Need resume advice

Hello all. I've been trying to get into a help desk/desktop support role for the last few months. I've had a few interviews but no offers. I'm starting to think that my resume needs some work.

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS/CERTIFICATIONS

· Certifications:
· Comptia A+, Net +, Security +
· Operating Systems:
· Windows XP, Vista, 7
· Software:
· Microsoft Office suite, Teamviewer.
· General usage skills: Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7

EDUCATION

Western Illinois University - Macomb, Illinois
· Bachelor of Arts in History – May 2007
College of DuPage – Glen Ellyn, Illinois
· System Support Specialist Certificate – August 2009
· Associate of Science in Computer Science – May 2011

Relevant Experience

PC Technician People’s Resource Center – Wheaton, Illinois – August 2009 to Current (Volunteer)
· Provided functional and technical support, troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware problems, on desktops and laptops.
· Resolved Windows related issues, Internet Explorer issues and other PC software related issues such as viruses and spyware.

Work Experience

Associate – iSold it on eBay – Palatine, Illinois – October 2007 to March 2011 (Part Time)

Provide research and appraisal of potential item values.
Assists with eBay tech support via phones.
Prepared packages for shipping through USPS and FedEx.

Security Officer – Starwood Hotels and Resorts – Lombard, Illinois – July 2007 to September 2007 (Full Time)

Helped open Westin Lombard Yorktown by helping train newer guards.
Attended to guest and associate needs by providing excellent customer service.
Helped secure building by patrolling inside and outside and monitoring entryways.
Monitored visitors by maintaining a sign-in sign-out log.

Summer Custodian – Lombard School District 44 – Lombard, Illinois – June 2004 to July 2007 (Full Time Seasonal)
· Responsible for cleaning the school during the summer.
· Responsible for safety of summer crew people.

Any advice? Thanks.

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Comments

Everyone

I don't think the (Volunteer), (Part Time), (Full Time), etc. are needed.

I always suggest people try to list at least 1 major accomplishment at each job, you just have a list of responsibilities going right now.

If you are getting interviews, it means your resume is working to some degree, improving it will certainly help you get more interviews, but it won't get you the job. Sounds like you may need to work on your interview skills.

wargamer6

Everyone wrote: »

I don't think the (Volunteer), (Part Time), (Full Time), etc. are needed.

I always suggest people try to list at least 1 major accomplishment at each job, you just have a list of responsibilities going right now.

If you are getting interviews, it means your resume is working to some degree, improving it will certainly help you get more interviews, but it won't get you the job. Sounds like you may need to work on your interview skills.

That might be true to an extent. As for the volunteer/part time thing, wouldn't it be important to say that it was a volunteer gig if they call them?

Akaricloud

There are a few formatting errors that just jump out at me.

1. "A+, Net +, Security +" isn't uniform.

2. Some of your sections are all capitalized, others not.

3. Your skills section doesn't match the formatting of your other sections. IE: Titles like "Certifications:" are bulletted and not bolded like below.

4. Listing your operating systems twice looks redundant and unnecessary.

5. In your job responsibilities pick a tense and stick with it. You seem to swap between past and others a lot.

I would drop the (full time), (volunteer), ect from your resume. Explain it at your interview when they ask about previous experience or a little bit in your cover letter.

Turgon

wargamer6 wrote: »

Hello all. I've been trying to get into a help desk/desktop support role for the last few months. I've had a few interviews but no offers. I'm starting to think that my resume needs some work.

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS/CERTIFICATIONS

· Certifications:
· Comptia A+, Net +, Security +
· Operating Systems:
· Windows XP, Vista, 7
· Software:
· Microsoft Office suite, Teamviewer.
· General usage skills: Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7

EDUCATION

Western Illinois University - Macomb, Illinois
· Bachelor of Arts in History – May 2007
College of DuPage – Glen Ellyn, Illinois
· System Support Specialist Certificate – August 2009
· Associate of Science in Computer Science – May 2011

Relevant Experience

PC Technician People’s Resource Center – Wheaton, Illinois – August 2009 to Current (Volunteer)
· Provided functional and technical support, troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware problems, on desktops and laptops.
· Resolved Windows related issues, Internet Explorer issues and other PC software related issues such as viruses and spyware.

