Critique My Resume Please

DoubleNNs

So far I haven't gotten any responses from my previous resume's I've sent out.I'm currently studying for the A+ and plan on doing hard core job applying as soon as I pass it in 2-4 weeks. I might even start the minute I get home from the testing center. My goal is to finally break into the felid of IT early 2013. I'm aiming for anything entry level - Help Desk, Desktop Support, etc.

DoubleNNs

I went to work hoping for criticism by the time I got back. But no responses. =[

I've been editing my resume like every week trying to make it acceptable. But I never get any calls back from my applications. I'm hoping that the addition of A+ cert will be enough to get me a job, but at the same time I always feel like I could sell myself a lot better.

DoubleNNs

Think I'm going to flesh out my Extracurricular section by giving a 1-2 sentence description of about 4 of the big organizations on the list.
Then I might add "Relevant Coursework" under education. However, I'm not too sure where to draw the line with the classes I include. Or even how to format the section when I do..

netsysllc

Don't list the certifications unless you actually have them. The Net+ and Sec + are more valuable than the A+. Put your education near the Certs. You need more details showing you have some sort of relevant help desk experience. To be honest the leadership section seems like a huge stretch with 26 employees in a business that was only open for a year and has no trace now.

DoubleNNs

I don't plan on using the version of the resume I posted on TE until mid-late December. I will have the A+ cert by the time I use this resume. I will not use this resume until I have the cert.
For all intensive purposes, if I get impatient and wanted to use this resume now all I'd have to do is delete that single line of text.
Also, I don't know if I could say the Net+ and Sec+ are more valuable than the A+ - At least they haven't been while I've been trying to get my foot in the door.

To put my education near my certs, should I move the certs down or move my education up? I'm currently taking time off of school due to both bad grades and financial difficulties. Leaving school was one of the main reasons why we decided to end Knight Notes. Because I'm not currently in school, haven't graduated yet, and my transcript isn't that great, I didn't want to highlight my education that much but instead find a way to showcase my strengths.

Knight Notes was a start-up created by college students that served other college students. However, 90% of start-ups fail - a majority of them within the first 2 years. Does including that experience really elicit an immediate red flag?

Also, other than what I've included already I don't know what else I could put as relevant help desk experience. The only thing else I could add is some of the IT classes I took for my major at Rutgers.

I essentially have no previous IT experience and trying to get my 1st shot.

pinkydapimp

I think the format looks good actually. However, for your experience level most people recommend keeping the resume to under 1 page.

For the non IT jobs, i would recommend playing up your customer service duties.

I would agree that you really dont need a leadership section at this time. I would blend that in with experience for now. Also you can probably nix the extracurricular section.

Old_ET

Resumes are used in order get you an actual interview with the company. The HR Department will go over your resume in all of - at most - 30 seconds. It has to stand out but at the same time be realistic. Anything that looks out of the ordinary - like supervising xx number of employees of a no-longer-existing company will hurt you.

Also, don't list certifications that you do not currently hold. A quick internet check and the HR folks will nail you. The same goes for your BA in IT. If you are currently not enrolled in school, then you can't realistically say that you will be conferred a degree in the spring of 2013.

Make the resume fit the job that you are actually applying. If you want a help-desk position then tailor your one-page resume that highlights what you've done, what you know, and how you'll bring that knowldege and energy to the company that you are applying.


Good Luck!

DoubleNNs

I'm reluctant to get rid of the extracurricular portion of my resume, but if you guys think it'll help I'll do it. However, people who are part of Fraternities - don't they include them on their resume for the odd chance that whoever is reviewing their resume either also is part of the Fraternity or at least knows about the Frat?
Or am I leaving too much up to chance with that thought process?

For my education: I'm a few credits away from graduating from Rutgers. However, for personal and financial reasons, I'm taking time off before finishing those last few credits. How else do I indicate on my resume that I have some college coursework completed, am an IT Major, and plan on completing my degree in 2013? When I was still enrolled, that was how I indicated that. Now that I'm no longer at Rutgers, do I change how I put that on my resume?

DoubleNNs

I'm reviving my own old thread.

Didn't end up getting my A+ last month. Life got in the way. I'm actually thinking about taking a short hiatus from the A+ material and starting on the CCENT instead since it seems more interesting to me. Maybe I'll study both the A+ and the CCENT simultaneously..

However, even without my A+ I really want to start looking for an IT position. To reiterate, I'm a college student currently taking a year off of school. I plan to return summer 2013. (I have no idea how I'm supposed to display this on my resume.)

