Resume Critique

nerdydad

Ok, it's my turn through the gauntlet.

Found out today that the project I'm working on is ending. I have a few leads already, and 2 interviews , networking will get you farther than any job board, but still want to make sure the resume is decent if those do not pan out.

So have at it, and thanks.


Resume_Critique.pdf

Essendon

That's a decent resume, but kinda boring as it reads like the contents of a book. I might:

- Add a brief 3-4 sentence summary for every role you've had. Then have a 4-5 bullet-point accomplishments/achievements (or projects completed) section beneath that summary. This'll highlight all you've done and at the level you are at, I'm sure you've worked on some cool projects. Put some numbers in, HR/hiring managers like to see that kind of stuff.

- List the better certifications first. IMO, the CCIE Written and CCNP stand out more than a CCNA.

- Has the formatting come out right? Looks like the lines have broken off or something. Look at Evaluate and recommend network solutions <line break> Authentication, authorization.....

This could be a cracker of a resume if you just jazzed it up a bit Kevin. Try my suggestions and you should have a better resume. 2 interviews can easily be 5 or more!

nerdydad

Thanks Essendon, that's a great idea about some of the bigger projects being listed.

I think I did lose something at the end of the Evaluate and Recommend.

2 interviews scheduled, and I didn't even contact anyone until after lunch. I think the hard work is going to pay off.

lsud00d

Not specific to the resume but you went from a NOC'er to a Lead Network Engineer in 6 months?? That's pretty impressive. What's your timeframe for CCNA/P/IE?

nerdydad

I did not start as a lead, but I worked my way to that very quickly. I started as a junior, we had a quick ramp up and I became a senior, in the time since I have become the go to person for Routing and Switching, and was recently made the lead after the previous one left. I got the title and then the project ended, I seriously thought about leaving it off because I have had the title for such a short time, and may do so if the consensus says I should, but it is my role.

CCNA was 2011, CCNP in 2012 and my written in 2012. I studied at the networking Academy for my NA and NP, but while I was studying for my NP, I already knew I was going to make a run for the IE, so I studied and labbed at that level. For the last 3 months, I have been putting in approximately 50 or so hours a week in studying as we have been pretty slow, before that, I studied a minimum of about 4 hours a night during the week and usually about 10 hours every weekend.

I also mentored other students at the academy, and have been helping my coworkers study for their CCNP's.

lsud00d

That's awesome man, congrats on the hard work and quick return! Sounds like you had some good opportunities that you seized immediately.

One of the big suggestions I would make on your resume is format related...bullet points! Also using tables is always helpful for readability. For example...I'm a personal fan of listing dates on the right hand side via tables, so...



Company, Location
date range


Position

• Point 1

• Point 2

• Point 3

Obviously the above is not formatted properly because the date range should be a small column, but you get the idea. You can do this easily in Microsoft Word with the draw table tool.

Another good resume tactic is the PAR format...demonstrate your worth, cost savings, and ROI
Write a Better Resume with the P-A-R Format | Piton Inc.

Also, it's good that you have the almost the whole resume in the same tense (present, some past), but again personally I find it better to list the whole thing in past tense.

The content looks good, I think if you jazz it up with some or all of my suggestions it would improve the readability, flow, and power of your resume.