Work Experience

Associate – iSold it on eBay – Palatine, Illinois – October 2007 to March 2011 (Part Time)
Provide research and appraisal of potential item values.

Assists with eBay tech support via phones.

Prepared packages for shipping through USPS and FedEx.

Security Officer – Starwood Hotels and Resorts – Lombard, Illinois – July 2007 to September 2007 (Full Time)
Helped open Westin Lombard Yorktown by helping train newer guards.

Attended to guest and associate needs by providing excellent customer service.

Helped secure building by patrolling inside and outside and monitoring entryways.

Monitored visitors by maintaining a sign-in sign-out log.

Summer Custodian – Lombard School District 44 – Lombard, Illinois – June 2004 to July 2007 (Full Time Seasonal)
· Responsible for cleaning the school during the summer.
· Responsible for safety of summer crew people.

Any advice? Thanks.

An opening statement telling people what you have to offer as an employee is necessary. Backed up with statements of accomplishments for each job executed. Everyone has a list of some certs, some education, some jobs and some responsibilities. People need to hire warwinners in this economy.

Everyone

wargamer6 wrote: »

That might be true to an extent. As for the volunteer/part time thing, wouldn't it be important to say that it was a volunteer gig if they call them?

Only if asked. Unless they require a salary history, you most likely won't be asked.

wargamer6

Turgon wrote: »

An opening statement telling people what you have to offer as an employee is necessary. Backed up with statements of accomplishments for each job executed. Everyone has a list of some certs, some education, some jobs and some responsibilities. People need to hire warwinners in this economy.

I originally had one but took it out after the career center people suggested I take it out.

Turgon

wargamer6 wrote: »

I originally had one but took it out after the career center people suggested I take it out.

Stick it in anyway. The world is filling up with vanilla CV's thanks to careers center people. Think different like Steve Jobs.

Im a busy guy and might need to hire. A statement of intent keeps me reading.

wargamer6

Turgon wrote: »

Stick it in anyway. The world is filling up with vanilla CV's thanks to careers center people. Think different like Steve Jobs.

Im a busy guy and might need to hire. A statement of intent keeps me reading.

Thanks. I'm taking what everyone said and am modifying my resume accordingly.

wargamer6

Created a whole new one:

PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES

Desktop Support - PC Technician, specializing in hardware and software support, building, upgrading and maintaining. Experienced in telephone, e-mail, and on-site support. Results driven, self-starter, with excellent communication and customer interface skills.
Profile
Motivated, personable business professional with multiple talents and experience. Flexible and versatile able to maintain a sense of humor under pressure.. Excellent team-building skills.
Skills Summary
u Comptia A+ Certified
u Comptia Network + Certified
u Comptia Security + Certified
u Desktop Support

u PC Trouble Shooting and Repair
u Customer Service
u Backups and Imaging

Professional Experience
u Hardware and Software & Device Configurations
u PC Trouble Shooting and Repair

Employment History
People’s resorce center –Wheaton, IL
PC Technician - 2009 to Present

isold it on ebay – Palatine, IL
Customer Support Associate - 2007 to 2011
[FONT=&quot] LOMBARD SCHOOL DISTRICT 44 – Lombard, IL[/FONT]
Summer Custodian Crew - 2004 to 2007

Education
College of DuPage – Wheaton, Illinois
Associate of Applied Science Computers & Internetworking Technologies. May 2011

Western Illinois University – Macomb, Illinois
Bachelor ofArts in History, May 2007.
Future Certification Goals:
Microsoft Windows 7 Configuration, MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7

wargamer6

bumping for further advice.

Essendon

This is by far the skinniest resume I've seen for a while. Here's how to fix it:

1. Remove that Profile bit, with all the multiple talents and versatile things. That's just a waste of resume white space. See the resume as a piece of expensive real estate and use it wisely.

2. Instead of writing Desktop Support - PC Technician blah blah blah, put in IT Professional blah blah blah. IMO, this sells you short. I'm sure you'd want to get a better role than replacing HDD's right? So unless Desktop Support is what you are exclusively looking for, replace with something generic or atleast something that's not going to sell you short.

