Please help with my resume

I think it's not good at all, I'm very poor in writing specially expressing what I exactly do. I've tried many word templates until i found one i like.

Can you please review my resume and give me any modifications you feel I should made ?

Any comment/note is greatly appreciated, I wanna end this once and for all and have a CV that really speaks about me.

(note: I did upload a new CV)
(I uploaded a newer version):D

Tarek Azzouz_new.doc

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

rogue2shadow

Remove your personal info and repost :P

earweed

I'm no expert but I'll try to help if I can.
The column on the right with the logos and skills and courses listed should probably go. Your skills should be a section of the resume. I'm not sure if I'd even list the courses, you seem to have at least some work experience with most of the areas you've had courses in. The way you have it set up looks very good and professional though so leaving that in or not should be your own choice.
You may want to check a little of the grammar as there are a few places where the tenses shift which may be a distraction to your other strengths. I know english is your second language so that's expected but you want this to be as professional as possible and to have a good flow.
Also most resumes don't list the high school diploma once you've received a degree.
Hope this helps

za3bour

earweed wrote: »

I'm no expert but I'll try to help if I can.
The column on the right with the logos and skills and courses listed should probably go. Your skills should be a section of the resume. I'm not sure if I'd even list the courses, you seem to have at least some work experience with most of the areas you've had courses in. The way you have it set up looks very good and professional though so leaving that in or not should be your own choice.
You may want to check a little of the grammar as there are a few places where the tenses shift which may be a distraction to your other strengths. I know english is your second language so that's expected but you want this to be as professional as possible and to have a good flow.
Also most resumes don't list the high school diploma once you've received a degree.
Hope this helps

Thanks so much, this certainly helps a lot I will do the changes and post it again.As for high school diploma here in Syria ask about it even if you have a PHD

so that's why I've listed it.

za3bour

rogue2shadow wrote: »

Remove your personal info and repost :P

It's ok I don't mind showing it.

docrice

My two cents...

As someone who has spent some time in the past reading resumes and interviewing candidates, here are some things which cross my mind:

If I'm reading a lot of resumes in a day, I tend to start scanning quickly and not thoroughly reading all the text. In other words, instead of writing a paragraph description of your responsibilities, list them as bullet points. Large bodies of text tire my eyes.
I'd probably put the Education section at the end.
I'd probably remove the Personal Information section.
Some people recommend removing the Objective statement from resumes. I used to have one on mine, but these days I leave it out.
I'd relocate the "skills" section on the right column to a dedicated section within the body of the resume.
I'd relocate the "courses" section to maybe under Education (and call it "Education and Professional Certifications").

earweed

za3bour wrote: »

Thanks so much, this certainly helps a lot I will do the changes and post it again.As for high school diploma here in Syria ask about it even if you have a PHD so that's why I've listed it.

I was wondering about the cultural differences in how you presented yourself. They have a big effect on how information is presented and what you will present so I wasn't sure about how to critique the resume.
You may also want to post it in the section Resume do's and Don'ts as Keenon is a very good judge of resumes.

za3bour

earweed wrote: »

I was wondering about the cultural differences in how you presented yourself. They have a big effect on how information is presented and what you will present so I wasn't sure about how to critique the resume.
You may also want to post it in the section Resume do's and Don'ts as Keenon is a very good judge of resumes.

yea there is a big cultural difference for sure, here college degree is crucial to find a good job this is good but it's bad since many doesn't work in their field of study for example i'm an electrical engineer but I have never worked as so because there are not a lot of opportunities so I had to move in to Computer and waste 6 years in college.

Thanks for the top, I will post it there as well.

za3bour

docrice wrote: »

My two cents...

As someone who has spent some time in the past reading resumes and interviewing candidates, here are some things which cross my mind:
If I'm reading a lot of resumes in a day, I tend to start scanning quickly and not thoroughly reading all the text. In other words, instead of writing a paragraph description of your responsibilities, list them as bullet points. Large bodies of text tire my eyes.

I'd probably put the Education section at the end.

I'd probably remove the Personal Information section.

Some people recommend removing the Objective statement from resumes. I used to have one on mine, but these days I leave it out.

I'd relocate the "skills" section on the right column to a dedicated section within the body of the resume.

I'd relocate the "courses" section to maybe under Education (and call it "Education and Professional Certifications").

