Please Review and Comment on my Resume

Armymanis

[FONT=&quot]PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am a focused A+ Certified IT Professional with aptitude to learn. I strive to provide technical solutions to a range of customer needs while working within Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I desire to learn about Windows Server, Linux, databases, Mac OSX, networking architecture, and SAN architecture while gaining advancement opportunities . [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE: [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Knowledge of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and 7 Operating System[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Knowledge of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Can Install, Troubleshoot, and Upgrade Hardware on Desktop PC’s, and Laptops[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Can Install Software including Operating Systems, Programs, and Utilities[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Can Install and Configure a Router (NetGear or Linksys.) [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]VOLUNTEERING:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PC Technician, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA)
04/05/ 2010-06/18/ 2010 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 01/03/ 2011 – 03/23/ 2011 [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Maintained hardware and software for 30-40 desktop computers [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Imaged 14 computers with a clean version of Windows XP using the imaging service known as “Fog”[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Configured a “Virtual” Dual boot environment of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Built several different computers from the ground up including installing the hardware, software, and finding the necessary device drivers[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Helped students troubleshoot various problems with Windows XP Professional, Vista and Windows 7 including network connectivity issues, upgrading operating systems, and gathering necessary device drivers[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Interconnections Seattle
07/29/ 2010 – 08/14/ 2010[/FONT]

• Performed PC Technician duties, which included troubleshooting, and replacing hardware on desktops.

[FONT=&quot]EDUCATION:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Associates in the Arts, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA) [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Degree: Technical Support [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Current GPA: 3.82
09/01/2008 - Present [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CERTIFICATIONS: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]COMPTIA A+ Certification
06/23/2010 – Present[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Passed Both Essentials and Applications Exams to Acquire the COMPTIA A+. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]WORK EXPERIENCE:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Home and Garden Clerk, Fred Meyer
08/16/ 2010 - Present[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Help customers find products[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Restock items onto shelves [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Virtual LAB Tutor, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA)
03/08/2009 – 08/14/2009[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Tutored students on the Microsoft Office 2007 Suite using the Eluminate virtual room.
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Completed Given Projects in Microsoft Excel 2007 by creating participant links for each virtual tutoring session, created hyperlinks for 12 employees so he or she could enter the virtual lab, and cataloged our average customers per month rate.
  [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Guest Service Representative, Hollywood Video (Sammamish, WA)
08/31/ 2007 to 08/31/2009[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Provided customer service [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Informed customers of “Best Buy” deals[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Engaged in conversation during customer transactions [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Restocked movies and concessions[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Picked up additional shifts as necessary [/FONT]


**Please critique my resume. I left out my contact information, but it is posted at the top. Please also note, my dates are supposed to be on the right hand side of the page. But for some reason the formatting is putting them on the bottom of the title.

nimrod.sixty9

Helped Diagnosed, Troubleshoot, and repair several Desktop PC’s
Thats enough to kill it...

Also, I would work on that objective. Dont take it personal, I suck at making them too :P

Armymanis

nimrod.sixty9 wrote: »

Helped Diagnosed, Troubleshoot, and repair several Desktop PC’s
Thats enough to kill it...

Also, I would work on that objective. Dont take it personal, I suck at making them too :P

What would you say instead of saying Helped Diagnosed, Troubleshoot, and repair several Desktop PC's?

mikej412

nimrod.sixty9 wrote: »

Thats enough to kill it...

And this one:

[FONT=&quot]Completed Given Projects were completed on time and to expectations. [/FONT]

Attention to detail is important in lots of IT jobs -- and most people will assume that you've done the best job of your life working on your resume... so when things like this jump out, it really doesn't matter what else was in your resume.

LoMo

nimrod.sixty9 wrote: »

Helped Diagnosed, Troubleshoot, and repair several Desktop PC’s
Thats enough to kill it...

Also, I would work on that objective. Dont take it personal, I suck at making them too :P

Yeah, pretty generic. I would list what operating system they were running and what tasks you performed.

