Technical Resume Writing
Technical Resume Samples
Technical Cover Letters
Sourceline Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved, 2007
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Technical Resume Writing
Technical Resume Samples
Technical Cover Letters
Sourceline Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved, 2007
Questions? Comments?
Send email to:
Part 2 of the IT Resume Writing Guide outlines the concept of building a summary.
In this section we will go over the types of statements that can be used in the IT Resume Summary; provide examples of statements that can be used in the IT Resume Summary; and describe how the summary can be used to quickly grab the readers attention and help promote the reader to call you for a job interview.
Key portions of the IT Resume Include:
IT Resume - Introductory Statement
IT Resume - Experience Section
IT Resume - Education and Other Sections
The summary will follow the introductory statement. The summary will consist of anywhere from 3 to 10 supporting statements that provide more details about your experience and/or training. These statements should reflect key areas that you feel are strong requirements for the job position. The statements should be compelling, detailed, yet easy to follow.
Let us take a look at some statements that we may want to include in our example:
Over 20 years of experience developing software for large multi-national financial organizations, credit card corporations and banking institutions.
The above statement would further document your experience by identifying your years of experience and industry expertise.
Sun Java 2 Certified professional with deep understanding of object-oriented design and extensive experience building software in C++ and Java.
The above statement would highlight a key certification and highlight your areas of expertise within your field.
Proven ability to lead and motivate high performance teams.
This would be considered a statement of personal strength. In this statement you are informing the reader that you can lead teams and you have had success doing so in the past.
History of building software systems with improved functionality and productivity, consistently meeting critical requirements.
This is a good example of a strong closing statement that documents that you have achieved success in your field in previous positions.
Format - Generally, there a number of ways to format the summary, but in this guide we will talk about 2 formats, general format and executive format. First the general format, which tends to be less formal and easier to read.
Secondly, the executive format, which is commonly used by professionals targeting leadership positions. In this format, the summary statements will follow the headline in a paragraph.
A results-driven Software Developer with demonstrated success in the design, development and deployment of large-scale enterprise applications for the financial industry. Over 20 years of experience developing software for large multi-national financial organizations, credit card corporations and banking institutions. Sun Java 2 Certified professional with deep understanding of object-oriented analysis and design with extensive experience building software in C++ and Java. Proven ability to lead and motivate high performance teams. History of building software systems with improved functionality and productivity, consistently meeting critical requirements.
Use whichever format you feel more comfortable with. The general format tends to be easier to read, but the executive format is considered to be the more "formal" approach.
Tips for developing the summary:
1. Focus on functional strengths first, such as years of experience, areas of expertise, knowledge of key technologies, knowledge of processes or methodologies, or any other items that are DIRECTLY related to your experience or training. Then if you have the room, you can add statements that reflect personal strengths such as skills regarding communication, leadership, troubleshooting, etc. If possible, you can use these personal strengths in a combination with strong statements of functional expertise.
Example:
Proven ability to lead, motivate and train large teams with experience managing groups of up to 20 staff members within Project Management Office.
In this case you document your leadership strengths but also mention specific experience managing a PMO office.
Over 15 years in technical support with proven ability to rapidly troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve complex technical issues.
In this case you are documenting your technical support experience but also mentioning your troubleshooting skills.
2. Don't be afraid to mention any major certifications, training, IT skills or education in the summary, even if you are building a formal education section and a formal technical skills section. If you are an MCSE and expert in Windows 2000, then let them know in the summary, the tech skills section and the experience section.
3. Don't go overboard with the adjectives and self descriptions. Usually 2 at the most per statement, otherwise the statements become overwhelming and you almost loose some credibility.
Don't do this:
An honest, loyal, well organized, self-motivated problems solver with experience leading people, meeting new challenges, achieving goals and producing positive results
Honestly.... what does this statement mean? Nothing to an employer, its just a bunch of fluff and overused self descriptions.
4. Usually, its good to write the experience section before you write the summary, then its easier for you to look at your experience and summarize it. Also, its a good idea to browse the job boards and pick out some jobs you would like to apply for. Then pay attention to the key requirements and make sure those requirements are addressed in the summary.
5. Often times you hear about individuals that have multiple resumes. Most of the time as busy professionals, we do not have the time necessary to completely rewrite our resume for each specific job we apply for. However, its usually not that time intensive to make modifications to the summary that can help you target the job much more effectively. After all, targeting, is one of the key elements of marketing and that is what your resume is doing ---- Marketing or Advertising yourself to your employer.
