Take action on writing your IT resume and begin gathering the information you need in these areas:

1. work experience
    
2. educational experience
    
3. professional training
    
4. awards
    
5. community service
    
6. competitive sports
    
7. hobbies
    
8. travel

Now open your word processor and take action to write your resume.

Follow the steps outlined in the previous pages.

You will also want to review chapters dealing with IT Technical Skills Summary, Cover Letters, References and Setting Goals.

Good luck in your IT job search.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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Resume Layout is important to ensure that both people and machines can read your resume quickly.

Read or scan - quickly and easily

There is a lot of information to present about your skills and experience, and yet you want prospective employers to be able read or scan your resume - quickly and easily. This can be achieved through a simple layout using 3 columns.

Don’t lose your important information

You want the important information in your resume correctly and completely entered into the database. Correct scanning of your resume requires that you:

• Do not use the Header or Footer for your name and address information.
   
• Do not use fancy type faces or graphics.
   
• Do not insert logos for certifications such as CNE, MCSE, etc.
   
• Do not use text boxes.

Three (3) column layout

The three (3) column layout is used in the Body of your resume and is applied to each of the subsections to effectively and clearly display your experience.

Table borders are turned off before Your IT Resume is sent.

The 3-column layout would be applied, as follows, to each job in the Work Experience section:

The 3-column layout is applied in a similar fashion to Education; Travel; Community Service or any other section.

The sample two (2) page resume gives an excellent idea of how your resume would look.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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The body of your resume will typically contain the following:

1. Work Experience
2. Education
3. Training
4. Awards
5. Community Service
6. Sports
7. Competitive Sports
8. Hobbies
9. Travel

Presenting this information in an effective manner that can easily and quickly be scanned by both human eyes and database software is discussed in Resume Layout.

Work Experience:

1. Your job title.
2. The time period that you worked, specifying month & year from - to.
3. The name of the company or organization.
4. The name of the city or town where you worked.
5. What the company does or makes, where it is based, how many offices and/or factories and/or stores, number of employees.
6. Your responsibilities including: the title that you reported to; how many people in your group/team; how many people reported to you directly or indirectly.

Your achievements:

• decreasing the cost of installing servers by $275 per machine;
• increased sales by $25,000 per month.
• add any accomplishment and quantity the achievement, i.e. how many dollars, how many users, how many network nodes, how much per machine, and so on.

Technical Environment:

• hardware - list various hardware used in your work environment,
• software - list the operating systems, applications software, programming languages, etc.

Education:

1. The degree or diploma received or being studied toward.
2. The major if any.
3. The name of the college or university.
4. The city or town where attended.
5. Time period that you attended.
6. If you did not complete the studies, note Incomplete.
7. If you are currently studying, note In Progress

Training:

1. The certification or subject being studied.
2. The name of the organization providing training.
3. The city or town where attended.
4. Time period that you attended.
5. If you did not complete the studies, note Incomplete.
6. If you are currently studying, note In Progress

Awards:

Shows that you are top performer willing to go the extra mile.

1. The complete name of the award.
2. The name of the organization issuing the award.
3. The city where located.
4. Reason for the award.
5. The date of the award.

Community Service:

More and more organizations value individuals who give back to their community. Gives an insight into what motivates you. An opportunity to connect with an inteviewer. AND shows transferable skills that may not be used in your current employment.

1. What you were or are doing, title if appropriate.
2. The name of the organization.
3. The city or town where located.
4. Time period that you performed, or are performing, the service.

Sports:

An opportunity to connect with an inteviewer.

Name each sport in which you actively participate. All sports will usually fit on one line.

Competitive Sports:

Competitive sports shows that you have the ability to take direction and work as part of a team in sports such as hockey, cricket, etc. under pressure. Focus. Persistence. An opportunity to connect with an inteviewer.

1. Position
2. Team name
3. Years played
4. City or town

Hobbies:

Shows your interests and may also provide an opportunity to connect with an interviewer.

Name each hobby. They usually fit on a single line.

Travel:

Helps to show some interest in and some skill in dealing with other cultures. A highly valued skill in Toronto with its cultural diversity.

