Lowe's Internship / Resume and Cover Letter Advice

ciscoman2012

Hey guys, need your help on this one. First, let me explain my scenario.

I am currently in Mannheim, Germany at the University of Mannheim studying Business Informatics for a semester. Specifically, taking a class on ERP systems/implementation as well as information systems in business processes and a corporate strategy management course.

When I get back to my home University in North Carolina, I will complete my last semester and graduate at the end of Spring 2012. I'm currently working on my CCENT certification and was planning on taking it sometime during January 2012. Needless the say, the courses over here in Europe are a bit more demanding than the ones in the USA and I haven't had much time to study Cisco. It makes me sad since I love studying networking but I just feel guilty while trying to stay on top of my courses while abroad.

With that being said, I found a very nice Networking Internship located in Mooresville, NC. It is for a company called Lowe's, which is a home improvement company like Home Depot. Their main headquarters/data center is located in Mooresville, NC, about 45minutes from where I live and grew up (Charlotte).

While looking at the qualifications for this internship, it seems like they may only want students who are still enrolled in college. I planned on graduating in May 2012, and the internship doesn't start until the summer of 2012. I really feel this internship would be invaluable to me and help me out tremendously. So I have two options.

Option A: Apply for the internship now and tell them that I am graduating in the Fall semester of 2012. This would mean that I would stay another semester, get a minor in Economics, and possibly work towards my CCNA (regarding I finish CCENT in mid January).

Option B: Forget the internship and start applying to full time jobs after I graduate in Spring 2012. Possibly start working towards the ICND2 after I pass the CCENT in January.


My Dad has helped me write a cover letter and check my Resume but I would like to get the forums feedback as well. I'm sure many of you are much older than I am (being 22) and possibly hire new IT people like me all the time.

Any help would be appreciated.

I will also attach a screenshot of the internship description.

Internship Information:
http://www.mediafire.com/?rovvd6ioop0vt8d

Cover Letter:
http://www.mediafire.com/?pnzkyancg5jt8mu

Resume:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ru78cy384y9d52c

For some reason it will not let me post attachments. Does anyone know why? I will try to upload them to another site and show the URL here.

Akaricloud

Don't get hung up on any one job (or internship in this case). What happens if you completely change your education schedule around and then don't get the job? Or if you find out it's not for you? Don't mess up what you have for a job that you haven't even applied for. After you have your degree you're not going to want to be doing an internship anyways. Move on, graduate and find full time work.

ciscoman2012

Akaricloud wrote: »

Don't get hung up on any one job (or internship in this case). What happens if you completely change your education schedule around and then don't get the job? Or if you find out it's not for you? Don't mess up what you have for a job that you haven't even applied for. After you have your degree you're not going to want to be doing an internship anyways. Move on, graduate and find full time work.

While I understand what you're saying, I don't exactly have the 2-4 years experience that all the networking jobs I see listed are asking for.

I have 2-3 years in student jobs potentially, but not real jobs configuring routers/switches. I just feel an internship would be a huge boost for me in the networking field.

lsud00d

I'm fairly positive everyone has had a point in their careers (most likely beginnings) when they applied for jobs that they weren't fully, or even half qualified for...the reason people like that get the job is because they are well composed, have good communication skills, show initiative, and most importantly...demonstrate that they can and will LEARN. You're in school so we know you can learn (I hope), but that's what an employer wants...not that you know everything asked for on the job description, but that you are an intelligent sponge who wears trypants to work everyday

ciscoman2012

lsud00d wrote: »

I'm fairly positive everyone has had a point in their careers (most likely beginnings) when they applied for jobs that they weren't fully, or even half qualified for...the reason people like that get the job is because they are well composed, have good communication skills, show initiative, and most importantly...demonstrate that they can and will LEARN. You're in school so we know you can learn (I hope), but that's what an employer wants...not that you know everything asked for on the job description, but that you are an intelligent sponge who wears trypants to work everyday

That's what my parents keep telling me but I just don't believe it..:/

Employers post so much stuff on their job requirement listings that it seems almost impossible for one to be hired there. And if that person really did have CCNP and CCIE, they wouldn't be taking the job for 35-45k. LOL

lsud00d

Dude, I promise you...I'm 25, graduate from college in 2008...albeit I did have an "internship" (FTE salaried + full benefits) my senior year, I was partly qualified for this recent job I took as a Sys. Admin...it required extensive linux knowledge, of which I had zero. But, I knocked the interview out of the park and demonstrated my passion for IT and ability to learn, and whatdyaknow I got 4 linux certs a month into the job!