Below is where I'm at so far w/ my resume. I'm hoping to start applying by the end of the week. It's changed a bit from what I posted before. (Got rid of my extracurricular section.) Any help in getting it fully ready for applications would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

lsud00d

For school say "Anticipated graduation date" to indicate WIP. If they ask about it explain your situation. However, I've had friends that "take a semester/year off" and don't go back to finish so make sure you finish

DoubleNNs

I had "Expected 2013" before. Old_It above claimed I shouldn't use that.
Would "Expected 2013" be better than what I put down now?

lsud00d

Old_ET has a valid point. Do you have the classes scheduled? As I mentioned, often times people "take off" time but then never go back which is the stigma of listing it while not in school. If you do list it, the verbage is "Anticipated graduation date" since it is a degree and not a certificate/certification. Also as mentioned, be able to explain and have a clear path identified if asked about it otherwise it will not be taken seriously.

In addition you're at the teetering point of anything done before college being not relevant unless it is explicitly IT related.

I would list the section headers on the left side of the page instead of the right. Culturally we read left to right and I think on a psychological level it's "distressing" to go far right to understand what is below it. I think the "Leadership" section is a good idea in theory but IMHO the first point should go under experience and the second under "Extracurricular". You list relevant IT experience under "Additional experience"...does any of this additional experience come from the jobs under your "Experience" section?? It would be better to have IT relevance in the job than just the fact that you used it at home or had to write papers in college. For your certifications I would list your CompTIA Career ID so the employer/HR can independently verify your certifications.

DoubleNNs

In the 2nd version of my resume I got rid of the "Leadership" section, and put the 1st part (Knight Notes) Under experience. I then got rid of the extracurricular section, which helped me keep my resume under a page. Most of the TE comments I got on it said that it wasn't helping me much by including it.

Unfortunately I have no professional IT experience. I've just kind of been the "go-to guy" for all things computers in my circle of friends/family. At school I've fixed a lot of friends/classmates computers for them, majority of the time for free. I've built desktop systems for myself. I installed SOHO routers and did some ethernet wiring. Nothing too impressive, but I at least know my way around computers from more than a user's perspective.

Right now I'm looking for my 1st IT gig- to break into the field.

lsud00d

DoubleNNs wrote: »

In the 2nd version of my resume

Oh I see now...I would recommend editing your original post.

DoubleNNs

Will do. I originally actually wanted to make a new thread. But since not much has changed since i last updated my resume, I thought that'd be spamming in a sense.

Anything I should change in my 2nd version of my resume other than "Anticipated Graduate Date" and putting the section headers on the left?
I'll look up my CompTIA career ID tonight after work so I can include that in my Certifications section.

DoubleNNs

Anyone else have input?

RubeSmench

I would suggest including your certification issue and expirations date, additionally I agree with lsud00d regarding his mention of incorporating your 'Additional Experience' into your 'Work Experience' section. I believe this works best for breaking into the field. Since there is a lack of official IT experience, IMO it helps to list the specifics you have completed in an official manner. Simple example, elaborate on your entry for 10 Spot, regarding the shipment management and database updates. From which version to what? Any sort of shipment manager software used in the job? Perhaps something such as ECRS Catapult or POS. Also, which operating systems you have used for each position. Perhaps trim the fillers which don't relate much to the field, i.e. "store facing" for CVS; it hardly matters to an employer if you made sure all the Gatorade was full (unless of course you were given a commendation of sorts for your efforts--employee of the month for example).

Additionally, with the space saved from the trimming above (assuming you go with my advice) I would add a 'Professional Development' Section where you can include the certifications and any university related matters. Here, you would be able to include your certificates as well as any university programs or recently completed field specific courses.

On a final note, I can not prove empirically that this holds any effect, but including an expression or a slogan of some sort next to your name proves beneficial, as it stands out. Something as Simple as John Doe - Jack of all Trades, or Richard Roe - Man of Action in your header adds a little zest. Once again, this is simply based on my personal thoughts and feedback from my current job (my HR rep told me she thought it showed a willingness to go the extra mile instinctively--I don't see how she could have been serious but HR always seems to attract an odd bunch). Sorry for rambling a bit, but as this is my first post, I wanted to make sure to cover all my bases. Wish you the best of luck in your endeavors mate. - Rube

lsud00d

I'm not a big proponent of a "Skills" section, but IMO you should list 'Certifications' and then do a 'Skills' section and list what you have under the additional experience area. I view it as a curveball in this situation but it will carry your resume further and increase your chances to get your foot in the door many-fold.

Edit: Rep'd RubeSmench for one of those rare solid first posts

RoyalRaven

I would move the certs down in the page, but above education. They're more like qualifiers, but they don't sell your skills/experience immediately. I would also change some of the bullet points to try getting away from job description-like items and convert them into objectives completed. (tell me about your business successes more than the role, even if small in scope).

Darril

First, I'd suggest that a single resume can't be used for all jobs. Anytime, I need to submit a resume for something (and it's often required for different projects), I modify the resume to fit the job.