Organize by country including major province or state; or city visited.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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The Heading of your resume is very important, especially if you want to ensure that your resume is correctly scanned into a resume database and indexed using your name.

The first words at the top of the resume will be your name. Do not put the word resume at the top of the page.

Do not use graphically rich layouts - they only confuse the algorithms.

Postal Address Guidelines

Follow the postal service guidelines for addressing. The resume scanning algorithms use these guidelines.

The addressing guidelines following are based on online guides available from Canada Post, the US Postal Service and other postal services who are members of the International Post Corporation,a cooperative association of 23 national Postal operators from North America, Europe and the Pacific . Together, their members handle 65 per cent of the world’s postal traffic, which amounts to an immense volume of 290 billion letters a year.

The Resume Heading contains the basic contact information about you, including:

1. Your name
2. Apartment or Suite number (if there is one) - Street address
3. City or town, Province Postal Code
4. Telephone number
5. E-mail address
6. Languages
7. Diplomas, Degrees & Certifications

1.0 Your name:

Use the name that you are commonly called by, not your given names.

If your given name is Robert Itguru and you have been called Bob for 10 years, then the name at the top of your resume will be Bob Itguru. Use bold face and slightly larger type for your name.

 Bob Itguru
 

2.0 Street Address:

Unit numbers come before the street address, then a space, then a dash “-”, then a space, then street address. All on the same line such as:

 468-283 Danforth Ave.
 

3.0 City, Province  Postal Code:

All three (3) are to appear on the same line. City, 2 letter provincial code then 2 spaces and then the Postal Code:

 Toronto, ON  M4K 1N2
 

N.B. There is no “,” between Province and Postal Code.

4.0 Telephone number:

Give your home phone number. It should always have a voice mail box. You do not want to miss a response to your resume.

 416-481-8282
 

5.0 E-mail address:

Use only one e-mail address. Use a personal e-mail address. Do not a business e-mail:

 joe_itguru@someisp.com
 

6.0 Languages:

Include any and all of the languages that you speak and/or write. Be specific about dialect. If you speak Mandarin do not write Chinese. Write Mandarin. Rate your skill level.

Do not forget English - if you speak English. If it is not on your resume it will not be scanned.

 English (mother tongue - excellent);
 French (working spoken & written)
 

7.0 Diplomas, Degrees & Certifications:

Just list, on one line, your degrees and certifications such as:

 B.Sc; SCO ACE
 

Following the above guidelines will to ensure that your resume gets scanned and indexed correctly, and it also makes it easier to read.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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The single purpose of your resume is to get you an interview. Your resume will get you an interview if the recruiter or employer can see that your combination of IT work experience, education, training and achievements can benefit them.

The resume style and format used in these pages has been developed over the past 20 years and has consistently helped candidates to get the right job. And employers to hire the right people.

The resume content is grouped into 2 main areas, the Heading and the Body:

Resume Heading

The Resume Heading has the following three main areas:

1. Your complete name, address, telephone number and e-mail
    
2. languages spoken and written
    
3. A list of your degrees and professional certifications

Resume Body

1. work experience
    
2. educational experience
    
3. professional training
    
4. awards
    
5. community service
    
6. competitive sports
    
7. hobbies
    
8. travel.

We can review these areas in detail in the following pages.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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How long should my resume be?

How long should my resume is a common question. “Make it short, one page or if necessary two pages”, is a common recommendation. I have some trouble with that idea.

Experience has shown me that the length of your resume is determined by the purpose of your resume.

The purpose of a resume

The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview for a job.

How does a resume help to get an interview?

You get an interview for a job by effectively presenting qualified and quantified information about your skills, education, training, experience and accomplishments.

No time for a long resume?

It is often said that “No one has time to read a long resume.”

• It is true is that interviewers do not have the time to wade through a poorly laid-out document.
   
• On the other hand, interviewers do not have the time to spent hours with you trying to find out if you have the skills and experience that they are looking for.

So what is the answer?

Prepare a well laid-out, effectively and concisely written document that truthfully presents all of your skills, experience and achievements in a quantified and qualified manner. Use point form. The length will reflect the depth and breadth of your experience. Five (5) or six (6) pages is not unusual.

