Help me figure out what I'm worth!

So I'm doing some temp work right now for enough money to keep me afloat, but I'm not getting ahead. I'm looking to move to the Raleigh, NC area (unless somone can suggest another awesome city reasonably close to VA that isn't DC). I don't want to deal with hilarious NoVA/DC traffic, so that's out of the question. I plan on buying a home shortly after getting where I'm going so the cost of living in the area is also extremely important. Raleigh seems like the best choice right now but I'm open to suggestions.Back on topic. edit: updated resume v2.0 further down, removed this one for clarityThis now has my most updated resume, like the posts below

Updated: Added most recent revision to OP

Matt Resume (networking) anon.doc

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mdomino

Also looking heavily at Charlotte, NC for anyone who has experience with how the job market/pricing goes around there.

I like warm weather and motorcycles so I prefer to live somewhere I can ride ~9 months out of the year (above 45deg)

dbrink

Your resume is pretty difficult to read for me. It just seems to be a "wall of text". In your technical skills I don't think there is a need to list every hardware component of a PC and you probably could just list Microsoft Office instead of each individual application. I would also add some whitespace between each section of your resume to make it a little more readable. Just my opinion though.

I live near the Charlotte area but I'm not really familiar with what Network Engineers make around here.

MSP-IT

Shrink that resume down to a single page for starts.

mdomino

The resume came from a professional who came VERY highly recommended from a different forum (3000+ reviews) so I'm kind of reluctant to change anything on it, but I'm getting some revisions done so I'll stay in contact with him about that. Do you think Network Engineer is the kind of thing I should be aiming for?

It's weird after doing the military and school thing for so long that I have trouble deciding what kind of job I should actually be doing!

dbrink

I can just tell you as someone who has reviewed resumes in the past, my eyes "glossed over" while looking at your resume due to how verbose it was. Most of the technical people who would be looking at resumes have limited time to do it so it is best to keep it as light as possible. Your resume should be a highlight of what you have done and know and if they want to know more then that is what the interview is for.

For instance.

"Provided network and technical support for a unit of 300 users during a fifteen month deployment to Iraq, September 2006 – November 2007."

I would loose the last part as it is really useless and go with.

"Provided network and technical support for a unit of 300 users"

I'm not sure if the person that was recommended was an IT person or an HR type person but I'm sure each would have a different recommendation on what a resume should look like.

mdomino

Awesome, thanks dbrink. I'll do a big review of it when I get home and see if I may be able to thin it out.

dbrink

You're welcome. Hopefully others will weigh in because it is possible I'm completely off my rocker

lsud00d

I agree with dbrink and MSP-IT. Bring it down to one page--there is a lot of fluff and redundancy that could be discussed in the interview but it's taking up valuable real estate on your resume.

You should cater your resume to the intended position. If you handed me your resume and I looked over the experience I wouldn't know if you wanted to do networking, desktop support, management, etc. If you want to go for a networking position then you can essentially remove your 'Technical Skills' section because there's little relevance. Then, highlight your major accomplishments succinctly in the PAR format - Write a Better Resume with the P-A-R Format | Piton Inc.

Also I wouldn't list your GPA...it probably does more harm than good TBH. If they want to know your GPA they will ask.

NinjaBoy

dbrink wrote: »

I can just tell you as someone who has reviewed resumes in the past, my eyes "glossed over" while looking at your resume due to how verbose it was. Most of the technical people who would be looking at resumes have limited time to do it so it is best to keep it as light as possible. Your resume should be a highlight of what you have done and know and if they want to know more then that is what the interview is for....

I agree... As an IT manager myself who does CV/resume shifting and interviews, my eyes glossed over. There's nothing wrong with having a CV/resume 2 pages long - however if you don't capture the person within the first 30 second then you can forget it.

It may be different in the US, but here in the UK I can say that for every post that we're advertised between 20-30+ (in some cases even more, at one time we had about 40+ people apply for a trainee position) applicants apply. Along with your technical skills, which I would expect you to have anyway for the level of job that you'd be going for, I want to see what soft skills you have to offer (or at least an overview), I want to see why I would pick you over the other 30+ people that have the same experience and qualifications that you have.

mdomino

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I'll dig in it in a few hours, then.

