Resume review request

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have come to the conclusion I need to have IT professionals review my resume, over the wunderkind recruiters who give me no constructive advice. I admit to having experience which bounces over industries and different careers. Any advice is welcome!

Thank you!

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20170918 NavyMooseCCNA Resume Review.pdf

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mikey88

Hey Moose,

I'm no expert but;

1-2 pages max. A quick career summary at the top, and maybe look into some template as it looks too plain.

yoba222

Too long. I have this problem too. Not 100% sure the best way to solve it. If I were you I'd drop all bullet points for any job beyond 4-5 years. Maybe drop the expired security clearance as that's not really worth anything anymore and you have a current Sec+ that would cover getting re-cleared. Maybe drop the awards and software skills sections to make it shorter too.

DatabaseHead

Get it down to two pages mini.

Interesting you went to UMASS and got your degree in accounting. What happened?

Not a big fan of the speciality section. Id like to see your resume with your heading straight into experience.

LordQarlyn

One of the trickier challenges these days is crafting a resume that not only can satisfy HR people who are likely to clueless about what IT entails, a resume that can get through ATS, without blatant obvious keyword stuffing, and make it to the hiring manager who hopefully is knowledgeable about IT.
From what I can see so far I concur with getting down to 2 pages, trim off earlier jobs and the awards section, you can mention those in your cover letters if they are pertinent to the jobs you are applying.
I would keep the specialty section, name it technical expertise or something, I find from my own experience, adding that section helped my resume get through ATS systems, but make it like three columns so you can reduce the number of lines used.

EANx

Who is your target? In addition to the aforementioned length, your margins are narrow and you have way too many bullets. A job from 13 years ago gets a summary of 2-3 sentences, not 12 bullets. Your military entries have too many TLAs and ETLAs you need to spend more effort spelling out acronyms so that the non-govvie understands what you did. Given your variety of job duties, I recommend a summary at the top showing how it's not random jumping and ties it all together.

NavyMooseCCNA

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Get it down to two pages mini.

Interesting you went to UMASS and got your degree in accounting. What happened?

Not a big fan of the speciality section. Id like to see your resume with your heading straight into experience.

I hated working as an accountant and did it for only a couple of years. In college I had done tech support for computing services and liked it a lot. After talking to some of the geeks I worked with back then, they persuaded me to change from accounting to IT.

NavyMooseCCNA

EANx wrote: »

Who is your target? In addition to the aforementioned length, your margins are narrow and you have way too many bullets. A job from 13 years ago gets a summary of 2-3 sentences, not 12 bullets. Your military entries have too many TLAs and ETLAs you need to spend more effort spelling out acronyms so that the non-govvie understands what you did. Given your variety of job duties, I recommend a summary at the top showing how it's not random jumping and ties it all together.

I am looking to get into IT Security. The other alternative is to get into networking and work to transition into IT security from that.

shochan

Rezscore.com

I have used this before & pretty cool...see how yours is graded. I would submit everything listed on your resume except your personal info. That is your personal preference though.

devilbones

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

I am looking to get into IT Security. The other alternative is to get into networking and work to transition into IT security from that.

I wouldnt worry about your resume length, mine is 5 pages and I always get calls. I have 20 years experience and certs, etc. I would put your education at the top and then certs, and list your jobs after that.

scaredoftests

I was told by a HR person, it is better to just have 2 pages with the education and certs at the bottom. I always get calls and I, too have 20 years experience. Just my 2.5 cents...

cyberguypr

18 years in IT. As someone who hires people I personally don't appreciate long resumes so I keep mine at two pages max. In this day and age where people spend seconds looking at resumes you need to convey your story quickly. If anyone wants to see a full CV, they can go to LinkedIn.

