU feel confident about performing. Unless they're demanding a Ph.D (and for the most part, they're not), just apply to them and send a cover letter too.

Put it this way. When you apply for a job that requires a specific degree, you have a 50/50 shot at getting hired. When you don't apply for the job, you have NO SHOT.

As to where to apply....the usual/standard job boards have always worked for me. Monster, HotJobs (I guess it's the same thing now.... ), Dice, etc., etc., etc.

So definitely blast your resume....you only hurt yourself by not doing it otherwise.

pleiaden

ssampier wrote: »

career.

I am currently unemployed. It's not really important why I left my last employer--I resigned, though, so at least the ball was in my court.

It *is* important, and it would raise red flags if I would look at your resume. So you better come up with a good and valid reason that does not further raise red flags. While you accomplished something during that time (taking the certs), you still need a valid reason why you left your employer; and don't say you wanted to study for some tests, since you'd be expected to do that while you are employed.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but gaps raise red flags, and you need to be able to deal with them in a constructive manner, because it will be asked during an interview.

EDIT: Just saw your PDF version, it's better, but it doesn't flow as nicely as I'd want it to. I noticed you took care of the gap, but you need to realize that you still may get questioned around it. I'd like to know why you left that company, became an independent contractor, and how you want to go work for a company again.

erpadmin

pleiaden wrote: »

EDIT: Just saw your PDF version, it's better, but it doesn't flow as nicely as I'd want it to. I noticed you took care of the gap, but you need to realize that you still may get questioned around it. I'd like to know why you left that company, became an independent contractor, and how you want to go work for a company again.

He had an entrepreneural spirit, wanted to try his hand at running his own shop, saw how much work was involved, decided it was not for him! He took a risk and lost. Believe it or not, some employers actually like folks that will take a chance and get out of their comfort zone. Of course, others don't, but that's the line he can use anyway!

ssampier

pleiaden wrote: »

It *is* important, and it would raise red flags if I would look at your resume. So you better come up with a good and valid reason that does not further raise red flags. While you accomplished something during that time (taking the certs), you still need a valid reason why you left your employer; and don't say you wanted to study for some tests, since you'd be expected to do that while you are employed.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but gaps raise red flags, and you need to be able to deal with them in a constructive manner, because it will be asked during an interview.

EDIT: Just saw your PDF version, it's better, but it doesn't flow as nicely as I'd want it to. I noticed you took care of the gap, but you need to realize that you still may get questioned around it. I'd like to know why you left that company, became an independent contractor, and how you want to go work for a company again.

I'm not telling the absolute truth. That's just stupid. Obviously I wasn't happy there, otherwise I would still be there. Usually I do the "I wasn't challenged enough" line.

As for the "Independent Consultant", yes, I have to explain what projects I worked on. I indicated what project I did work on. I stress with recruiters and hiring manager I have been working on certifications and a virtual lab.

The new resume "doesn't flow well". How would you design it?

ssampier

It's been a couple of weeks later. I had some big name interest in my resume (rhymes with Flitter), but ultimately no job offer yet.

I have decided to redo my resume again to fit one page. In doing so I removed the skills section.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

My biggest concern is how best to indicate I was the jack-of-all-trades at the Springfield Elementary School Association.

Again, my primary interest career interest is to work with Virtualized Servers, SANs, and security products.

konvict

Hey guys, was just curious,is it advicable to send cv(s) to numerous employers just to try your luck for an interview!
Kindly advice.