NetworkVeteran

I agree it's verbose and could use some thinning out, probably bringing it down to one page. If you're aiming for a networking position, I I'd point out you have only three networking bullets, which I had to dig through a bunch of unrelated material to get to, and you don't seem to have any experience with what's listed in your skills section--

Experience:
+ Reviewed logs for Cisco switches and routers and resolved errors
+ Resolved WAN and LAN connectivity issues, public and private IP assignments, and DNS changes
+ Managed, maintained, and configured network infrastructure including three Cisco 2600xm series routers and five Cisco Catalyst 3550 switches.

Skills: Cisco routers, Cisco switches, Network Test Equipment, DHCP Implementation with Cisco Routers, OSPF, EIGRP, RIPv1, RIPv2

If you have on-the-job experience with these, discuss that directly in your networking experience bullets.

Assuming you don't have any experience, since you didn't list it, why do you mention only five of the CCNA objectives and use so many words to do so? "Skills: DHCP, OSPF, EIGRP, RIPv1, RIPv2" covers the same material and gives you more room to name the hodgepodge of other CCNA objectives if your goal was to explain what it covers for those who don't know.

Also, what "Network Test Equipment" do you know? There are many tools and naming what you actually know (Wireshark, Ixia, TDM reflectometer etc.) would do much more for you than such vague terms, especially if you have on-the-job-experience.

mdomino

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I've made some more changes (not done yet! this will probably take a few days to finish) But I'm trying to trim the fat. I'm aiming for a Network/NOC Engineer/Admin role. I've got a good amount of experience with both MS administration and Cisco installations and configuration in the real world and in labs. If you guys have any more suggestions to get the wheels in my head turning that'd be awesome.

mdr for TE.doc

networker050184

Your resume is almost exactly the same as mine coming out of the military even down to the 82nd. Airborne! You can definitely trim the fat on this thing down to one page. Over all not bad though. Decent format, just a bit wordy for my taste. I probably wouldn't end up reading the whole thing if it came a across my desk. I'm usually sifting through a pile of about 5-10 minimum at a time to make recommendations on who we should interview so having something concise is important when people really don't spend a whole lot of time looking at it. Especially if its really verbose.

Edit

You posted the new version as I was typing my reply! I'll try to look at the new one when I get a few minutes.

sieff

Why?
"Written Communication: Government Memorandum, Daily Activity Reports, Incident Reports, Vehicle Logs, Door Logs, Personal Logs, Equipment Logs"

I was prior Army Signal too at Fort Bragg. My resume was not this wordy. It is pretty difficult to read and I couldn't concentrate to read through all of it. I'd try to streamline most of it to something that relates to the current job market descriptions. Even tinkering it based on the type of jobs you're applying for would work. By noting the old software and hardware on your resume it doesn't really translate to modern environments. I'm referring to Windows XP (10-12 years old), and I believe you list some End-of-Sale / End-of-Life Cisco hardware as well (2600XM, 3550).

The resume seems like it has the bullet points of a seasoned engineers resume, but the details that follow the bullet points are pretty light. I interview candidates all the time in my role for a Cisco Gold Partner, both to hire on my team and also clients occasionally request that I vet out their potential hires. I definitely think your resume (as is) will get you past the initial HR screening, but from a manager I think they'd gather that you're looking for a junior role. Be careful about putting the listed routing protocols on your resume as that's fair game to see exactly how in depth your knowledge is on those topics. My rule of thumb when interviewing is to peel off layers until you reach difficulty, but only to assess how in depth the candidates knowledge is. Once you get a fair assessment you can get a feel for if someone's going to fit the position they're applying for.

I have lived in Raleigh, which was an easy transition after leaving the Army at Fort Bragg. The cost of living is pretty low there. Based on your resume I'd say you could get a role as an analyst, system admin or in a NOC. A reasonable salary range for a junior in those positions would be $40-50K.

mdomino

Thanks for the advice, sieff. I've got more experience with networking than I can figure out how to properly show on my resume so I'll be working on that tonight/this weekend to try and make it make more sense.

sieff

hmmm... read through the updated version. It's still difficult to read through. I think it has to do with the format. Maybe you don't need the CCENT on your resume at all. If you have the CCNA, that's all you need to list. I'm not sure what a "Cisco Certified Network Technician" is, should that be Cisco Certified Network Associate? I pulled my resume up just to compare and I have only one major line through the heading, everything else is just a Summary Overview and then Tech Summary, Work Experience and another section on Certs, Education and Awards at the bottom.

I have 18 years experience and 13 certs listed and my resume is only two pages. I think you're biggest task may be making your resume more succinct and easier on the eyes. A one page resume would be golden.