Just exude confidence, be assertive, and show that you can and will learn!

Good luck man

hackman2007

Most of the time the list is simply an ideal candidate. But you can be one of these types of candidates and still not get the job (trust me, I've been on that side).

If I were you (and I was not too long ago, minus the overseas work), I would simply look for full-time employment. By the way, I didn't even do an internship, but still got a job. Being a student isn't a problem, it shows you actually did something. But I wouldn't expect to start out in the hardcore networking field right away. You might have to take a lower-end job to get where you want.

ciscoman2012

So what type of jobs should I be looking for right now? Do you think there is any way to get around the help desk? I've done it for 2-3 years in college for teachers having trouble with the A/V equipment and computers in the classroom and it's really not something I want to spend more time in.

hackman2007

You can definitely avoid help desk, it isn't a requirement to get in to the networking field.

I would just start looking for full-time employment. Apply anywhere and everywhere (including local places). If you think you can do the job, apply anyways, even if you don't meet the requirements.

ciscoman2012

I've made a list for a few that I've come across so far.

Do you think I would be well suited to apply for these type of jobs?

Find Jobs - Systems Engineer - Network Engineer Jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina - Blueline Computer LLC

Find Jobs - VOIP Implementation Engineer I Jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina - Paetec

Robert Half Technology - Looking for a talented Network Administrator in Charlotte!

ciscoman2012

Anyone else have any opinions on my situation / resume / cover letter / any IT advice??

Stuppored

ciscoman2012 wrote: »

Anyone else have any opinions on my situation / resume / cover letter / any IT advice??

employers look for whatever theyre looking for in the first 2 seconds of reading the top front of a resume.

granted the university degree may be something they want to see... the top bullets on the resume look like a bunch of blibber blabber. its very generalized about nothing... you dont have to show them that you make an 'effort' in words... just show them that you're continuing to learn... but really point out how you're doing it!

top part... turn it into 'technical skill set'. use bullets to talk each item in bold.. then have a - which breaks down whatever much more... sorta like the systems section.

if you have a home lab or have worked with any specific product... ie cisco router xxxx, list that.

throw in a section about aspirations... i would would like the opportunity to be responsible for such and such technologies: xxxx,xxxx,xxxx,xxxx... followed up with a here's what i'm doing in my spare time to get certifications your company will benefit from...


all this:

MS Office Suite 2007/2010 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access), VMWare Fusion, WireShark Packet Analyzer, Cisco Packet Tracer, TeamViewer, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCad, Apple Logic Studio, Pro Tools

could be broke down much better with the sections i talked about earlier.


im sure employers want to know if you can image a computer, troubleshoot networking, understand tcp/ip, packet sniffing to identify network threats,
antivirus products, firewalls, vpn, virtualization, windows servers, etc

the languages section you have i'd have to say imho looks very poor... mostly highschool scripting stuff.... try to pickup java, php, html 5, c++ if you're aiming for a software engineering position... if you're not... it should not be above things that would apply to your network position attemps... ie wireshark....

put all the network relevant stuff at the top. show your interest/motivations by giving explicit examples of how you want to achieve whatever for knowledge...


here's further:

Self-motivated and challenged with new opportunities, as demonstrated by active pursuit and participation in Foreign Exchange IT program at Universität Mannheim, in Mannheim, Germany


^^Who isn't? Everyone's gotta put food on the table, right?

Consistently recognized and rewarded for technical troubleshooting and end-user communication skills


^^Who doesn't get that? You want that? Help Desk job! You'll get that even if they fix their own problem without you saying or doing anything.

Quickly learn, master, and leverage with best practices new technology; equally successful in both team and self-directed settings; and proficient in a range of computer systems, languages, tools and testing/evaluation methodologies


^^Too much text, very generalized.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) undergraduate offering a strong academic background in IT combined with "self-starter" business initiative (started own IT business) and job experience (holding (2) IT student positions at UNC-G)

^^ looks okay... but still too much text. The only question I ask 'if you own your own business, why do you need us?' kind of thought coming from a prospective interviewer. I'd go with stating the program, the university and the IT positions.