Second, I'd suggest you remember your target audience. Who is reading it and what do they want? With this in mind, I'd suggest you first state exactly what you want. Title this as Objective, Job Objective, or something like that. When you're applying for a job advertised as a Help Desk Technician, put something like "Pursuing job as a Help Desk Technician" or "Pursuing career in IT starting as a Help Desk Technician" in this block.

Third, hiring managers often want to know what you can do and this is often demonstrated by what you have done and its impact. With this in mind, use the experience section to identify things you have done that can relate to their needs.

"Responsible for" says what you should be doing, not what you have done. As a help desk tech, customer service and customer relations is extremely important. In the CVS section, I'd suggest you come up with something that demonstrates your customer service and customer relations skills. First. Because photo-printing is technical, you might want to beef this up to show your technical ability and customer relations. Maybe something like "Routinely assist customers with technical aspects of printing photos."

On Knight Notes, this creates quite a few questions. Without reading the past posts in this thread, I'm left wondering what this company did, and if you were the co-founder vice president and it had 26 employees, what happened in August 2012 that resulted in a two month gap in your employment. All the answers might be completely reasonable but the point is that you don't want a hiring manager to look at your resume and be filled with these questions.

When you created the website, what was the impact. Did it raise sales? If you can quote numbers of the impact of your efforts, it is more meaningful.

When you developed the marketing strategy, did it increase sales? Social media and SEO have a wide variety of metrics that can be used to show the effectiveness of efforts and if you can quote them, they are useful. As written, it is easy for a reader to assume that your efforts resulted in you either getting fired or crashing the company. I'm not saying this is what happened, only that it can be perceived that way.

A quick Google search shows that Knight Notes is a service provided for students at Rutgers, your alma mater.

You might be able to eliminate much of this with a short intro such as "While a student at Rutgers, I co-founded a student-focused service company called Knight Notes."

"Created comprehensive web site including automated ecommerce elements. Implemented search engine optimization and social media methods to raise the awareness of the resulting in almost immediate increase in sales."
"Developed wide-reaching marketing strategy resulting in growth of company from zero sales to over 30 per week in a very short time."
"Recruited, hired, trained, and managed 26 part-time employees."
"Turned the company over to my partner when I left college in August 2012."

You can do similar action statements with results in the other jobs.

Last, I'd put the certifications just before your education.

Hope this helps.

DoubleNNs

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I've honestly tried to use most of the advice given, but now that I'm re-reading over all the older posts, it doesn't really seem like that from the end result. =/

However, here is my updated February Resume. (Idk if I should have created a new thread instead of reviving this one..)
It's still a rough draft - plan on having it finalized by the end of the weekend and start sending it out. It's spilling well over 1 page now, which scares me. But at the moment there isn't much I'd want to cut from the 1st page. I'm keeping the certs right below my "Summary of Skills" as a qualifier on the skills, instead of a qualifier on my work experience/education.

The format may or may not change drastically - I plan to make my final version in MS Word for HR. (Current version made in Apple Pages)

(A lot of the Personally Identifiable Info has been made-up)

lsud00d

I'm not sure if this was addressed but I don't think the 'Entrepreneurship' area is necessary, rather build that stuff into 'Experience' and just note the relevant title like owner.

I still think the headers should be left aligned instead of right.

DoubleNNs

On the word copy I started, I moved the headers to the left.

I got rid of the Entrepreneurship section, but then it got awkward trying to fit "Freelance PC Technician" into the work experience. Plus, having it split up allows me to use my 1st page to emphasize all the IT stuff I did and then the 2nd page for the "others" such as my retail experience (all i really have) and my education.

I think it works. But if general consensus says it doesn't, I'll get rid of it again.

Also, at this point, do you think it'd be better to just make a new thread instead of continuing this old one?

lsud00d

The reason why I think you should nix it is because you're applying for an IT position, not a spot on a Donald Trump show. It's an amicable skillset but irrelevant to your current goal. Also for the freelance work you can put whatever years you've done it, like 2007-current.

I think people will see that this thread has been bumped so this thread should be fine.

Darril

While browsing through your resume, I saw that you attended some cool schools (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Governor’s School of New Jersey, and New York Metro Regional Leadership Academy).

I normally wouldn't notice these schools but I've been doing a lot of direct mail campaigns to schools for one of my new books "You Can Do Anything - Three Simple Steps to Success for Graduates" (You Can Do Anything: Darril Gibson: 9781939136077: Amazon.com: Books). Some friends have suggested I include private schools in my mailings and many private schools like these have crossed my radar.

I realize I may be testing your memory but do you remember if any of these schools taught goal-setting skills? Sometimes goal-setting skills are taught with an acronym like SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-limited. No big deal either way, I was just curious.

I saw a lot of improvement in this new draft. Good luck with your efforts.

DoubleNNs

lsud00d wrote: »

The reason why I think you should nix it is because you're applying for an IT position, not a spot on a Donald Trump show. It's an amicable skillset but irrelevant to your current goal.