Thanks a lot, those are really some useful tips I'm working on them now.

za3bour

docrice wrote: »

My two cents...

As someone who has spent some time in the past reading resumes and interviewing candidates, here are some things which cross my mind:
I'd probably put the Education section at the end.

that's the only thing I can't do, as i said in another post education is such an important section so it needs to stay ahead.:)

za3bour

One more thing, Personal Information is important to be listed

phantasm

It is important to note that the OP is not in the United States. In other parts of the world they use the CV (Curriculum Vitae) format as opposed to a traditional resume as we use in the United States. Conversely, the CV has to contain information such as hiw nationality and DOB. In the US we hav laws against providing that information, but in some parts of the world it is needed on the CV.

za3bour

I've done some of the changes, can you please take a look at it I did remove the right column and removed the objective and some other changes.

Attached to the post

Tarek Azzouz_new.doc

za3bour

phantasm wrote: »

It is important to note that the OP is not in the United States. In other parts of the world they use the CV (Curriculum Vitae) format as opposed to a traditional resume as we use in the United States. Conversely, the CV has to contain information such as hiw nationality and DOB. In the US we hav laws against providing that information, but in some parts of the world it is needed on the CV.

This is true, in fact here you are required to post your nationality since we have a lot of immigrants from Iraq and Palestine who has to have a work permit in order to work in Syria.

And you have to mention military service condition as well.

rogue2shadow

These are suggestions and by no means absolutes in any regard

:

1. Push the dates in the work experience section and education to the right via tab key. It'll give you more white space and a cleaner look.
2. You could put a "Related Coursework" section within the Education section and list out the full name of the course. You do not have to list the locations as they're most likely not going to investigate where you went for training for x certification. In another respect you could probably just leave the training centers out as you do indeed have the certifications.
3. Personally I would change the title "Profile" to "Professional Summary", "Executive Summary", or "Summary of Qualifications"; they have nicer rings to them!
4. I'd say add a "References" line and say "Available upon request".
5. Minor grammar/spelling here and there.

As some managers have stated above and in my own personal experience, consistency is major in whether your resumé is even read. A nice flow stylistically can go along way and is easier on the reader's eyes. Hit up some of your local postings and see some of the requirements and use the keywords that HR goons are using in their automated searches.

Ashenwelt

I would change "Education and Courses" to education. You also misspelled Red Hat, and you have excess line spaced there. I would also make it reverse chronological as the experience is.

za3bour

rogue2shadow wrote: »

These are suggestions and by no means absolutes in any regard :

1. Push the dates in the work experience section and education to the right via tab key. It'll give you more white space and a cleaner look.
2. You could put a "Related Coursework" section within the Education section and list out the full name of the course. You do not have to list the locations as they're most likely not going to investigate where you went for training for x certification. In another respect you could probably just leave the training centers out as you do indeed have the certifications.
3. Personally I would change the title "Profile" to "Professional Summary", "Executive Summary", or "Summary of Qualifications"; they have nicer rings to them!
4. I'd say add a "References" line and say "Available upon request".
5. Minor grammar/spelling here and there.

As some managers have stated above and in my own personal experience, consistency is major in whether your resumé is even read. A nice flow stylistically can go along way and is easier on the reader's eyes. Hit up some of your local postings and see some of the requirements and use the keywords that HR goons are using in their automated searches.

Thanks a lot, very valuable points as for #4 I've read here more than once that you should not add the reference. I've had it in my CV but I deleted it before attaching it here.

za3bour

Ashenwelt wrote: »

I would change "Education and Courses" to education. You also misspelled Red Hat, and you have excess line spaced there. I would also make it reverse chronological as the experience is.

Thanks two good points but What do you mean by reverse chronological ?

phantasm

za3bour wrote: »

Thanks two good points but What do you mean by reverse chronological ?

Reverse chronological means the most recent work experience and or education at the top and then work your way down the list.

In other words:

Mickeys House 2007 - 2010
Donalds Spa 2005 - 2007
Minnie's Eatery 2001 - 2005

eten

Is it only me that feels very annoyed by the sentence structure?

Using "Past Continuous" tense (-ing instead of -ed) in the Experience section seems weird and unprofessional.

Too wording in sentences.
"As a system administrator I provided hardware ...."
- Your job title already states you are System admin. They don't care which role you did it under, as long you did it and have experience under your belt
- If you are going to use -ing tense, keep it consistent. "Providing hardware...."
- Remove all the "I am" "I had"

Remove the personal information section. It they should be present on the right side of your banner name.

