Critique the first page of my CV

I am creating my new CV and have so far done the following. Using point size 11 aerial and 10 for the main statement. Please could someone take a butchers at it and see what you think? I have used a few books on how to write CVs.

I think some of you might say the opening statement is too wordy?

IT support and customer service professional with extensive cross-industry experience in helpdesk environments possessing excellent troubleshooting and problem solving skills. Passionate about IT with the ability to learn quickly as demonstrated through recent study which showcases self motivation and enthusiasm. Strong communication skills with the ability to prioritize and work proactively in pressure and target driven environments. Seeking an IT Support role to use versatile desktop support and networking skills to become an asset to the department with a view to future progression and development within the company.

PROFESSIONAL I.T. QUALIFICATIONS

▪ CompTIA A+ (March 2011)
▪ CompTIA Network+ (May 2011)
▪ CompTIA Security+ (June 2011)
▪ Cisco CCENT and CCNA (January 2012), CCNP (August 2012)
▪ CWTS – Wireless (February 2012)
▪ ITIL Foundation (September 2012)

KEY I.T. SKILLS

▪ IT Support/Helpdesk, customer service and technical sales experience
▪ Experience of taking volume calls, call logging, service requests, incidents and escalation
▪ Installing and troubleshooting Windows Operating Systems - XP, Vista and 7
▪ Building, upgrading and repairing desktop computers
▪ 2,000+ hours Cisco networking experience; configuration/troubleshooting of switches and routers
▪ TCP/IP troubleshooting of LANs, WANs and WLANs, and knowledge of security
▪ Subnetting proficiency and knowledge of OSI
▪ Experience creating VLANs, VTP, inter VLAN routing, Spanning-Tree protocol, setting up PPP/HDLC configs
▪ Advanced knowledge of routing protocols: RIP, EIGRP, OSPF and BGP
▪ Configuring Policy Based routing, ACLs, prefix-lists and filtering on Cisco routers
▪ Knowledge of GRE, IPSec and IPv6
▪ Understanding and experience of DHCP, DNS, ICMP, tracert, ping, ipconfig, telnet/ssh
▪ Knowledge of Windows Server and Active Directory (AD) for user account management
▪ Working on my own initiative in target driven and pressurised environments to meet SLAs and KPIs within the ITIL framework

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Comments

Essendon

Like they say, if you have 'em, you flaunt 'em!

Are you after a helpdesk job? The moment I had a look at your certs, I was like - looks like he's trying to break into IT. Then I saw the CCNP. Get my drift? The CCNP is a pro level exam and it must be treated as such, list it at the top man! If I had the CCNP, I'd stick on my cubicle's wall. Whether you should put the A+/N+ there is debatable, personally if I had the CCNP, I'd have trashed the lowly entry level certs.

The same goes for your key skills section. Again you are severely watering down your chances to get noticed by the prospective employer. You start off with IT Support/Helpdesk. You are a CCNP and IT Support/Helpdesk is your biggest skill? Really? Telephone calls/call logging?

You'll need to completely redesign the key skills section or completely delete it. If you had applied for a mid level network gig and a HR person received your resume, s/he would have one look at it and probably pass. You need to put the big words in there. Say something on the lines of configuring core/Nexus switches or whatever routers there are in Ciscoland.

Hope I didnt come across as too harsh, but this is my honest opinion.

cyberguypr

Yeah I am also a little confused on what your final objective is. What type of position are you looking for? That CCNP definitely got lost there. I only saw it after Essendon commented on it. Should definitely be opening up that list.

Ciscodian

no you didn't sound harsh at all. I get what you're saying. It seems I took the approach of going from bottom to top but there's a danger people might see that and not read it all the way through to the end. I gotta turn it around. I will remove the volume call logging part and replace with something much more in line what i have done. 2nd/3rd Line stuff and rolling out new hardware etc.

I don;t know if i should remove that stuff about dhcp, dns, subnetting,osi layers...i mean it's kinda implicit that I understand it right if I am a ccnp.
But thing is i've spoke to a few hr people and even job agencies who don't know this. They don't know what an osi layer is or what subnetting is and if there client asked for it they look for key words in people's cvs. Thats why i put it on there.

Ciscodian

cyberguypr wrote: »

Yeah I am also a little confused on what your final objective is. What type of position are you looking for? That CCNP definitely got lost there. I only saw it after Essendon commented on it. Should definitely be opening up that list.

at this point in time i'll take anything!! ideally 2nd/3rd line working within cisco environments. That's what my main experience is but have done some 1st line work before. I do have experience in 2nd line support and have worked on cisco switches/routers before.