Example:

Performed PC Technican duties on desktops running Windows XP. Tasks included installing software, troubleshooting and installing hardware, etc.

nimrod.sixty9

Armymanis wrote: »

What would you say instead of saying Helped Diagnosed, Troubleshoot, and repair several Desktop PC's?

It is generic, but I was going more towards corrections. Diagnosed should be diagnose and Helped and PC are the only two words that should be capitalized.

Same issure here: Completed Given Projects were completed on time and to expectations. Completed and completed? Given Projects capped?

Your resume can be great, but HR will throw it in the trash bin just for one grammatical error.

Armymanis

Other then the few grammical errors, do you guy's think the format is ok?

nimrod.sixty9

Armymanis wrote: »

Other then the few grammical errors, do you guy's think the format is ok?

Form is good. Only so much you can do.

Can Install and Configure a Router (NetGear or Linksys.)
^ More caps here. Also you should mention that this is consumer grade equipment (if that is the case)

EDIT: After looking through it with a little focus, it looks as though you have caps everywhere. You should scan through and correct as many as you can find. Edit some 'wording'. Then from there, I think we can realy start to work on it.

Armymanis

I got rid of most of the capital letters, and I also re-wrote the details for my month spent at interconnections seattle. Let me know what you guy's think.

nimrod.sixty9

Notes are after ~~~

I believe Ive gotten all the typos etc...


PERSONAL OBJECTIVE:
I am a focused IT Professional with aptitude to learn. I strive to provide technical solutions to a range of customer needs while working within Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I desire to learn about Windows Server, Linux, databases, Mac OSX, networking architecture, and SAN architecture. ~~~(I would have to say less specifc here, tell them what you want besides money, you want advancement and a chance to learn and gain experince. Also, are you erally a professional? Are you looking for entry level?)

COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE:
• Knowledge of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems
• Knowledge of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite
• Can install, troubleshoot, and upgrade hardware on desktop PC’s, and laptops
• Can install software including operating systems, programs, and utilities
• Can install and configure consumer grade routers

EDUCATION:
Associates in the Arts, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA)
Degree: Technical Support
Current GPA: 3.82
09/01/2008 - Present

CERTIFICATIONS:
COMPTIA A+
06/23/2010 – Present

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Home and Garden Clerk, Fred Meyer
08/16/ 2010 - Present
• Help customers find products
• Restock items onto shelves

Virtual LAB Tutor, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA)
03/08/2009 – 08/14/2009
• Tutored students on the Microsoft Office 2007 Suite
• Completed given projects on time and to expectations ~~~(add what you did, what projects did you kick ass in..)

Guest Service Representative, Hollywood Video (Sammamish, WA)
08/31/ 2007 to 08/31/2009
•Provided customer service
•Informed customers of “Best Buy” deals
•Engaged in conversation with the customer
•Restocked movies and concessions
•Picked up additional shifts as necessary

VOLUNTEERING:
PC Technician, Bellevue College (Bellevue, WA)
04/05/ 2010-06/18/ 2010
01/03/ 2011 – 03/23/ 2011
• Maintained hardware and software for 30-40 desktop computers ~~~(30-40 is an eye sore, pick a number. I also would use workstations in place of PC’s or desktop computers whenever possible. Let them know they were in service. This ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ should have specifics and their own bullets below this.)
• Imaged 14 computers with a clean version of Windows XP using the imaging service known as Fog
• Configured a virtual dual-boot environment with Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista
• Built several different computers from the ground up including installing the hardware, software, and finding the necessary device drivers
• Helped students troubleshoot various problems with Windows XP Professional, Vista and Windows 7 including network connectivity issues, upgrading operating systems, and gathering necessary device drivers

Interconnections Seattle
07/29/ 2010 – 08/14/ 2010
• Performed PC Technician duties, which included troubleshooting hardware on desktops. ~~~(add specifics EX: scheduled updates or WSUS, AV AS etc..)

Armymanis

Updated my objective and the last sentence of Interconnections Seattle volunteer experience. Please look at it. Thanks

nimrod.sixty9

Armymanis wrote: »

Updated my objective and the last sentence of Interconnections Seattle volunteer experience. Please look at it. Thanks

have you even looked at my above post?

