Getting Started
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone number home
Phone number pager or cell
E-mail address
Website URL (optional)
Expertise section: see
also
Describe in a brief paragraph what kind of work you like to do,
and which skills you enjoy using the most. It need not be a specific
job, describe the kinds of work you have done or would do in the
future.
Summary of Qualifications section: see also
List 9 - 15 bullet points that describe skills you have, such as
team player or customer service, that are not necessarily specific
skills. Good place to put things that can't be listed under hardware
or software knowledge, and aren't quantifiable enough to be listed
as accomplishments under each job section.
Experience section: see
also
List for EACH job:
- Company name
- Title (functional description, not exact title if it doesn't
give much of a clue)
- Dates worked there (year to year)
- A list of 10 things that you were responsible for
- A list of 10 things that you accomplished
Brownie points:
You want to show a gradual progression of responsibility in job
titles, or if you held the same job in increasingly bigger
companies, you want to show that as well. You want all your job
years to mesh, without gaps. When you list what you accomplished,
you want to show how you reduced costs (cite dollar amounts),
improved efficiency (cite percentages improved), or increased fixed
open tickets (cite percentage improved and for how many people).
It is important to show that when you got there things were not
so OK but that you improved things by X% just in the time you were
there. Use action verbs - avoid using forms of the verb "to
be" in conjunction with your other verbs. These will become
your bullet points. Show, if possible, that you played well as a
team and contributed to great team accomplishment. They won't want
to hire a grand-stander, even if they do walk on water.
Don't go back any farther than 10 years, or list any jobs that do
not contribute towards the type of position you are seeking (i.e.
office manager jobs if you are looking for programmer work),
whichever is the most recent (shortest list). If possible, change
job title to something generic, such as "contractor", as
opposed to a functional job title that doesn't support your
objective.
Education and Affiliations section: see also
List all professional seminars, courses, educational
institutions, and professional associations that you belong to, most
recently attended first, professional associations at the bottom. Do
not list religious or personal affiliations. Masons is not OK,
Society of Engineers is.
Do not list high school. Do not list years of attendance or
graduation from college or GPA (unless 3.5 or better). A college
degree is listed as "B.S., Underwater Basketweaving". If
you have not yet completed college, list it as "Underwater
Basketweaving Studies". Do not list how long you have been a
member of anything.
List course titles. If you are a certified anything, list company
name, then "Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)".
Remember that resumes are now searched by keyword. You want it to
come up either way - by word search or acronym. Do not list military
service or education.
Professional Skills section: see also
List every single piece of hardware, software, or peripheral
product that has anything to do with computers. These include, but
are not limited to:
- Operating systems
- Applications
- Hardware platforms
- Software products
- Networks - token? Fiber? Ethernet?
- LANs, WANs, etc.
- Peripherals
- Programming languages
- Databases
- Office suites
- Types of computers
- Printers
- Cross-platform apps (WinDD, WINE, eXceed, Rumba)
This should get you started on the basic information needed to
create a successful resume. Paradoxically, never put too much
information into your resume. You only want enough so that they want
to call you for an interview. Never, ever, ever, list salary
information or references on the resume.
Remember, you don't need to limit your resume to one page
anymore, not with the Internet being the most common means of
submission. However, 2 - 3 pages is probably the maximum acceptable
length. Recruiters and employers search for keywords, and you want
to make sure you come up on those searches. Next is making you sound
like someone who can contribute to the bottom line for the company
right away.
Proceed to Accomplishments and
Responsibilities. |