That's great you went overseas to practice ein bisschen deutsch zu sprechen. it's soo big it takes up alot of space... mention you can speak german fluently but alot of that text can be backspaced.

I'd love to see how you update this. I did not read the cover letter.

ciscoman2012

Stuppored wrote: »

employers look for whatever theyre looking for in the first 2 seconds of reading the top front of a resume.

granted the university degree may be something they want to see... the top bullets on the resume look like a bunch of blibber blabber. its very generalized about nothing... you dont have to show them that you make an 'effort' in words... just show them that you're continuing to learn... but really point out how you're doing it!

top part... turn it into 'technical skill set'. use bullets to talk each item in bold.. then have a - which breaks down whatever much more... sorta like the systems section.

if you have a home lab or have worked with any specific product... ie cisco router xxxx, list that.

throw in a section about aspirations... i would would like the opportunity to be responsible for such and such technologies: xxxx,xxxx,xxxx,xxxx... followed up with a here's what i'm doing in my spare time to get certifications your company will benefit from...


all this:

MS Office Suite 2007/2010 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access), VMWare Fusion, WireShark Packet Analyzer, Cisco Packet Tracer, TeamViewer, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCad, Apple Logic Studio, Pro Tools

could be broke down much better with the sections i talked about earlier.


im sure employers want to know if you can image a computer, troubleshoot networking, understand tcp/ip, packet sniffing to identify network threats,
antivirus products, firewalls, vpn, virtualization, windows servers, etc

the languages section you have i'd have to say imho looks very poor... mostly highschool scripting stuff.... try to pickup java, php, html 5, c++ if you're aiming for a software engineering position... if you're not... it should not be above things that would apply to your network position attemps... ie wireshark....

put all the network relevant stuff at the top. show your interest/motivations by giving explicit examples of how you want to achieve whatever for knowledge...


here's further:

Self-motivated and challenged with new opportunities, as demonstrated by active pursuit and participation in Foreign Exchange IT program at Universität Mannheim, in Mannheim, Germany


^^Who isn't? Everyone's gotta put food on the table, right?

Consistently recognized and rewarded for technical troubleshooting and end-user communication skills


^^Who doesn't get that? You want that? Help Desk job! You'll get that even if they fix their own problem without you saying or doing anything.

Quickly learn, master, and leverage with best practices new technology; equally successful in both team and self-directed settings; and proficient in a range of computer systems, languages, tools and testing/evaluation methodologies


^^Too much text, very generalized.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) undergraduate offering a strong academic background in IT combined with "self-starter" business initiative (started own IT business) and job experience (holding (2) IT student positions at UNC-G)

^^ looks okay... but still too much text. The only question I ask 'if you own your own business, why do you need us?' kind of thought coming from a prospective interviewer. I'd go with stating the program, the university and the IT positions.

That's great you went overseas to practice ein bisschen deutsch zu sprechen. it's soo big it takes up alot of space... mention you can speak german fluently but alot of that text can be backspaced.

I'd love to see how you update this. I did not read the cover letter.

Thanks for the constructive criticism Stuppored. I will take another stab at the top section when I get home from school and see if I can improve on the ways you've suggested. If I only know those few Languages, and plan on not learning more (since I want to do more Networking side than development side), should I just leave them off the list?

Stuppored

it's experience regardless. just throw it under technical skill set... but closer to the bottom of that list. call it programming languages to simplify it for... drum roll please.... 1st level HR reps that don't know squat about what they're hiring for... except for keywords they see... and it helps if some things are dummied down for them... so instead of just languages... programming languages

at a lot of companies... you're submitting a resume directly to an hr department... then the HR generalist reads through yours and many more. from there your resume may land in a pile that gets passed to the hiring manager who then reviews the resumes further and then gives the go ahead for the hr generalist to begin making phone interviews for that one position. these are typically behavioural interviews. if you pass that and the hiring manager likes your answers... or if the hiring manager takes the word of the hr generalist when they say they like you... you will be moved along to the second interview most likely in person with hiring manager. at which point you may be given a written test for your technical skills... or perhaps it may be just a verbal interview. don't be afraid of failing the written test, they may still hire you based on how you act and your history.