Resume Critique....thanks!

westward

OK, here's my resume thus far. It includes everything, so perhaps some parts can be removed if they're irrelevant.

I will likely be seeking jobs in web analytics, marketing analytics, jobs that involve working in a business environment using databases, some programming, some web, and presenting or discussing statistical data with a team to make business decisions.

I didn't include a "summary" at the top, yet. And no objective.

Also, I DID include my associates degree, only because of the GPA and graduating with distinction.

It used to be people said don't list an associates - recently it seems the sentiment has changed if you had a decent GPA.

Thanks for opinions!

apr911

First look its nice crisp and clean and if I were the hiring manager, Id take the time to at least review it (which is the first hurdle) and give it a fair shake...

A bit more digging and Id make the following suggestions:

1. Move contact info below your name.

2. you state you were a bookkeeper "For a brief period of time" what is a brief period of time? As each of position at Company 1 is rather different, I would want to know how much time you spent at each position, not just the company.

3. Web design and Programming section - try to imbed this in the job descriptions. Not a big fan of just providing a list of things knowledgeable in. I want to know/see the application of said skills

4. Same goes for business applications

5. Remove your CIW certifications from the certification section. I know very few people in IT who proudly wear the CIW certifications (mostly because they dont have any higher level certs) and the tend to be hacks anyway. Its cool you got them and the knowledge gained from them may serve you well but no need to put it there.

6. Try and shore things up. I get the feel of a 1 page resume masquerading as a 2 pager. Your close but not quite to the point where Id jump to 2 pages. Maybe shrink your name a little, use a 1 or 2 pt smaller font across the board and break your bulled lists into 2 columns. That would probably get you real close to 1 page. You can play with the margins a little bit too, just dont over do it. Nobody will really take notice if you use 0.9" margin on the top & left or a 0.5" on the bottom and right instead of the standard 1" but dont go overboard.

7. Define your dates. When did you start work for Company 1? It just says 2007. Id also consider using February 2007 instead of 02.2007

westward

Thanks apr911

Quick question, if I move the web/programming into the job section, and the business apps as well, that only leaves the certs, all of which I got during my BS.

So do you think I should just move those under the BS and therefore do away with the "skills" section altogether?

Also, theoretically, what if I didn't get some of those skills from a job or a school, but rather learned them on my own?

Thanks for the input, making changes already!

apr911

Your certifications are industry applicable and not just degree related and as there will come a time when you earn certifications on your own and not as part of a degree program, I think they should definitely be kept separate from your BS.

On my resume my certifications have there own section. That being said, given the formatting of your resume, Id say to maybe put them in under the Education Heading as its own area.

As for the learned skills that you did not acquire on the job... how did you come by them? Did you lab with them? On my resume, I include a section for my lab "work" which details the fact Ive worked with something. A resume is intended to succinctly show your experience and theoretical knowledge (i.e. book knowledge) is not the same as actual knowledge (i.e. application knowledge) so I prefer seeing the application of knowledge rather than just a list of things youve studied.

The way I usually go about embedding extra tidbits would be a line like this:
"Updated a maintained company website (ASP,HTML,JavaScript)"

Embedding them in this describes what you did and quickly gives a rundown of the technologies involved.

It also makes for a great memory tool. As you pile on the experiences and the number of concepts, programming languages and the like that you understand, it gets harder to keep them all straight in your head. By embedding them with job descriptions when the inevitable interview question comes up "Tell me about your experiences working with XYZ technology" you dont have to wrack your brain trying to remember where you used XYZ technology and for what.

A quick glance at your resume and you can describe a real situation in which you used XYZ technology and where and how you did.

Chris:/*

I disagree with removing the CIW certification if the job you are going for has to do with coding still. I still see a number of jobs out there that include CIW as a nice thing to have in their requirements section. If you are not going for one of those jobs it can be hit or miss.

You do not have any professional level certifications on your resume so I would not worry about including them. On that note I would organize your certifications together by vendor and respect level. Place the MS cert above the Comptia and the CIW below them.

Cisco Inferno

i love the style and formatting