Introduction/Resume Advice
limonmage
Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hello TE, I've been lurking for months now and have made the decision to seek out a new position recently and I'm trying to make sure my ducks are in a row before I start the formal process.
A more detailed background is included with my resume but basically I've been the sole IT support for a regional concrete construction company for almost nine years now. The construction industry has been hit pretty hard and my company (in business for almost 40 years now) has been struggling to stay afloat. Almost all benefits have been stripped (401k match, Paid holidays, etc) and we've been in a wage freeze for the past 2 years.
I'm close to proposing to my g/f of 4.5 years and need to think about what's going to be best for us (she's shooting for med school so I may be the sole provider for a few years) and it's become obvious the company will need years to recover. I have connections through at least 1 local IT contracting company that I believe I can grab a sys engineer position at but before I officially apply I figured I'd try to grab some advice on the old resume.
As far as my resume goes I have a couple specific questions, I left my Burger King employment history in there even though it's non IT related. My reasons are to show that I've been working since 16 (Paid my way through college) and I have some people management skills. I mean what better way to get management skills than to supervise a bunch of drama queen high schoolers.
I also have a question on my education history, I first started at a university with a comp sci/math major but eventually transferred to a tech school when the skills I was learning at the university just didn't apply to my real world job at the time. Being able to program C++ in a linux environment didn't really solve end user questions if you know what I mean. And unfortunately calculus just wouldn't program routers. So when I heard of a tech school offering training geared towards MS products I jumped on it and honestly I don't regret it one bit. However I'm just not sure if I should leave that Incomplete on the education portion.
The third thing is I'm taking the 70-680 in a week, I'm a great test taker and generally over-prep so I'm not worried, but when that's official Should I list my MS certs as something like MCSE 2003, MCTS 70-680, MCITP EA In Progress (1/3). Or just list the MCSE/MCTS?
And finally my background is heavy in 2k3/xp and some light windows 7. But I've also been in the industry for 9 years so I'm torn between applying as a systems engineer and senior systems engineer. I have no 2k8 experience and that's why I'm thinking of leaning towards just sys engineer to get that experience and move up in a short time frame. So any advice on that would be welcome as well.
Thanks for reading through my wall of text.
Doh no attachment posting rights yet, well let's make this post a little longer.
[FONT="]Name[/FONT]
[FONT="]Street[/FONT]
[FONT="]City, State, Zip[/FONT]
[FONT="]Email Address [/FONT] [FONT="]Phone[/FONT]
[FONT="]Profile: Systems Engineer[/FONT]
[FONT="] I have 9+ years of a wide variety of end user support and infrastructure including SBS 2003, Windows Standard 2003, Exchange, Citrix, Veritas, MS SQL Server, MySQL, Microsoft Office, Visual Basic and Crystal Reports. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Professional Experience[/FONT]
[FONT="] Systems Engineer Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Company Name . Jan 2002 – Present[/FONT]
[FONT="] Manage Windows SBS2003 based network with approximately 60 end users spread throughout 3 locations. Expand and maintain network infrastructure including wireless access points and ethernet over twisted pair. Install and maintain multiple security DVRs and security cameras. Create custom Crystal Reports with SQL when needed. Design and support Microsoft Access Databases. Maintain Vodavi phone system. Install and maintain support for remote users with Citrix Xenapp and VPN through Microsoft RRAS. Design and maintain small websites for child companies. Maintain gate access systems using PTI software and hardware. Manage company cell phone account including repairing and upgrading phones. Troubleshoot Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones. Set up and maintain Cisco 2811 Routers. Group policy management for security issues and WSUS. Ensure backup integrity and perform weekly ASR updates for each server.[/FONT]
[FONT="] Assistant Manager/Crew Leader Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Burger King 1998-2002[/FONT]
[FONT="] Duties involved nighttime crew scheduling, managing shifts, hiring, and deposits.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Certifications[/FONT]
[FONT="] MCSE 2003[/FONT]
[FONT="] Comptia A+ & Security+[/FONT]
[FONT="]Education[/FONT]
[FONT="] Tech College Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Associates of Applied Science 2003-2004[/FONT]
[FONT="]University[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bachelors of Science (Incomplete) Aug 2000 – July 2003[/FONT]
A more detailed background is included with my resume but basically I've been the sole IT support for a regional concrete construction company for almost nine years now. The construction industry has been hit pretty hard and my company (in business for almost 40 years now) has been struggling to stay afloat. Almost all benefits have been stripped (401k match, Paid holidays, etc) and we've been in a wage freeze for the past 2 years.