Unless the job requires bilingual, I would remove the Language. It's a waste of space.

Maybe try re-arranging so your Experience would be on the 2nd page fully?
Such as deleting your high school, and putting your skills section on the bottom of first page.

Inconsistent labeling and structure.
-Some titles have full caps, some have caps only first letter.
-Some job titles (2) occupy two lines, while the other has one line. Do you really need separate lines anyways?
-Why are you not using bullets under Education?
- Line breakers for each label section are different lengths
- Why does Language have two line breakers?
- Breaks between Month Year, some have two spaces, while other has one space
- Decide whether you want to keep your working dates on the top job role, or the bottom one. Don't do both.
- If you use "Administrator" for job title, don't put "Admin" for your other jobs.

omg I might be picky, but common. You are trying to sell yourself, you have to proof-read your resume.

za3bour

eten wrote: »

Is it only me that feels very annoyed by the sentence structure?

Using "Past Continuous" tense (-ing instead of -ed) in the Experience section seems weird and unprofessional.

Too wording in sentences.
"As a system administrator I provided hardware ...."
- Your job title already states you are System admin. They don't care which role you did it under, as long you did it and have experience under your belt
- If you are going to use -ing tense, keep it consistent. "Providing hardware...."
- Remove all the "I am" "I had"

Remove the personal information section. It they should be present on the right side of your banner name.

Unless the job requires bilingual, I would remove the Language. It's a waste of space.

Maybe try re-arranging so your Experience would be on the 2nd page fully?
Such as deleting your high school, and putting your skills section on the bottom of first page.

Inconsistent labeling and structure.
-Some titles have full caps, some have caps only first letter.
-Some job titles (2) occupy two lines, while the other has one line. Do you really need separate lines anyways?
-Why are you not using bullets under Education?
- Line breakers for each label section are different lengths
- Why does Language have two line breakers?
- Breaks between Month Year, some have two spaces, while other has one space
- Decide whether you want to keep your working dates on the top job role, or the bottom one. Don't do both.
- If you use "Administrator" for job title, don't put "Admin" for your other jobs.

omg I might be picky, but common. You are trying to sell yourself, you have to proof-read your resume.

Your post actually is extremly helpful and I did post my CV because I needed to hear comments like this. It's not only you I'm annoyed by it as well. In fact I will dedicate tomorrow in order to re-write the whole CV.

There some things though I can't change for example arabic is my first language so i have to mention English and Personal information should be added as well.

The consistent thing is so true as well, I didn't notice it actually until you've mentioned it and now when I read I can't believe how ugly it looks

so I promise next time i post the CV will be much better.

Thanks everyone, I think now I can rewrite it knowing exactly what should be done.

phantasm

eten wrote: »

Is it only me that feels very annoyed by the sentence structure?

Using "Past Continuous" tense (-ing instead of -ed) in the Experience section seems weird and unprofessional.

Too wording in sentences.
"As a system administrator I provided hardware ...."
- Your job title already states you are System admin. They don't care which role you did it under, as long you did it and have experience under your belt
- If you are going to use -ing tense, keep it consistent. "Providing hardware...."
- Remove all the "I am" "I had"

Remove the personal information section. It they should be present on the right side of your banner name.

Unless the job requires bilingual, I would remove the Language. It's a waste of space.

Maybe try re-arranging so your Experience would be on the 2nd page fully?
Such as deleting your high school, and putting your skills section on the bottom of first page.

Inconsistent labeling and structure.
-Some titles have full caps, some have caps only first letter.
-Some job titles (2) occupy two lines, while the other has one line. Do you really need separate lines anyways?
-Why are you not using bullets under Education?
- Line breakers for each label section are different lengths
- Why does Language have two line breakers?
- Breaks between Month Year, some have two spaces, while other has one space
- Decide whether you want to keep your working dates on the top job role, or the bottom one. Don't do both.
- If you use "Administrator" for job title, don't put "Admin" for your other jobs.

omg I might be picky, but common. You are trying to sell yourself, you have to proof-read your resume.