Armymanis

nimrod.sixty9 wrote: »

have you even looked at my above post?

Yes I did, What else is wrong with it?

nimrod.sixty9

Armymanis wrote: »

Yes I did, What else is wrong with it?

The one I posted has all the errors fixed. It also has notes on wording you should change.

You should copy and paste it in your first post and then edit out my notes and change your wording where noted.

Essendon

Mate, whether you are volunteering or getting paid, a job's a job. You want an IT job, put the IT experience first.

When I first glanced at your resume, I thought "Very entry-level, doesnt even look like an IT resume". Then I "luckily" happened to look further down, and there sitting at the bottom of the stack is your IT experience. Move it up, you didnt do it for nothing, you did it for the experience and that you could one day get a paying full time position.

You are seriously limiting your chances by leaving all the IT experience languishing at the bottom. When you apply for a new role, more often than not the resume gets looked at by an HR goon. They can be so dumb that they might just trash your resume if the current and previous roles (and this is how it shows up on your current resume) they saw were non-IT. Show 'em what they want to see.

As for the Personal Objective, reword it to just Objective(s), of course it's your resume and it has to be your objective. I'd reword it to be "A focused IT professional with a current A+ certification who strives to provide technical solutions to a range of customer needs within Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Looking for a blah blah position (dont say entry level here, again you limit your chances).

Hope this helps a little!

Turgon

Essendon wrote: »

Mate, whether you are volunteering or getting paid, a job's a job. You want an IT job, put the IT experience first.

When I first glanced at your resume, I thought "Very entry-level, doesnt even look like an IT resume". Then I "luckily" happened to look further down, and there sitting at the bottom of the stack is your IT experience. Move it up, you didnt do it for nothing, you did it for the experience and that you could one day get a paying full time position.

You are seriously limiting your chances by leaving all the IT experience languishing at the bottom. When you apply for a new role, more often than not the resume gets looked at by an HR goon. They can be so dumb that they might just trash your resume if the current and previous roles (and this is how it shows up on your current resume) they saw were non-IT. Show 'em what they want to see.

As for the Personal Objective, reword it to just Objective(s), of course it's your resume and it has to be your objective. I'd reword it to be "A focused IT professional with a current A+ certification who strives to provide technical solutions to a range of customer needs within Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Looking for a blah blah position (dont say entry level here, again you limit your chances).

Hope this helps a little!

Totally correct. Bump all the good stuff to the top of the resume. You will be hired based on what you have 'done'. In the eyes of many that will be a good indicator of what you can 'do'. Certifications should follow offering vendor validation of what product sets you have been examined upon.

Armymanis

Hello Everyone, I moved my 6-7 months of volunteer experience at the front, I also edited my objective again, as well as editing what I did in the virtual lab. Please leave your comments and let me know what else needs to be fixed.

sdavies2720

I have a couple of resume style suggestions:
"I am a focused..." -- Remove the "I am a" just say "Focused..."
"I strive to provide technical..." -- again, no "I", but also remove "strive to": "Provide technical..." I want to hire someone who provides technical solutions, not someone who strives to. Even better would be to restructure that sentence so you "Solve customer technical problems..."

One of the challenges of objective and summary statements is they tend to be generic, or off topic. Your sentence about what you want to learn ("I desire to learn...") is not going to help you with most opportunities -- the hiring manager's first choice will be someone who can do it. I'd suggest handling this with two additions:
1. Start learning those technologies. Even if you are just starting, it's better to say, "Learning Windows Server,..." than "Want to learn Windows Server..."
2. Your biggest selling point is your enthusiasm and flexibility to learn. Find places to highlight those skills in your resume (call out something specific you did that required quick learning and insight). That's more likely to get someone to talk to you about technologies that you're just learning.

Take time to look at every job you've had: see what technical things you can highlight from it, and highlight transferable skills (e.g., at Hollywood video you probably learned how to handle unhappy customers, and you probably helped confused customers sort through a bewildering set of movies -- both are useful skills for technical people).

Steve