As an Information Technology professional, you face very different challenges than most other jobseekers. Advice that you have been given by anyone outside of this industry could be misguided. If you are going to invest time and/or money in your resume, you might as well know if what you are doing is going to get you results. We will examine the various ways your resume can be received and the best ways to maximize the appeal of your resume, since there are many different kinds of individuals that will be reviewing it.
Here are some guidelines specific to IT resumes:
"Big" is relative
When it comes to your experience, start with what you accomplished. What were the challenges you and/or your department were facing? If this was an official initiative, what is the size and scope of the project? How many users were affected? Detail what you used and how you used it to conquer the challenge. Include the result in quantifiable means whenever possible. Do not enforce the usual page limits on an IT résumé. IT hiring managers and recruiters need to know exactly what a candidate has done. Vague résumés will often get passed over for "lower hanging fruit." Adding these details can make a résumé longer, but a non-technical recruiter, sourcing specialist or administrator would find it difficult to locate you among applicants and qualify you otherwise. Mid-level IT professionals can very acceptably have a three-page resume and executive or senior IT professionals can acceptably have a five-page resume.
It's all in the details
Any application/suite/module, database, language, tool, server, operating system, protocol, switch/router, etc. that you wish to continue working with should be included in the résumé. When a potential employer reviews your resume, they want to know more than that you have worked with X technology. They want to know how much and how in-depth your experience is. The technology should occur proportionally as frequently in your resume as you had worked with it. Frequency of keywords increases your relevance in the results of a keyword search making you further up on the list of candidates to call for further qualification. Include versions.
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Some companies require a resume to include 80% of the requirements listed in their posted job description. The initial gatekeeper has a checklist that includes number of months/years of experience for each requirement. They systematically divide how many boxes are checked by the total number of requirements to see if you make it to the next round. In order for a skill to be considered a valid qualification, it must be substantiated. This doesn't mean that your potential employment is always measured by these methods. It is evidence that you should always include all details of your experience that are specifically requested in a job description.
Alternate spellings
As you write your job descriptions, think about the step-by-step processes. Include tools, methodologies, applications that you involved and any corresponding acronyms. Scan job descriptions posted by employers to see what variation of terms they use. For example, M is a common way to refer to MUMPS. Caché is the latest version of Mumps (which is a language and a database, so make sure that is clear). When applicable, add the alternate term in parenthesis a couple of times throughout the resume. This will ensure that keyword searches will extract your resume regardless of which variation the individual is using to search.
Training/Certification/Education
Placing this section at the top of your resume versus the bottom is dependent on how much these qualifications are going to generate interest in an interview. Some certifications are very sought-after. Certain schools produce alumni that are highly recruited. If you know that this applies to you, put it first. Include the name of the establishments from which you received any training/certification/degree, even if it is a foreign university. Omitting it automatically generates doubt in the reputation of the establishment.
A lot of IT candidates put the logo for the certification they have received on their resume, which looks great. However, applicant tracking systems usually do not store graphics or formatting because it takes up too much space/memory. The certifications should also be listed in text form (Acronym + full spelling).
Wasn't me
It is not as important to a recruiter what your team or manager accomplished as what YOU had to do with it. Give yourself credit for your contributions. Avoid phrases like "involved in," "contributed to," and "attended." These phrases communicate that things happen around you. If your resume does not show off HOW you contributed, what your involvement was, it may have the opposite affect you want it to. It may make you look like an observer rather than an achiever. Conversely, do not take credit for other's accomplishments. I often had candidates explain things in "we" terms. For example, "We reviewed the code, identified errors, and worked with the developers to remediate the problem." What was really meant was that the individual reviewed the code, identified the errors, and the project manager worked with the developers. Tell them what YOU did, not what the team or manager did, or you may wind up in a role that you are not qualified to do. Gaining employment by misrepresenting your abilities and experience can be the most detrimental career move. It ruins your credibility in small world where recruiters move around and warn each other about the people that ruined THEIR reputation.
Mingle it!
Most transition resources will tell you that networking is the best way to gain new employment. It is true what they say, "It's all about who you know." This can be discouraging for people who are not lucky enough to have family connections, but you can always go out and meet people. For those who enjoy IT because they prefer to interface with a computer rather than a person, this truth is particularly daunting. The good news is that there are new ways to introduce yourself completely virtually. Online methods of networking include e-lists, user groups, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, and many more. Whomever you do not know now, you can meet in cyberspace. The point of networking is to generate leads and referrals for employment. Referrals are recruiters' favorite way to find new candidates, so an e-mail subject stating "John Smith referred me" is GOING to be opened and given priority! Remember that you can also introduce other people and the more you do it, the more it will be done for you. If you want to know the best way to present yourself to strangers, read How to Guerilla Market Yourself, Get What You Deserve! by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin.
Call me!
Unfortunately, the resume you send may never reach a person. Sometimes applicants number in the hundreds to thousands and it is not humanly possible to review that many resumes, let alone send a response. What can you do to make sure that your resume doesn't sit in a dummy inbox? Call! Follow up. Your resume displays experience, skills, accomplishments, education, and certifications. What is not evident is your motivation. Your dedication to finding a job is an indication of how motivated you will be to bring value to your next position. Your value is what gets you a job offer. If you reach voice mail, leave a polite invitation to learn more about what you can bring to this position. Say your number S-L-O-W-L-Y and spell your name so the recruiter or hiring manager can locate your resume prior to returning your call. Now, if the return call does not come, leave another message the following day reinforcing your enthusiasm for the job. It is okay to keep trying. Sometimes, it can take four or five calls. DO NOT leave any trace of a guilt trip. Understand that "Drop everything! This is HOT!" is the nature of a recruiter's day. Priorities flip-flop and zig-zag. Plus, few people would be motivated by undue guilt, and do you want that to be their reason for calling you? Out of guilt? Be patiently persistent. It may not get you a job, but it will most likely get you a response and a chance to introduce yourself.
Karen Huller is a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. She received her Bachelors degree in Communication Studies and Theater from Ursinus College, where she minored in Creative Writing. She spent five years working in Executive and Information Technology placement firms providing research, sourcing, recruiting, resume formatting, salary and benefits negotiation consultations and interview coaching. Mrs. Huller started Charésumé to work one-on-one with those in transition, preparing materials such as résumés and cover letters and helping them to develop a transition strategy. She educates her clients on the recruiter's point-of-view as to how to be one of the top 10% of candidates who are selected to interview and how to interview to get hired. Visit Charesume.com for more information on how to outshine your competition. |