3. Move the Education up just under your opening statement. Have a section called, Profile, then have a section called Education/Certifications and list your AAS and your certs there.

4. You must have done something at your People's Resource Centre gig, right? If I were an employer, how do I know what you did there. I aint going to call you, I'll call the next guy with a resume that tells me what you've done.

5. Continuing point 4, put some meat on the bones. Write what you did at your various gigs, dont go overboard though.

6. No need to write future goals in there. One of my goals is to own a ranch, but I dont write it there. You can perhaps have it say Certification in progress - <whatever>. And this is when you are say 60-70% into completing the cert.

Hope I havent come across as too harsh, but that's a resume destined for the dumpster. Here are some links to other resume critiques:

1. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/68663-anyone-feel-like-critiquing-resume.html

2. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/68442-taking-advice-resume.html

3. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/67517-resume-critique-please.html

4. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/65431-please-review-comment-my-resume.html

5. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66846-please-critique-my-resume.html

6. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66105-my-turn-dust-off-resume-critique.html

7. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66036-boss-leaving-move-another-job-resume.html

8. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66039-critique-my-resume.html

9. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66033-please-review-my-resume.html

10. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/65399-help-my-resume-need-advice.html

Hope this helps!

wargamer6

Thanks!

Essendon

wargamer6 wrote: »

Thanks!

No problems, but I want to see a better resume! I just invested 5 minutes of my life for your resume, lol!

Everyone

Essendon wrote: »

6. http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/66105-my-turn-dust-off-resume-critique.html

Hey look I made the list!

wargamer6

SKILLS SUMMARY

· Comptia A+ Certified
· Comptia Network + Certified
· Comptia Security + Certified
· Desktop Support

· PC Trouble shooting and Repair
· Customer Service
· Backups and Imaging

EDUCATION

Western Illinois University - Macomb, Illinois
· Bachelor of Arts in History – May 2007
College of DuPage – Glen Ellyn, Illinois
· System Support Specialist Certificate – August 2009
· Associate of Science in Computer Science – May 2011

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

PC Technician People’s Resource Center – Wheaton, Illinois – August 2009 to Current
· Provides functional and technical support, troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware problems on desktops and laptops.
· Resolves Windows related issues, Internet Explorer issues and other PC software related issues such as viruses and spyware.
· Recovers critical client data such as photos and other personal items from failing hard drives.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Associate – iSold it on eBay – Palatine, Illinois – October 2007 to March 2011
· Provided research and appraisal of potential item values.
· Participated large scale inventory research for a casino and collectors and gave quick turnaround time.
· Assisted with eBay tech support via phones.
· Prepared packages for shipping through USPS and FedEx.

Security Officer – Starwood Hotels and Resorts – Lombard, Illinois – July 2007 to September 2007 (Full Time)
· Helped open Westin Lombard Yorktown by helping train newer guards.
· Attended to guest and associate needs by providing excellent customer service.
· Helped secure building by patrolling inside and outside and monitoring entryways.
· Monitored visitors by maintaining a sign-in sign-out log.

Summer Custodian – Lombard School District 44 – Lombard, Illinois – June 2004 to July 2007 (Full Time Seasonal)

Was responsible for cleaning the school during the summer using a variety of chemicals and machines.
Was responsible for safety of summer crew people.
Was responsible for temporarily moving desktop computers and setting them back up when rooms were being cleaned.

Essendon

Do you mind posting a pdf/word version of your resume so we can see the formatting. Pasting it in here screws the formatting up. BTW, this version is better than before. You should put some more stuff in your bullet points, make it meatier. Keep the tense the same, your Summer Custodian role has "Was responsible..." Just have "Responsible for..."

wargamer6

How do I attach a file?

Essendon

Check out the attached file.

here ya go

It's dull and boring, TBH. But that doesnt mean you go about using garden greens and hot pinks in there!

1. Get rid of the Skills Summary section. Dont you think it's wasted space? Doesnt tell my anything of what you can do with customer service, backups and imaging. It also strikes me as odd how you have Customer Service and Backups & Imaging together. I know IT is all about customer service, but Customer Service (with the first letter capitalized) is more like answering phones and listening to whining people while backups is more like 3rd level server admin stuff.