Do you think my Key skills is too long? i don't want to bore anyone
On the bit which says "CWTS Wireless"...i left off the "certified Wireless Tech Specialist" real definition because I didn't want to come across as being arrogant or people getting the wrong idea about it. The CWTS is an entry level cert afterall and it is nearly all theory. Is my thinking on this sound?

Essendon

The skills section is a touch too long. Some people expand out the acronym, I do personally. There aint anything wrong with that.

Yeah a HR douchebag cannot tell a router from a toaster. I reckon you should put the DHCP/DNS/Subnetting bits somewhere in your job responsibilities and that'll cover the keyword hit side of things. This should free up some space which you can use for high-impact stuff, configuring switches/routers and the like.

Maybe post up the entire resume?

DCD

I not sure what type of position you are looking so this is kind of generic. Also not knowing you make it hard as well. I would drop the last sentence and I remove the 2000+ hour since you did use time on anything else. You should add the type of router and switches you have used in that skill area.

I am ITsupport and customer service professional with extensive cross-industryexperience in an Enterprise environments possessing strong communication skillswith the ability to troubleshooting and problem solving and prioritize workproactively in pressure and target driven environments. I am passionate aboutthe IT industry with the ability to learn quickly as demonstrated through recentstudy and work which showcases my motivation and enthusiasm for IT.
I am seeking an IT Support role to use myversatile desktop support and networking skills to become anasset to your department with a view to future progression and developmentwithin the company.

PROFESSIONALI.T. QUALIFICATIONS

▪ Cisco CCNP (August 2012)
▪ Cisco CCNA (January 2012)
▪ CompTIA A+ (March 2011)
▪ CompTIA Network+ (May 2011)
▪ CompTIA Security+ (June 2011)
▪ CWTS– Wireless (February 2012)
▪ ITIL Foundation (September 2012)

KEY I.T. SKILLS

▪ Cisco networking experience; configuration and troubleshooting of switchesand routers
▪ TCP/IP troubleshooting of LANs, WANs and WLANs, and knowledge of security andOSI model
▪ Subnetting proficiency.▪ Experience with Spanning-treeand creating VLANs, VTP, inter VLAN routing.
▪ Setting up PPP/HDLCconfigurations.
▪ Advanced knowledge of routing protocols: RIP, EIGRP, OSPF and BGP
▪ Configuring Policy Based routing, ACLs, prefix-lists and filtering on Ciscorouters
▪ Knowledge of GRE, IPSec and IPv6
▪ Understanding and experience of DHCP, DNS, ICMP, tracert, ping, ipconfig,telnet/ssh
▪ Knowledge of Windows Server and Active Directory (AD) for user accountmanagement. ▪ Installing andtroubleshooting Windows Operating Systems - XP, Vista and 7.
▪ Building, upgrading andrepairing desktop computers. ▪ IT Support/Helpdesk,customer service and technical sales experience
▪ Experience of taking volume calls, call logging, service requests, incidentsand escalation
▪ Working on my own initiative in target driven and pressurised environments tomeet SLAs and KPIs within the ITILframework.

alexdagr8est

I would even lose the dates that you obtained the certifications - looks like you did very well in such a short time, but can be a conversation starter in the interview. If they ask they may be shocked that you did your CCNP within 3 months (assuming straight after CCNA) within an interview situation this can put you at the top of the list.
Remember if the HR guys dont know- they will ask the IT guys within the organisation. I had a HR guy ask me what was ICND1 and ICND2 (CCENT and CCNA) - because he knew I took the 640-802.
Also it may seem as if you have been in the IT game longer than you have meaning they think you may have more experience than you have (if the HR guys dont know their jobs)
If you moved to AUS you would definitely be on around 70-80K a year.
Depending on the job you are going for I would focus less on the Helpdesk stuff, although mention it briefly and focus more on the Cisco stuff and mini projects/troubleshooting with cisco/ any network equipment you have performed. Riverbed, checkpoint, sonicwall, asa's etc even little stuff/ home networking for smaller clients (the HR's dont know) - it will give you the interview.

Once in the interview follow something like this Interview Questions for Network Engineers - Tips for Interviewing
pretty straightforward stuff, but you never know.