IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter fendi_mane
- Start date
What kind of education does he have?
I can't tell from what you posted, but if he's not working with at least an Associate's degree then HR depts are probably tossing his resume in the bushes. Hate to say it but even entry-level helpdesk jobs usually want at least a 2-year degree these days; job market is crowded.
GED and 3 certs are what he has.
FreshFromATL
Self Made
He need to go to college and that resume needs to be reworked.
Agreed @FreshFromATL
So I spoke to him tonight and he gave me the full run down of his IT background
He got his first IT gig in 2004 at a computer shop but didn't add it since he didn't want the resume being 3 pages
I told him having resume gaps would raise eye brows and they'll toss it in the recycle bin
He left the job in 2010, but I added a year to it just to make the gap smaller..From what I understand, this was an off the books gig, so HR can't verify employment dates
He has a contractor that brings him on for moves for health first, but it's random..I wanted to add it, but adding "present" to the date would confuse employers & just be resume fluff
I reworked it myself to the best of my ability, but I'm sure it still needs a ton of work
I'm going to work on it more & ideally try to get it all up on 1 page
What do you guys think?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEdAoxNww_6M191ZHZoNXI2dXM/edit?usp=sharing
So I spoke to him tonight and he gave me the full run down of his IT background
He got his first IT gig in 2004 at a computer shop but didn't add it since he didn't want the resume being 3 pages
I told him having resume gaps would raise eye brows and they'll toss it in the recycle bin
He left the job in 2010, but I added a year to it just to make the gap smaller..From what I understand, this was an off the books gig, so HR can't verify employment dates
He has a contractor that brings him on for moves for health first, but it's random..I wanted to add it, but adding "present" to the date would confuse employers & just be resume fluff
I reworked it myself to the best of my ability, but I'm sure it still needs a ton of work
I'm going to work on it more & ideally try to get it all up on 1 page
What do you guys think?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEdAoxNww_6M191ZHZoNXI2dXM/edit?usp=sharing
Leave the GED off or put it last at the bottom. Add a summary/objective at the top
ie: "Experienced Support Technician with XX years experience in ......."
Where you have systems, software, and networking; create a new section called Technical Summary or Technical Skills and place all that under there. Also make that more like a list:
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Systems: Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server
Languages: Visual Studios 2010, Java
Databases: MS SQL Server 2008, MySQL
Software: MS Office Suite, VMware, Citrix, Remedy, Solarwinds Orion
Networking: TCP/IP, HTTP, DHCP, DNS, RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, ACLs, VLANs, STP
You can another section like "Qualifications "where you put all the "Firm understanding.... Proficient in ..........."
Employers care most about what you're looking for, what you've done, what your skills are, and most importantly what you have experience in using (as well as the number of years you used it).
Last edited:
Need you to check mine later too fam
I can't take full credit. When I was looking for a job I used this link to help me.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/job...s-dos-donts-guide-line-getting-contacted.html
I found a lot tips in that thread to improve my resume. I would suggest to anyone just getting started or in need of resume help to read through that thread.
Great info! Thank you
This might be another helpful link:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/job...-network-administrator-service-help-desk.html
In fact I think the entire techexams IT/Jobs sub-forum would be useful to IT job seekers short on experience.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/job...-network-administrator-service-help-desk.html
In fact I think the entire techexams IT/Jobs sub-forum would be useful to IT job seekers short on experience.
I'm not great either but I have interviewed and hired people. One of my friends in HR dropped some good game on me way back when: your resume is supposed to be a story of your career path.
Been posting there for years, very good resource
So coming back to this
Resume format should be
Summary
Certs
Skills
Qualifications(should this go before skills? After experience?)
Experience
Education
Resume summary can start off with something along the lines of
I'd them rework this entire portion
Before
After
Edit: noticed I left education up top by mistake
I'll move it to the bottom for the final revision
I liked the layout you presented for technical skills, but if I were to lay it out that way, it wouldn't be uniform with the rest of the resume. That would end up being an eyesore, no?
Also, the qualifications portion
Should I have that AND the summary? Or can I get away with making those 2 sections into 1? Part of me feels the qualifications part is resume fluff, but you guys know way more than I do regarding resumes
He really doesn't have a ton of experience, so this shouldn't exceed 2 pages, correct?
Here is the newest revision
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEdAoxNww_6UUdoUkdKRHBlbHc/edit?usp=sharing
So coming back to this
Resume format should be
Summary
Certs
Skills
Qualifications(should this go before skills? After experience?)
Experience
Education
Resume summary can start off with something along the lines of
I'd them rework this entire portion
Before
After
Edit: noticed I left education up top by mistake
I'll move it to the bottom for the final revision
I liked the layout you presented for technical skills, but if I were to lay it out that way, it wouldn't be uniform with the rest of the resume. That would end up being an eyesore, no?
Also, the qualifications portion
Should I have that AND the summary? Or can I get away with making those 2 sections into 1? Part of me feels the qualifications part is resume fluff, but you guys know way more than I do regarding resumes
He really doesn't have a ton of experience, so this shouldn't exceed 2 pages, correct?
Here is the newest revision
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByEdAoxNww_6UUdoUkdKRHBlbHc/edit?usp=sharing
First and foremost I'm no expert.
To start off, I would leave certs out of the Summary section. The summary is just supposed to explain what you are and what type of work you want.
I.E. "Experienced tech with 3 years in networking. Looking for a challenging position on a network team...."
Remove "Firm understanding, proficient, etc" from the Technical skills. Just make it a straight up list of what he knows/used. Save the "Proficient, firm understanding, etc...." for the Qualifications.
I would probably put Qualifications second after Summary.
As for experience list every job and technical task he can remember. Don't worry about if it can be verified or not. The primary goal is to get him in the door and in front of or on the phone with an interviewer. He just got to learn how to explain that. Call it contract work etc.
Don't stress over the time line either. Find a way to get it in. Don't omit anything technical.
If you haven't already, I really, really recommend that either you or him read through at least the first 2-3 pages of that thread I linked up.
Will do!
Got him reading those 2 pages you linked now
I really don't wanna do this, but son is miserable at his current work place & I personally know he has the skills for help desk or desktop support.
Scott Larock
Its hard leaving thecoli but I gotta find a way...
Hey, what can a A+ as a AS degree in Networking do? I'm debating signing up for school but I already owe 30k in loans. Is Health Informatics a good field for a older guy?