2. If I were you, I'd have a two-line Profile section telling the reader about you being an IT pro and bringing with you so-and-so skills. Then have a section called titled Education/Certifications. The experience section can come in next.

3. Use Trebuchet MS as your font, Garamond is not bad and Verdana aint bad either. Times New Roman is hard to read and boring.

4. The formatting on your current gig is out of whack. Believe me HR look at this. If a resume with screwed up formatting showed up on my desk, I'll send it straight to the recycle bin. If an applicant cannot take the time to get the resume right, I doubt they can do the job well either.

Something to think about. The links to other resume critiques I posted above have some extremely good info, especially the one Everyone quoted in this thread.

PUT MORE MEAT ON THE BONES. The resume is skinny.

hackman2007

I actually like the Skills section, but I don't like the way it is formatted. I would just combine it with education or create a certifications section (and get rid of the rest of the fluff).

You need to fix your Education tabs too. Western Illinois University is slightly more to the left than College of Dupage. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it looks odd to me.

You may also want to get rid of the extra space in between your security officer and summer custodian jobs too. When I glanced through the resume, I stopped on the skills summary and the extra space.

You also have an extra space between "computers and" in your last bullet point.

wargamer6

I'll work on the formatting. Office 2k3 wouldn't let me edit the bullets but 2010 will.

SamLea27

Alright, I am editing right in here, for my 2 cents, they are in red. Also agree with others have been saying here...

wargamer6 wrote: »

CERTIFICATIONS
(It's CompTIA)
· CompTIA A+
· CompTIA Network +
· CompTIA Security +

SKILLS SUMMARY
· Desktop Support
· PC Trouble shooting and Repair
· Customer Service
· Backups and Imaging

EDUCATION

Western Illinois University
· Bachelor of Arts in History – Graduated Cum Laude May 2007
College of DuPage
· System Support Specialist Certificate – August 2009
· Associate of Science in Computer Science – May 2011

Take out city, state. Were you Cum Laude? Did you have a high GPA average? If so, add it in (see my example) If not, leave as it was.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Keep it formatted the same
PC Technician - People’s Resource Center – Wheaton, Illinois – August 2009 to Current
· Provides functional and technical support, troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware problems on desktops and laptops.
· Resolves Windows related issues, Internet Explorer issues and other PC software related issues such as viruses and spyware.
· Recovers critical client data remove:[such as photos and other personal items] from failing hard drives.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Associate – iSold it on eBay – Palatine, Illinois – October 2007 to March 2011
· Provided research and appraisal of potential item values.
· Participated large scale inventory research for a casino and collectors and gave quick turnaround time.
· Assisted with eBay tech support via phones.
· Prepared packages for shipping through USPS and FedEx.

Security Officer – Starwood Hotels and Resorts – Lombard, Illinois – July 2007 to September 2007 removeFull Time)
· Helped open Westin Lombard Yorktown by helping train newer guards.
· Attended to guest and associate needs by providing excellent customer service.
· Helped secure building by patrolling inside and outside and monitoring entryways.
· Monitored visitors by maintaining a sign-in sign-out log.

Summer Custodian – Lombard School District 44 – Lombard, Illinois – June 2004 to July 2007 remove: (Full Time Seasonal)
Was responsible for cleaning the school during the summer using a variety of chemicals and machines.

Was responsible for safety of summer crew people.

Was responsible for temporarily moving desktop computers and setting them back up when rooms were being cleaned.

Reassembled computer systems

Try some other variations besides 'was responsible' such as In charge of, Maintained,

wargamer6

newest version

resume.pdf

Essendon

Okay way better than before. Can I ask why there are separate sections for Relevant Experience and Work Experience? Just looks very odd to me. I'd just club it into one section.

wargamer6

Essendon wrote: »

Okay way better than before. Can I ask why there are separate sections for Relevant Experience and Work Experience? Just looks very odd to me. I'd just club it into one section.

Well I had it separate since my only hands on experience is volunteer work, I should highlight that. The last interview I was on they mentioned they liked seeing volunteer work.