Resume review + question on job title

arrogantbastard

Hey guys, I need a resume review and then I need some help with what title I should be branding myself with for job hunting. The reason why it's hard is because I'm transitiong military and my duties and experience are above a network technician or beginning role, but when I job search for network engineers in my area they seem to generally ask for more experience than I have in some aspects. Most of my experience is with wan technologies, designing and building network topologies, and then administrating them. I have no experience with BGP, limited experience with security appliances (such as ASA's, checkpoint), and limited experience with VOIP platforms such as the CUCM, and limited server administration experience. These are the main things that I'm worried will kill me in an interview. I'm just finishing up ICND2 to wrap up my CCNA and then have an opportunity to do my CCDA for free following that. After that point I will be done with the military and really job hunting. In closing, I need help choosing the appropriate title for my skill set and a critique of my resume. Thank you guys.

5ekurity

My $.02 for resume critique - you have a lot of white space in your "Key Skills" area - I'd make that two columns so that way you save space and can elaborate more on your IT experience.

Depending upon what job you are going for, you may need to tailor some of your accomplishments and other aspects of your resume specifically for that job. I would take a look at the job boards and see what is out there, see how your skill set aligns with the type of job you want, and then format your resume contents to align with how your experience and expertise would make you the ideal candidate for that job. You don't need to write a book, but make sure your examples are clear and strong.

Last, even if an employer says they want everything under the moon as far as skill set, they know a vast majority of people don't have EVERY skill they are looking for. So they often opt for someone who has a lot of strong qualities (willingness to learn, focused, determined, etc.) and be willing to train / help educate them, so long as the rest of their resume exhibits professionalism, a solid understanding in the areas the candidate IS strong in, and has the willingness to learn.

Hope this helps, and good luck to you!

Verities

I agree with 5ekurity on tailoring your resume to fit specific job descriptions. What you think Network Engineer means to one company may not be the same for another company. This is where you would match the experience you have to the job posting's duties/responsibilites section, then adjust your resume so that you're listing those skills you've been able to accumulate and how you've used them in the Marines. Unless you want to get into system administration, I wouldn't worry about the server experience. Even if you've only got light experience with some technologies, it's still valuable. In any case, 4 years of network experience and being certified makes you a strong candidate for positions in the private sector. Don't forget to sell the fact you've worked on the NMCI network, 2nd largest network in the world behind the Internet! Think about it, how awesome is that.

Semper Fi Marine.

arrogantbastard

Thanks for the input guys, it's really appreciated. I've heard both of those before so it's good to get some reassurance that employers ask for way more than they're expecting and that the best approach is to tailor my resume to each posting I apply to.

advanex1

Arrogant,

First, good luck on the transition. I would like to say this though.. Typically we in the military like to place more value in our perceived training/experience than what we actually have. From your explanations and what you've put in your resume, I would rate you as an entry level network technician and not a network engineer.

No offense, but a lot of the stuff placed in the resume is fluff. I read the job descriptions of people all the time and 95% of them hardly touch what they put down on their NCOERs/OERs/Counseling/ and even what's on their DD214s. It's just a bunch of descriptions we have for certain jobs in the military.

I want to wish you good luck with looking for a job though. The best advice I was given was from mrock.. he said..

"Don't take the first job offered to you from contractors. They know you are desperate looking for a job and they are looking to lowball you."

Take care!

shawn2330

I will second the advice of advanex. Vets like us are used to fluff of writing military EPRs. That whole form is fluff. So we do put a higher degree of padding where it should be trimmed down.

Cert Poor

"Cisco Certified Entry Technician" at the very bottom - missing the "Network" part. And maybe capitalize CompTIA

And thanks for your service.

lsud00d

FTR it generally progresses--

Operator
Technician/Analyst (I find these two interchangeable but often analyst supersedes technician)
Administrator
Engineer
Architect

Now insert Systems/Network/Linux/Windows/etc before the front and you have a somewhat narrowed "role" identified.