As mentioned above, I intently dislike (more like hate) the bullet fest. Bullets are intended to emphasize information quickly and effectively. Abusing them completely negates their purpose. Here's a great example of how I lay out my resume: http://www.techexams.net/attachments/forums/jobs-degrees/4106d1374162428-resume-time-sr-systems-eng.doc

Another thing to keep in mind is that each resume must be unique and tailored to the specific position you are applying for. You will most likely want to add or remove things based on the job posting.

NavyMooseCCNA

cyberguypr wrote: »

Another thing to keep in mind is that each resume must be unique and tailored to the specific position you are applying for. You will most likely want to add or remove things based on the job posting.

Personally, I have never bought into this because I need to hear more on the why....

scaredoftests

I hate bullets too, as well. <I saw this on a resume the other day>A guy had the same things that he did on every job he had. It just shows me laziness when I see that.

DatabaseHead

I've consolidated mine to 1 page and have never had more success.....

Less is more and in doing so you show an important skill, brevity. Management loves it.

Example, your stint as a financial rep. I would list the title, the dates and the company and that's it. Most likely your interviewer for a technical position isn't going to care about what you did at that job. They are going to see you were employed and blow right over it. Adding a bullet to that particular unrelated position just adds noise.

cyberguypr

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

Personally, I have never bought into this because I need to hear more on the why....

One of the main reasons: Applicant Tracking Systems. Employers are trying to automatically match key experiences and skill sets with what the candidates have to offer. Your boilerplate resume that doesn't hit their specific points will reduce your chances. Example:

According to a report from The Ladders, ATS software ranks your candidacy based on how specifically your résumé matches keywords and phrases in a job description. Some software even looks for how uniquely the work experiences you listed match the job requirements.

You will get people saying "oh, don't waste your time with automated systems, just spend time on companies that treat you like a real human". If you are willing to lose a job for not bowing down to the ATS, that's fine. Just understand that it will reduce the universe of possibilities by an order of magnitude.

Another aspect is that many people in IT have a wide variety of skill sets and experience that does not necessarily translate to their new job. It would be counterproductive for many to include stuff that is not directly related to the position you are pursuing. Besides taking a lot of space on the page, it may be seen as complete fluff.

There's no one way to win this game. I like to keep the odds in my favor so I do as much as I can to maximize my chances. Some people don't see much value in customizing resumes and still get jobs. It's hard work to tailor your resume to specific roles, but many will agree that it increases the likelihood you will be called for an interview.

DatabaseHead

That's easyyyyyyyyy to get around. 1 pt font in the footer and list out keywords...... (Make the font white......)

The systems will see the text and it will get through the system, but you still can keep the brevity for ease of read for the hiring manager.

NavyMooseCCNA

shochan wrote: »

Rezscore.com

I have used this before & pretty cool...see how yours is graded. I would submit everything listed on your resume except your personal info. That is your personal preference though.

Rezscore gave me a C+....and said it is too long and not to use first person language. Is it weird to have a resume written in third person?

NavyMooseCCNA

EANx wrote: »

Who is your target? In addition to the aforementioned length, your margins are narrow and you have way too many bullets. A job from 13 years ago gets a summary of 2-3 sentences, not 12 bullets. Your military entries have too many TLAs and ETLAs you need to spend more effort spelling out acronyms so that the non-govvie understands what you did. Given your variety of job duties, I recommend a summary at the top showing how it's not random jumping and ties it all together.

It broke my heart, but I removed that job you mentioned. I loved my time there and thoroughly miss the team I worked with. I removed a bunch of the DoD Acquisition lingo that I can. I don't want to be involved in AQ, if I am able to go back, I want to be EN.

shochan

I think mine was very similar with the results. I guess they don't want you to take full credit for the work you have done, and want a more team player looking resume.

NavyMooseCCNA

cyberguypr wrote: »

One of the main reasons: Applicant Tracking Systems. Employers are trying to automatically match key experiences and skill sets with what the candidates have to offer. Your boilerplate resume that doesn't hit their specific points will reduce your chances. Example:
You will get people saying "oh, don't waste your time with automated systems, just spend time on companies that treat you like a real human". If you are willing to lose a job for not bowing down to the ATS, that's fine. Just understand that it will reduce the universe of possibilities by an order of magnitude.

