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Another Resume thread.

Johnta20

Not really sure if my Resume is holding me back or not, as Ive only been getting on average one interview a month.

Johnta Oneil Resume_62110re.doc

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Comments

SteveLord

I recommend you start by removing your personal information before posting it on a public forum.

Your previous job experience, involves more descriptions...than actual responsibilities in my eyes. It sounds to vague to warrant the title "Database Engineer" whether "intern" is attached to it or not. Then again, I guess it was only for 2 months. You also used the word "personal" instead of personnel.

Having "Available for Relocation at own Expense & Travel" looks like you're begging to whoever finishes reading it. Primarily since I don't think I've seen that in a resume before. And second...you Bold it with 12pt font.

sheckler

I'd try to find a way to format it so it all fits on 1 page.

mikej412

Johnta20 wrote: »

Not really sure if my Resume is holding me back

Yes. It is.

Really? You WANT to be help desk. Either have a Summary or Objective or Skills -- but starting off with help desk as a title followed by bullets like "strong academic" and "excellent internship" that didn't seem to get backed up up with facts didn't work for me.

If you did take out the personal information (as compared to the personnel you trained as SteveLord already pointed out) -- put in fake info like John Smith and 123 Maple Street, Any City, Your State 01234-6789 (and 555-555-1111) to at least keep the format and spacing.

Was that 3.3 overall GPA with a 4.0 in your Major? Was that just for the classes at Gardner Webb? Once you list a GPA you open up a whole bunch of questions. If your University graded on a curve with no more than 5% of a class earning A's then that's worth mentioning -- and 3.3 is strong. If it's like a community college or High Schools today where the entire class can earn A's if everyone scores 90% or better, then a 3.3 isn't that strong. (I got 394 points out of 400 possible points in my Differential Equations class a long long long long long time ago -- and that was only a B+ because of the curve. To this day I still remember the 6 points I lost on two simple coefficient errors in two of my exam answers on the mid-term exam.

)

You've got related course work listed -- as a list. You seem to have class names and/or vague topics listed. I have no clue what you were good at or what you might want to do (other than the opening plea for a help desk job). Are any of the courses or course work useful for anything possibly work related? Any impressive class projects?

Then you have college work experience/jobs listed, followed by a skills section that leads off with Windows 98.

Your resume would have hit the round file by now, if not sooner.

I guess I eventually did find that "excellent internship" listed near the bottom in an IT Experience section -- but I'm not quite sure what made it excellent.

As for your "freelance work" -- either you ran a business or you didn't. It sounds like you built one PC (which could be your home PC) and then you loaded an anti-virus package on that.

You definitely need a better description of what you actually did maintain or repair. Did you have any customers that weren't yourself or family members? Do you have any references for the "Computer maintenance/Repair" you did or can you be more descriptive about the customers (20 person real estate office, 3 person trophy shop, etc).

Is your current job a real job? It overlaps with your school and the server hospitality job -- did it start as an internship? Exactly what are you supporting, besides various employees? Microsoft Office Applications? Proprietary banking software? Password reset Ninja? Or are you the person the employees call when the printers need more paper? Still can't figure out what made that old Machine Operator job important enough to list as part of the education section along with some sort of food service (maybe work study?) job, while the hyped internship dies at the end.

How about having a work history section -- and list your work there in reverse chronological order.

If you're in a help desk job now and you're looking to upgrade to a better help desk position, maybe go with a regular resume and lead off with your work history and drop the new graduate format. Slim down the education section (by dropping the course list) and beef up your skills section and work experiences -- unless your job really is taking phone calls and then walking around and filling printers with paper.

If you've actually got something impressive educationally, then stick with the new graduate format and upgrade your education section and mention some impressive educational stuff. If the "excellent internship" was competitive and through your school -- and related to some type of job you might want to do -- then keep that listed as part of your education section.

Related Coursework is bold in your Community College section, not bold in your Gardner Webb University section. Sorry, but when I see resumes with inconsistent formatting I start to question the job candidates attention to detail skills.

If the relocation and travel are so important to rate BOLD and a LARGE FONT, why is it at the end? Mention it in a cover letter or work it in better into your resume.

TNT143

Hey there! Your resume does need a little work.

You definitely need details on what you did at the employers you worked for. There's a 'toss up' between paragraphs detailing and bulleted lists, but I have always had success w/ bullets.

You can remove the GPA, most companies don't care as long as you have the degree. They'll ask specifically if they're looking for a specific grade.

Formatting for 1-page may be beneficial for you, it may not be. I have a 3-page resume that gets me several interviews/month. If you're looking for help-desk work, use a skills summary to highlight the tools you have used.

MANY recruiters do a "CTRL+F" on a resume to find out if you've used a specific tool before ever really READING the resume... try to find the buzz words of the industry you're working in... Here's a sample of some of my jobs:

Problem Report Management Officer (November 2005 – October 2006)
BAE Systems (Newington, VA)

Project lead for metrics development.
Project lead for Internal Newsletter.
Assist with Remedy development, testing, and implementation.
Authored Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
Capture Problem Reports (PR) into Peregrine Service Center/Remedy Database.
Update PR status, technical investigations, and open and close PRs.
Provide pre- and post-test baseline support.
Provide detailed daily statistical information to test directors, segment leads, and test engineers.
Compile and maintain the Integrated Test Facility Segment Statistical Data spreadsheet and database.
Coordinate with Engineering Review and Configuration Management Boards for PR review and adjudication.
Coordinate software releases with Operations Configuration Management Board.
Train new staff members on PRMO processes and procedures.
Generate End of Test Memorandums for internal and external dissemination.

jtoast

I agree with everything that previous posters mentioned..I also have a few comments of my own.

1) I am not a big fan of the objectives section. That to me is something you address in your cover letter. By putting an objective on your resume you risk losing offers to jobs you didn't specifically address. Everything above your first dividing line looks like cover letter material to me.

2) If you want an IT job, why are you listing kitchen experience..and why is it listed before any IT experience? Whats important needs to be at the top because the reader may not make it to the bottom. Unless you explain why its relevant to the position you are applying for, leave it off. A resume is simply an advertising tool to get you an interview, not a list of your lifes history.

3) I am also not a fan of listing your GPA. If you list it and someone else equally qualified lists a higher one, you will probably not get the interview and never know why. If you don't list it and they want it, they will ask for more details and you can defend your GPA in person if necessary.

4) No Windows 7/Server 2008 experience listed? If you are looking for a help desk job, you need to know windows 7 because more and more companies are moving that direction. Also, I don't know of any major corporation that still using windows 98 or 2000 for anything other than a few isolated legacy applications they just haven't replaced yet.

5) Did "Apache" evolve from a web server application to an actual language when I wasn't looking?

6) No specifics. "Provide first level telephone support" doesn't tell me anything. What were you supporting? (hardware, software, network?), how many users, how many callers/day? If you are looking for an entry level tech call center job then things like that along with whether or not you met the call/QA metrics might help you.

7) Forget the "one page" rule. Your resume should be as long as it needs to be to advertise you as a candidate and then stop. If it goes to two or three pages, then so be it...as long as all 3 pages are relevant and necessary.

Why offer to relocate at your expense? If relocation is an issue, that can be addressed at the negotiating table. Even if you get the job you come across as desperate and will probably end up leaving money on the table when they hire you.