Also... your current role started this month. It seems like a good place to gain more experience and build your skill set. Why are you leaving so soon? Also, I'd remove the Management piece from your resume. As you get more experience you can tone done the lines showing your Army experience... Maybe into just a 3 or 4 sentence paragraph. Looking at the military exp. on my resume I broke it up into where I was stationed at and what tasks I performed in those units.

mdomino

I was brought into the position I'm in now to cover down for some guys who were on medical leave. It was a 90 day contract but the others have already come back, so I do have the option of leaving early if I'd like. I'm trying to figure out how to represent that so that I don't lead employers to think that I'm just going to bail after I get my first paycheck, and that this was intentionally a short term thing.

I'll see if I can hit the golden 1 pager!

edit: The management section was stuff I couldn't find a better title for but believed that it would be relevant for the employer to know that outside of specific networking, I still know my way around a computer and know how to fix things that may not be directly in the scope of my position. I'm open to suggestions on how to deal with that, though.

sieff

cool. just put 90-day contractor underneath...

one key thing I did when getting out was working with a headhunter. the headhunter got my foot in the door with a contract Telecom/NOC job in Raleigh. I got low-balled on my salary, but at the time I didn't even know to negotiate, and really I had no leverage to. It was my first gig and from there I got the one thing that's valued most in IT - "EXPERIENCE". I didn't get my CCNA till I had about 8 years of working experience in the field. so you got me beat there. i'm sure something will come up for you. you're in a much better position than someone out of college with a BS and no experience. now you're only waiting for the right opportunity. another thing i'd recommend is having multiple resume's. you can have a resume set up for a System Admin job, a Networking job, etc... that way your resume Objective and bullet points all speak to that position. just cater your resume to speak to the listed job description you're applying for.

NetworkVeteran

Good luck, mate. While I don't have time just now for a second review, your networking experience/skills definitely appear much stronger in this revision. You'd definitely be higher up in the resume pile.

mdomino

Thanks again, everyone. I may post a new thread or recussitate this one either tonight or at the end of the weekend once I get this thing all purtied up.

Mishra

You can definitely do work in the DC area without dealing with the traffic in case you don't want to totally shut that door.

VAHokie56

I did not review your resume but I am wondering why if you have decent Cisco experience are you moving out of Richmond? I live here ( Richmond) and I get calls weekly for local Cisco gigs and good pay...in fact I know of 4 companies looking for people right now

sieff

I lived in Raleigh and I've frequented Richmond. I think Raleigh has more jobs because of RTP, cost of living is a bit cheaper and salaries may be a bit lower. Richmond is very similar to Raleigh, but Richmond strikes me as being a bit more classy.

NinjaBoy

sieff wrote: »

...Maybe you don't need the CCENT on your resume at all. If you have the CCNA, that's all you need to list. I'm not sure what a "Cisco Certified Network Technician" is, should that be Cisco Certified Network Associate? ...

I'd leave it on myself, alot of HR/recruitment companies won't know that the CCENT is "half" of the CCNA. I've come across companies like that, got the person spec and on one of the points it stated desirable MCP, essential MCSE... You couldn't get the MCSE without gaining a MCP. Unfortunately, like it or loathe it, quiet a few companies will pick up keywords...

mdomino

From my searching around it seems that RTP has roughly 3-4 times the jobs that Richmond has along with a lower cost of living and similar pay rate. Guess I should throw my resume on the job boards once I finish and see what happens.

networker050184

RTP is a great area. It was my first stop out of the military at Fort Bragg and there are many oppourtunities. Good luck!

VAHokie56

sieff wrote: »

I lived in Raleigh and I've frequented Richmond. I think Raleigh has more jobs because of RTP, cost of living is a bit cheaper and salaries may be a bit lower. Richmond is very similar to Raleigh, but Richmond strikes me as being a bit more classy.

Thank you ! I consider Richmond very Classy...aside from some seedy areas downtown... Now where did I put my PBR and my Walmart flip flops?

mdomino

Hahahaha I didn't take classiness of a city into account with my moving plans

I've got this thing down to one page, if you guys get some more time feel free to tear it apart. I think it should be a lot better for a hiring manager to read.

RIP IT UP!

Matt Resume (networking) anon.doc

sieff

Congrats! resume is much improved... don't hesitate to modify it specifically for a job you're applying for. i applied to Citrix before and used a totally different resume, which varied dramatically when I submitted my resume to Cisco.

mdomino

That's in the plans, now! Thanks again for the feedback.