I mean no disrespect, but if you're going to to bang on him for bad grammar and sentence structure, I would ask you to exam your own as well. I have placed some of the offending infractions in bold. Also, as I stated previously the OP is located in Damascus where a CV format (which requires nationality and DOB amongst other things) is required as opposed to a traditional resume format as seen in the United States.

eten

phantasm wrote: »

I mean no disrespect, but if you're going to to bang on him for bad grammar and sentence structure, I would ask you to exam your own as well. I have placed some of the offending infractions in bold. Also, as I stated previously the OP is located in Damascus where a CV format (which requires nationality and DOB amongst other things) is required as opposed to a traditional resume format as seen in the United States.

Why are you spending time proofreading my forum post, rather than going through his resume? Its a forum post, not my resume, I just need to get my point straight to him. I spent over 15 mins reading and typing my message to him as help, and I thought it could be done better prior to posting it online. I'm not bashing him in anyway, and was glad it was in any help to him.

Ashenwelt

phantasm wrote: »

I mean no disrespect, but if you're going to to bang on him for bad grammar and sentence structure, I would ask you to exam your own as well. I have placed some of the offending infractions in bold. Also, as I stated previously the OP is located in Damascus where a CV format (which requires nationality and DOB amongst other things) is required as opposed to a traditional resume format as seen in the United States.

For the record, the CV not being needed in the USA is flat out wrong. If you work for a consulting firm, or for a firm with ties to other companies, it is often required. Not for getting the job, but for inter-company communications.

Oh, and don't hit people in a message board for critiques until you start one with both a grammer and spelling checker. And then never for comon phrases used online. It is rude.

In all honesty, you need to remember that people are writing help for other people in as short a time as possible. None of us get paid for this.

phantasm

Changed my mind. I guess I'll try and be nice for once.

za3bour

It's 1:20 AM but I gotta do this

so I made some changes to the CV doing some of the notes I was given. I have a question though for the current job what should you use present or past ?

Tarek Azzouz_new.doc

za3bour

phantasm wrote: »

Changed my mind. I guess I'll try and be nice for once.

You are nice and I really appreciate what you've said. I would do the same and I did that once in a thread were someone was asking for help but he got a lot of negative posts. But in defend for him this is a forum not some formal paper that need to be sent to companies.

za3bour

eten wrote: »

Why are you spending time proofreading my forum post, rather than going through his resume? Its a forum post, not my resume, I just need to get my point straight to him. I spent over 15 mins reading and typing my message to him as help, and I thought it could be done better prior to posting it online. I'm not bashing him in anyway, and was glad it was in any help to him.

It was help and sometimes you need a slap in the face to improve. My English is actually very good but sometimes I don't know how to use it.

I appreciate you time you spent.

za3bour

Ashenwelt wrote: »

I would change "Education and Courses" to education. You also misspelled Red Hat, and you have excess line spaced there. I would also make it reverse chronological as the experience is.

I did these changes, as for line spaces do you think now it's better ?

za3bour

Ashenwelt wrote: »

For the record, the CV not being needed in the USA is flat out wrong. If you work for a consulting firm, or for a firm with ties to other companies, it is often required. Not for getting the job, but for inter-company communications.

Yes but as I said some things are required here in Syria which I have to add. I do send this job to international companies or organizations but non of them are American. American companies are not allowed to work in Syria (unfortunately) in fact many products are banned from Syria (like Cisco/Microsoft) so we have to get them from other countries and of course with a much higher price.

Ashenwelt

za3bour wrote: »

It's 1:20 AM but I gotta do this so I made some changes to the CV doing some of the notes I was given. I have a question though for the current job what should you use present or past ?

I would recommend not breaking out courses, but leaving it one contiguous (sp?) listing of your education.

Also, when listing certifications, you should always list them as named.

Ex: MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) Windows 2008 Active Directory
Ex: MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

Now I put a heading over things, and then use an extra indent. So how I like it is like this:

§ Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS):
ü MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
ü MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

Now one thing I would NEVER do is list a skill as fair in a resume. That is for the interview. Your CV is to get you through to that interview.

Now, one other thing caught me. You use 'I'. I don't know about where you are at, but in the USA that is something you don't do.

Ex: I work in the operations department were we support and monitor a series of processing patches running in remote center in Chile/US. It’s based on Linux platform and its related to SEO/SEM

Ex: Worked in the operations department, supporting and monitoring remote patching for systems in Chile and the United Staes of America.

Just my oppinion. Then again, I try and drop so many things in my resume it is scary.
Just my oppinion on this one (as always).