Resume Advice- Technical Skills

I'm polishing up the old resume and I was wondering if anyone here had advice for my technical skills section.

Do I need to clarify anything? Remove anything? Thanks in advance! This is what I have so far:

Platforms
Windows Client (2000/XP/Vista/7), Windows Server (2003/200

, Linux (Ubuntu/Backtrack5), Cisco IOS

Server
Active Directory, Group Policy, Hyper-V, VMWare

Networking
TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, VPN, VLAN, DHCP, WINS, DNS, IP Subnetting

Languages
HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, Powershell

Hardware
Cisco 2600, 2900, 3500 series routers and switches, PC peripherals, custom-built PCs, Cat5/6 cabling

Software
MS Office Suite, Visio, Adobe Creative Suite, HEAT, Nagios

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Comments

Essendon

If I were to have a skills section in my resume, I may take out Windows 2000 and Vista. 2000 is old and Vista is the unloved child - how many companies actually use it?

Now, why would you even have this section on the resume? I consider it resume padding, completely unnecessary and instead opens you up to a whole lot of technical questions. Are you going to be able to answer most questions on ESXi/Hyper-v? If yes, then you dont need the Skills section because your experience should have enough keywords to show up in the HR resume filter. If not, then dont put it there.

Expect to be grilled by a good technical interviewer if you left this section there. I would, for sure.

P.S. Not being harsh or a jerk, just putting this out there for you to contemplate on. Welcome to the forums!

offthenonagain

I'd love to see a strong example of a technical resume without the padding of a skills list. Would you mind posting yours, Essendon?

pinkydapimp

IMO a skills section is wanted in many cases because it helps recruiters to easily see your skills. Also, those keywords can get your resume thtough automated scanners as well.

offthenonagain

That's what I believe. Also, when you have a skills section, you can have a more "HR Friendly" description of your duties. Your average HR person isn't going to know the first thing about Schemas, OUs, and WSUS but they do know "Administered accounts in an Active Directory setting" or "Responsible for patching and maintenence of 40 physical servers in a production environment."

Essendon

I believe a resume is precious real estate and you should use it wisely. Elaborate on your responsibilities and achievements, you only have 30 seconds to impress a hiring manager when your resume is being looked at. If the biggest section they see is a technical skills section listing every technology under the sun, they'll be like - either this person doesnt know much about anything or the fluff is there to draw their attention away from the lack of real experience. You seem to agree with me offthenonagain in your last post - The average HR person isnt going to know jack about what the heck WDS and WSUS are (from your Skills section) but if your responsibilities section says - Administered WDS in the environment, created and managed OS images. Patched and performed scheduled maintenance on physical servers in a prod environment. Which one's better? Take your pick.

To each their own really, but I wouldnt have this section on my resume. I need to keep my resume to 2 pages for readability and cant afford to waste half a page for a Skills section. This topic is always going to be debatable.

UniqueAgEnT

I agree with Essendon on this. Most people have a Technical Skills section with a laundry list of technologies that they have heard of/used once or twice. I also do not have this section on my resume since my experience encompasses the primary skills that I have. However, if your experience does not correctly reflect you skill set, then I would add the technical skills section. It really depends on your prior experience in my opinion. If you need the section, then keep it, otherwise it is padding for the resume.

Essendon

You asked me about my resume, now I'm unable to post it up here but it's very similar in format to one of our member's resume. Find his here > http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66105-my-turn-dust-off-resume-critique.html

paul78

I don't necessarily oppose seeing a skills section in a resume. But what I would expect to see in that section would largely depend on a candidate's years of experience and area of expertise. For people with many years of IT experience, it's more interesting to read about actual professional accomplishments or various role responsibilities.

But if you want to have a skills section, I would recommend making a less verbose section. For example:

Under platform - you list Cisco IOS but also mention various Cisco equipment under Hardware. Most people aren't going to care about specific versions of Cisco routers and switches.

Under Software - you list MS Office, Visio, Adobe. If you are a in IT, that's kind of a given. Whenever I see someone seeking an IT related position that list Visio and MS Office, I get a little chuckle since it's not exactly a unique skill.

Under Networking - most of the items are pretty redundant depending on the type of role you are seeking.

Under Languages - HTML and CSS are not programming languages. And it's not a unique IT skill. Again most people I know would probably chuckle when if they saw that.

Anyways, I hope that I'm not being too harsh. I'm not really familiar with your background or the type of job which you would be applying for, so my comments may not necessarily apply.

Good luck with your job search.

MSP-IT

Essendon wrote: »

You asked me about my resume, now I'm unable to post it up here but it's very similar in format to one of our member's resume. Find his here > http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66105-my-turn-dust-off-resume-critique.html

There is no valid link within the thread you posted.

burfect

This is a very interesting thread. Essendon you make a lot of good points, but what about someone who lacks a reasonable amount of professional experience, or who is aiming to hit an entry-level position? What about a recent college graduate? I think a lot of recent graduates struggle with the skills section because it is so pushed in by advisors, recruiters etc.

I would love to hear your (and others) opinion on the way I have mine laid out. The reason I am so hesitant to have a blanketed "Skills" section is for many of the reasons you mentioned... I have taken a course on OOP/Java, and I have taken a course on SQL... basic introductary courses (for example the simpliest of queries and joins in SQL) so I am nervous/hesitant to list them flatout as a "Technical Skill."

At the same time, do I think it makes sense to leave them completley off considering these were my area of FOCUS in college, and not the accounting/finance classes of my fellow BSBA classmates? Not at all, if anything they SHOULD be listed to help market myself as a recent graduate trying to break into the industry... having said that, if someone rails me with questions about while loops and even basic java syntaxes I am going to draw a blank without some refresher work, but who said I was applying to developer positions anyhow.

I am curious as to your onion on the following style, for a recent college graduate, with little to no practical/professional experience outside of studies...

COURSEWORK/SKILLS

Management Information Systems (using Excel and Access)
Database Management Systems (learning DBMS and SQL/SQL Server)
Application Systems Development (using Java and Netbeans)
Data Communications and Networks (overview of TCP/IP and OSI layers)
Systems Analysis and Design (overview of SDLC with exposure to Visio)
Enterprise Systems Management (focusing on ERP systems)
Electronic Business (basic HTML, CSS)

? Thanks.