Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    Writing an Idiot-Proof IT Resume

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    April 9, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      A resume is not a computer program. Its not data that gets crunched and delivers a 0-vs.-1 binary resolution. Its a document that needs to communicate an IT professionals skills and experience. That sounds obvious, but ask any IT recruiter about the resumes that pass across his or her desk every day, and youd be surprised at the blunders committed by IT professionals. Or maybe you wouldnt—in which case, you probably need to take a hard look at your resume to see if its likely to wind up in an IT recruiters recycling bin. To get the lowdown on the mistakes made most often by IT professionals when putting together their resumes, IT Careers Center Managing Editor Lisa Vaas recently spoke with Adrian Barbour, a recruitment manager at Anteon Corp.s Applied Technology Group. Barbour is in charge of recruitment for the government contractor, headquartered in Fairfax, Va., which has a staff of 5,400 IT, e-business, engineering, environmental and medical support professionals.

      ITCC: How many IT resumes do you deal with, and whats your overall impression of their effectiveness?

      Barbour: I look at thousands of resumes every year. A good resume should be focused on 1) getting an interview and 2) centering on a focus statement. A lot of [what people put on their resumes] doesnt feed into that.

      ITCC: What are some typical mistakes you see IT professionals make on their resumes?

      Barbour: One of the most common is that theyll give a long laundry list of applications or operating systems, but they dont explain any of it in the actual body of the position. Theyll list Java, C++, then at the bottom theyll say, I did programming for this and did a database, but they wont tell you what type of programming they did or what database they used. You have to relate functions to the position youve held.

      No. 2, not being specific in objective. Is it software? Is it engineering? They want the hiring manager to figure out from their resume what they want to do. Thats an annoying thing for an HR person. HR people want an idiot-proof resume, one that says, Im a networking administrator. Then the HR person can say, OK. Do they have enough years of experience? OK, thats what we want. Not one thats all over the place. If they have a multiplicity of skills, they need to divest those into different resumes.

      If theyre a Web person, they need a Web resume. If theyre a systems administrator, they need a systems engineering resume. It makes a lot of sense, but youd be surprised how many people dont delineate it clearly. They say, OK, do you think I can fit anything you do? Let me know.

      A technology recruiter doesnt want to think for the candidate. I time myself on how much I spend on them on average. I give approximately 1 minute per resume.

      ITCC: So youre saying that IT job seekers should be considerate of IT recruiters time?

      Barbour: I see about 2,500 per week. Thats about 150 per day. Businesses dont see HR departments as a value-added feature. Theyre typically understaffed. Most HR people are overworked. Thats a bad remedy when youre trying to find a job. If [recruiters] get 800 resumes in, theyll sort for the ones theyll easily recognize as a good fit for the position.

      ITCC: What are some basic decisions IT professionals should make when putting together their resumes?

      Barbour: If its government or civilian—you need to make a decision on that. On the government side, theyre interested in citizenship status and on your clearance level—how soon did you get it, and what level is it. [Also,] theyre interested in your exposure to government-based databases, their operating systems.

      [Working for the government] is a very different culture. Government contractors and agencies are interested in your ability to work in that kind of structure. Its more hierarchical. They use the same products as the public sector, but differently. If a person comes in with experience in the civilian sector, or an even more liberal culture, like a dot-com, then they dont tend to understand how the agency works. They have a hard time.

      Then you have your two major types of resume: chronological and functional. On the government side, chronological is the most applicable. Functional is OK, but its for someone without a lot of experience, or a jack of all trades, trying to highlight different pieces. Whichever format you use, you have to have a clear strategy: What are your objectives and target market.

      ITCC: Youve given tips for preparing a civilian- vs. a government-focused resume. Can you slice those more finely for advice?

      Barbour: Find an industry where you want to work. Defense sector? Engineering? Healthcare IT? Aerospace? Dot-com? Those are totally different industries but use the same software and operating systems. You have to do homework to find out which sectors are doing well, and preferably before you have a degree.

      Identify companies where you would like to work. Look at career pages, job descriptions. Usually those will give you an idea of what operating systems and what equipment theyre utilizing. You have to make sure your resume reflects that skill set. Try to use the same buzzwords and jargon. If they say We want someone with object-oriented programming, OLAP, data warehousing, and you have it but dont highlight it in your resume, youll have less chance of a hit.

      ITCC: What are some differences between an IT managers resume and a more hands-on, technical persons resume?

      Barbour: On the IT side, skill sets weigh more heavily than personality. On the management side, its the reverse. If youre doing MIS as a manager or any type of CIO function where you interact with business people who arent techie types, you need to work on facilitator skills and team management skills. You get a degree or you do seminars, you do training, you read books.

      People skills are an area in which techies are very, very weak. Theyre geared more toward data. They dont realize you could make your life very difficult if you piss off the person whos in charge of the purse strings.

      ITCC: Whats the worst resume youve ever seen?

      Barbour: One that gave me their life story. I was born in such and such a town, my moms name was Jean, she had me when she was XX, she took me to blah-blah grammar school. And it was photocopied, off a typewriter, and it wasnt centered. Half the text was cut off. Unfortunately, Im very restricted on what I can say. Id like to recommend that such people get resume advice, but Im not allowed to say that.

      eWEEK EDITORS
      eWeek editors publish top thought leaders and leading experts in emerging technology across a wide variety of Enterprise B2B sectors. Our focus is providing actionable information for today’s technology decision makers.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×