Whereas I do agree with you, doesn't it show initiative and that I'm able to work and perform well without having to rely on supervisors? Plus I honestly just like how it breaks page 1 and page 2 of the resume.

For my freelance work how is:

Independent Consultant
Freelance PC Technician 2006 - Present

Would it matter that I don't have a month above, or should I try to just make one up? (Probably put September otherwise)

Darril wrote: »

I normally wouldn't notice these schools but I've been doing a lot of direct mail campaigns to schools for one of my new books "You Can Do Anything - Three Simple Steps to Success for Graduates" (You Can Do Anything: Darril Gibson: 9781939136077: Amazon.com: Books). Some friends have suggested I include private schools in my mailings and many private schools like these have crossed my radar.

I realize I may be testing your memory but do you remember if any of these schools taught goal-setting skills? Sometimes goal-setting skills are taught with an acronym like SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-limited. No big deal either way, I was just curious.

I saw a lot of improvement in this new draft. Good luck with your efforts.

Thanks for noting the improvement Darril.

As for your question, I don't remember any acronyms specifically. But Prep for Prep had an Ethics class we had to take, which did explore a little bit in self-esteem, goal-setting, and overall leadership. We also had advisory groups and counselors which offered more informal teaching in that respect.
NFTE (Entrepreneurship) might have taught something similar, since I know there were a ton of acronyms, but TBH that was the only program I've done and had no desire to be at, but forced to go because of my parents. I didn't pay much attention and couldn't recall most of the information taught. =/

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

lsud00d

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Whereas I do agree with you, doesn't it show initiative and that I'm able to work and perform well without having to rely on supervisors? Plus I honestly just like how it breaks page 1 and page 2 of the resume.

It does but you will have to rely on supervisors for your first IT job! I see it as a resume real-estate detriment more than a demonstration of worker independence.

Speaking of resume real-estate, you're font is huge and there's a lot of white space! Your resume should really be one page, especially if you're going for your first/entry level IT job.

pinkydapimp

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I've honestly tried to use most of the advice given, but now that I'm re-reading over all the older posts, it doesn't really seem like that from the end result. =/

However, here is my updated February Resume. (Idk if I should have created a new thread instead of reviving this one..)
It's still a rough draft - plan on having it finalized by the end of the weekend and start sending it out. It's spilling well over 1 page now, which scares me. But at the moment there isn't much I'd want to cut from the 1st page. I'm keeping the certs right below my "Summary of Skills" as a qualifier on the skills, instead of a qualifier on my work experience/education.

The format may or may not change drastically - I plan to make my final version in MS Word for HR. (Current version made in Apple Pages)

(A lot of the Personally Identifiable Info has been made-up)

Its coming along. Are there any other things you can add to the skills section? Office? Adobe? Outlook? and mac apps or tools?

pinkydapimp

Also, with VMware it makes it real easy to play with software. Get a copy of VMware, or even one of the free virtualization products, download an evaluation copy of 2008 or 2012 server and start playing with them. Then you can throw them on your resume.

Thomas Elliot

Did you only do about 3-4 things at each job? I feel like you could expand what you did in each job to make it more comprehensive.
Personally I like extracurricular activities. Were you ever a coach or anything like that? I think that is a possibility you could explore if you did that.

DoubleNNs

@Thomas Elliot - I've done a lot of extracurricular activities - I was an intramural basketball team captain for years straight at college, been in a few clubs, and did a lot of summer programs/schooling. I also COULD expand more on my work experiences, but my resume is already well over 2 pages. And most of my work experience is retail-esque, which doesn't really help much other than displaying I can do customer service.

@pinkydapimp - I could add office/adobe to my skills section. But I feel like those are kinda given; everyone uses office. Instead of putting it in skills I just mentioned them in my "Knight Notes" section. Honestly, I don't know what skills to add specifically tailored towards Help Desk that I actually possess.
I DO plan on learning Server, but I wanted to focus on getting my CCNA before playing around with that.

@lsud00d - I'm sure supervisors hate those employees who have to ask them questions every 5 minutes and need help on learning simple tasks just because it's outside the scope of things they've already done, and instead appreciate fast learners who know when to ask for help, but rarely need to. I know I'm a very patient person but even w/ Knight Notes I hated when some people asked me questions on things I otherwise thought was ridiculously easy/something they could have figured out themselves.
Of course, I don't know if a recruiter would see the Entrepreneurial section and think about that - esp since they'll prolly give my resume a total of 10 seconds of thought when 1st reviewing. =/

I didn't think the font was that huge. But if you do, I'll shrink everything down when I create my MS Word copy tomorrow. I'll also play around w/ the formatting. If combining the 2 sections (Entrepreneurship & Work Experience) would get me under a page at that point, I'll def do it.