How to write a resume for an IT job with no related experience?

sponnyroad

Hi guys I am trying to get into the IT world but I stink at writing resumes. I honestly do not know how to write one up. If I don't have any experience, what do I put on my resume? Can I put personal experience? What can I say in my cover letter?

MeanDrunkR2D2

Honestly, companies don't want to see non-professional experience in your resume. I'd just list your last few employers to show how long you have stuck with them in the recent past so that they see that you aren't a job hopper. In the cover letter though, you can explain some of the things that you are comfortable with and have done on your own. If you are fresh out of college, and don't have any relevant work or just short term jobs, leave them off and mention in your resume objective that you are a new college graduate looking for an opportunity in your career field.

If you have a degree in another field and experience in another field, put in your last 2-3 years worth of employers to show stability in the companies you have worked for. In your objective mention your objective for the career change to IT. If you have any certs, definitely list them. If you don't, I would highly recommend that you get the A+ to start with and then customize depending on what path in IT you want to take. Just be very careful about putting personal experience that you have as it's likely not going to be relevant in an enterprise environment.

sponnyroad

MeanDrunkR2D2 wrote: »

Honestly, companies don't want to see non-professional experience in your resume. I'd just list your last few employers to show how long you have stuck with them in the recent past so that they see that you aren't a job hopper. In the cover letter though, you can explain some of the things that you are comfortable with and have done on your own. If you are fresh out of college, and don't have any relevant work or just short term jobs, leave them off and mention in your resume objective that you are a new college graduate looking for an opportunity in your career field.

If you have a degree in another field and experience in another field, put in your last 2-3 years worth of employers to show stability in the companies you have worked for. In your objective mention your objective for the career change to IT. If you have any certs, definitely list them. If you don't, I would highly recommend that you get the A+ to start with and then customize depending on what path in IT you want to take. Just be very careful about putting personal experience that you have as it's likely not going to be relevant in an enterprise environment.

Yes I have my A+ right now so that should help a bit. I am not fresh out of college and I have experience in another field. Thanks for the tips.

ptilsen

All good advice, although I wouldn't totally discount non-professional experience. If your experience is 100% volunteering for friends/family, that's one thing, but if people have paid you money to do IT work it could be worth listing.

That being said, you should focus on your technical skills. For an experienced resume, I don't recommend a skills section at all. For a resume with little to no professional experience, I recommend a thorough enumeration of technical abilities.

missy2687

I'm in the process of looking for my first IT job right now. I just graduated with my Associates 2 weeks ago so I have actually been called & interviewed for 3 or 4 IT positions within the past few months with no degree, no certs, and no professional IT experience. I work in a business/office customer service type position now so I just really emphasize how the great work that I do/have done there for the past 6 years paired with my recent education and hands on training in information technology would make me a great candidate for whatever position they are looking to fill. I also do mention what certs I am aggressively pursuing at this time. I think a lot of them appreciate my extensive background in customer service and with my evolving background in IT they probably figure that it can't hurt to talk with me and give me a shot. Not to mention that I write a great resume & cover letter and also interview quite well What kills me though is when I get the "we are looking for someone with more experience" email after the interview- when they knew good & well what my experience was going in to it!

Oh- I also list my IT skills that I am confident in even though I have no professional experience or certification in it. For example, I am not CCNA certified (yet), but I do write that I have CCNA level knowledge of LAN/WAN switching, routing, OSI & TCP/IP reference models. I am not A+ certified but I do mention that I have familiarity with so & so OS's and have a general understanding of hardware, software, networking technology & troubleshooting