I'm close to proposing to my g/f of 4.5 years and need to think about what's going to be best for us (she's shooting for med school so I may be the sole provider for a few years) and it's become obvious the company will need years to recover. I have connections through at least 1 local IT contracting company that I believe I can grab a sys engineer position at but before I officially apply I figured I'd try to grab some advice on the old resume.
As far as my resume goes I have a couple specific questions, I left my Burger King employment history in there even though it's non IT related. My reasons are to show that I've been working since 16 (Paid my way through college) and I have some people management skills. I mean what better way to get management skills than to supervise a bunch of drama queen high schoolers.
I also have a question on my education history, I first started at a university with a comp sci/math major but eventually transferred to a tech school when the skills I was learning at the university just didn't apply to my real world job at the time. Being able to program C++ in a linux environment didn't really solve end user questions if you know what I mean. And unfortunately calculus just wouldn't program routers. So when I heard of a tech school offering training geared towards MS products I jumped on it and honestly I don't regret it one bit. However I'm just not sure if I should leave that Incomplete on the education portion.
The third thing is I'm taking the 70-680 in a week, I'm a great test taker and generally over-prep so I'm not worried, but when that's official Should I list my MS certs as something like MCSE 2003, MCTS 70-680, MCITP EA In Progress (1/3). Or just list the MCSE/MCTS?
And finally my background is heavy in 2k3/xp and some light windows 7. But I've also been in the industry for 9 years so I'm torn between applying as a systems engineer and senior systems engineer. I have no 2k8 experience and that's why I'm thinking of leaning towards just sys engineer to get that experience and move up in a short time frame. So any advice on that would be welcome as well.
Thanks for reading through my wall of text.
Doh no attachment posting rights yet, well let's make this post a little longer.
[FONT="]Name[/FONT]
[FONT="]Street[/FONT]
[FONT="]City, State, Zip[/FONT]
[FONT="]Email Address [/FONT] [FONT="]Phone[/FONT]
[FONT="]Profile: Systems Engineer[/FONT]
[FONT="] I have 9+ years of a wide variety of end user support and infrastructure including SBS 2003, Windows Standard 2003, Exchange, Citrix, Veritas, MS SQL Server, MySQL, Microsoft Office, Visual Basic and Crystal Reports. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Professional Experience[/FONT]
[FONT="] Systems Engineer Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Company Name . Jan 2002 – Present[/FONT]
[FONT="] Manage Windows SBS2003 based network with approximately 60 end users spread throughout 3 locations. Expand and maintain network infrastructure including wireless access points and ethernet over twisted pair. Install and maintain multiple security DVRs and security cameras. Create custom Crystal Reports with SQL when needed. Design and support Microsoft Access Databases. Maintain Vodavi phone system. Install and maintain support for remote users with Citrix Xenapp and VPN through Microsoft RRAS. Design and maintain small websites for child companies. Maintain gate access systems using PTI software and hardware. Manage company cell phone account including repairing and upgrading phones. Troubleshoot Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones. Set up and maintain Cisco 2811 Routers. Group policy management for security issues and WSUS. Ensure backup integrity and perform weekly ASR updates for each server.[/FONT]
[FONT="] Assistant Manager/Crew Leader Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Burger King 1998-2002[/FONT]
[FONT="] Duties involved nighttime crew scheduling, managing shifts, hiring, and deposits.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Certifications[/FONT]
[FONT="] MCSE 2003[/FONT]
[FONT="] Comptia A+ & Security+[/FONT]
[FONT="]Education[/FONT]
[FONT="] Tech College Address[/FONT]
[FONT="] Associates of Applied Science 2003-2004[/FONT]
[FONT="]University[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bachelors of Science (Incomplete) Aug 2000 – July 2003[/FONT]