Wednesday, February 12, 2014

NEW YEAR, NEW APPROACH: YOUR IT RESUME MAKEOVER

Whether you happen to be in the market right now, or you’ve decided that you’re going to kick off the New Year by looking for your dream IT job, you need a great resume to help you in your job search. The IT job market is a competitive one, and your resume is the key to gaining the attention of hiring managers, who are often looking at hundreds of applicants for a single position.
If you’re updating your IT resume for the first time in years—or creating a new one—the process can seem daunting. But it doesn’t have to be hard to turn out a resume that will impress potential employers and land you the all-important interview for the job you really want.
These holiday resume makeover tips will help you showcase the right aspects of your resume, and lead to getting you hired.
One of the best ways to approach a resume makeover is to look at it from a different perspective. Instead of writing a list of skills, experiences, and accomplishments, your resume should tell the story of you—drawing out the core of what makes you a great choice for the job you’re going after.
Take some time to consider what you would bring to the table. You might even envision yourself in your desired position, to help you determine which of your qualities and skills would matter most. Then, work on building your resume around that vision—so potential employers can immediately see where you fit.
By nature, most IT resumes tend toward density—particularly if you have a long career with a lot of experience behind you. Many candidates believe that the more experience you list, the better you’ll look, which results in the mistake of page after page of tech-heavy text that makes hiring managers’ eyes glaze over.
Ideally, you should limit your resume to no more than two pages. This means making careful wording choices that don’t use a lot of tech-babble, but instead pinpoint your relevant skills and accomplishments with clarity. Streamline your resume wherever possible, and remember to highlight your story.
Appearances count
The words on your resume are important—but so is the way those words are arranged. An effective resume gets your key points across quickly and clearly, so that hiring managers can make faster decisions about putting you in the “yes” pile. If they have to look too hard for your relevant skills and qualifications, you’ll be out of the running before you leave the starting gate.
This means chronological resumes that start with your education, and then list your experiences in order from first job to current position, are right out. You want to have essential information front and center—at the top of the first page. If you haven’t done so already, create a resume section that lists your key skills and qualifications in bullet form, and make this the first thing a potential employer sees.
Save all of your housekeeping information, such as degrees, certifications, and early job experience, for the second page. If you impress hiring managers enough upfront, they may not even have to know that information before bringing you in for an interview.
If you are looking for tech employment in California, contact The Armada Group today.

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