Another aspect is that many people in IT have a wide variety of skill sets and experience that does not necessarily translate to their new job. It would be counterproductive for many to include stuff that is not directly related to the position you are pursuing. Besides taking a lot of space on the page, it may be seen as complete fluff.

There's no one way to win this game. I like to keep the odds in my favor so I do as much as I can to maximize my chances. Some people don't see much value in customizing resumes and still get jobs. It's hard work to tailor your resume to specific roles, but many will agree that it increases the likelihood you will be called for an interview.

Personally, I loathe the automated HR systems. You need to get past those damn systems before a human being even sees your resume. I'm sure there are many quality people whose resumes never see the light of day because of the automated system.

ITSec14

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

Personally, I loathe the automated HR systems. You need to get past those damn systems before a human being even sees your resume. I'm sure there are many quality people whose resumes never see the light of day because of the automated system.

I'm not particularly fond of them either. They are kind of a necessary evil though. HR dept's usually don't have the resources available to individually screen every applicant. Like others have mentioned, if you aren't tailoring your resume to line up with the job req's, then you are less likely to move along in the process.

There are a lot of great resources out there for writing resume's, even professionals you can submit yours to and they will provide feedback. I took full advantage of my school's career services dept. They helped me adjust my resume's formatting and content.

For technical resume's, they told me to include the following:

- Include general information about yourself at the top of each page (Name, City/State, Email and phone #)
- Provide a brief professional statement about yourself
- List relevant technical/soft skills
- Provide a summary of relevant projects completed in current and recent jobs and detail any value it brought to the organization
- Detail previous 3-4 jobs or experience in the past 10 years (No more than 10 bullets per position held)
- List college degree's (Include GPA if graduated with honors)
- List all relevant certifications

In terms of formatting:

- Use a simple font such as Times New Roman or Arial
- Center the title of each section (Work experience, Education, etc.)
- Don't use colors, unless it's for a position that deals with creativity such as marketing
- 11-12 point font
- Don't reuse words over and over again (Managed, Completed, Administered, Created)
- Be consistent
- Two pages max unless the experience is absolutely necessary to include
- SPELLCHECK!!!

This is just what they told me. I'm sure there are several different standards, but I feel this is a good list to start from.

cyberguypr

Good list, although usually no one cares about GPA and 10 bullets is way too much.

NavyMooseCCNA

cyberguypr wrote: »

Good list, although usually no one cares about GPA and 10 bullets is way too much.

Now you tell me! I spent my entire undergrad and grad years killing myself to get good grades for a good GPA because I thought it meant something.

scaredoftests

Just as long as you graduated! Be proud of your GPA though!

ITSec14

Overall I think GPA doesn't matter, but if you are applying for an internship, it can sometimes be required. I applied for a job at the Fed Reserve a few years back and they wanted college GPA listed.

cyberguypr

Was it an entry level thing that you applied for?

ITSec14

cyberguypr wrote: »

Was it an entry level thing that you applied for?

No it was actually for a sysadmin position. I had been in IT for about 1 1/2 years at that point.

NavyMooseCCNA

NetworkNewb wrote: »

If you go for your Masters it will be easier to get into programs. So at least you have that going for you...

I had a 3.56 GPA when I finished my MBA and a 3.42 when I finished my BS.

NetworkNewb

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

I had a 3.56 GPA when I finished my MBA and a 3.42 when I finished my BS.

Cool, GJ

sid7

Hello NavyMoose,

As you have 8+ years of experience, it's better to have a resume of 2 pages. And you can add Accomplishments instead of job responsibilities, it would be great and will attract the hiring managers. You can check with Accomplishments vs Job responsibility, it will give a great picture.