If you were preparing a C.V., curriculum vitae, which is a complete, detailed history of your life - you could end up with 60 or 70 pages.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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You have taken the time and trouble to submit your resume. You want to get an interview. Do not get lost in the shuffle over something as simple as a file name.

Do not use the word resume in the filename. In fact the word resume should not appear anywhere in your resume.

Recruiters receive dozens of resumes daily that are named: “resume.doc”, or “myresume.doc”.

It is good document management to name files with a name that is related to content of the file and meaningful to other people as well. The same concept applies when sending your resume.

It is your resume, so give the file your name:

john_doe.rtf or

doe_jane.rtf

You are trying to get noticed when you send in your resume.

Putting your name on your resume file is simply free advertising if your e-mail is opened by a person and good systems practice if it is stored and indexed by a resume database system.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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Use a Universal Document Type to help ensure that your resume can be opened and read, or scanned, by as many word processing or resume system as possible.

Rich Text Format - RTF

You can do this with Rich Text Format - RTF.

The Rich Text Format (RTF) standard is a method of encoding formatted text and graphics for easy transfer between MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, UNIX, Next and Apple Macintosh applications.

RTF - Provides a standard across platforms

The RTF standard provides a format for text and graphics interchange that can be used with different output devices, operating environments, and operating systems. Formatting, font information, text color, and some page layout information is transferred intact.

RTF uses the ANSI, PC-8, Macintosh, or IBM PC character set to control the representation and formatting of a document, both on the screen and in print. With the RTF standard, you can transfer documents created under different operating systems and with different software.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

Technorati Tags: Resume Writing

Your IT resume has only one purpose - to get you a job interview.

A recruiter or employer usually becomes acquainted with you first through your resume.

What does your resume say about you?

• Do you look professional?
   
• Do you communicate effectively and efficiently in English?
   
• Do you have the skills, training and experience being sought?
   
• Could you provide a significant benefit to the organization?

You will get an interview if the answers to these questions are yes.

Building your resume will require an investment of your time, your energy and some thoughtful preparation.

Follow these steps and build a resume that will get you interviews:

• Using a universal document type.
   
• Give your resume file a meaningful name.
   
• How long should your resume be?
   
• Content - what do I include?
   
• Layout - how should my resume look?
   
• Technical Skills Summary
   
• How to maximize the impact of the e-mail that delivers your resume.
   
• Covering letters that get a resume read.

Read or re-read Is your IT resume ready? and of course What is the dollar value of your resume? if you are feeling reluctant to invest the time need to get to work on your resume.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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Employers have a variety of concerns, when hiring new staff. A detailed IT resume that clearly presents your skills, experience, education and achevements can help an employer to address many of these concerns.

Before we go into detail about building an effective IT resume, let’s look at some of the issues that your resume can help to address. By addressing these issues your resume can help to improve your chances of getting an interview.

Employers may have concerns in the areas of Skills, Personal Characteristics and Money including the following:

1. Can you do the job?
    
2. Will you do the job?
    
3. Will you get along well with others?
    
4. Are you manageable?
    
5. Can the company afford you?
    

Skill Concerns

1. Can you do the job?

• Do you possess the skills needed to be productive and make a contribution to organizational objectives within a reasonable time frame?
   
• Have you proven you have done this job elsewhere? If so, how successful were you at this job, and what problems did you encounter? (And did those problems help you develop new skills and insight, or will they likely be stumbling blocks in this position?)
   
• If you have not already done this job elsewhere, is there enough evidence to suggest you have the necessary skills, and thus are very likely to succeed in this job?
   

Personal Characteristics Concerns

2. Will you do the job?

• Even if you possess the skills, are you sufficiently motivated and do you have the energy level and self-confidence to do the job? What evidence is there to support this?
   
• Will you be dedicated, conscientious, fair, hard working, determined, and give 100% - or will you be distracted, drop the ball, be absent or late frequently, or otherwise not measure up to company standards?
   
• Are you sufficiently interested in this type of job to be motivated to do a good job and make a contribution?
   
• Will you stay long enough to make a contribution after the expense and time that is invested in recruiting and training?
   

3. Will you get along well with others?

• Will you fit in and be a team player? Is there evidence to support this?
   
• Will you be a positive influence on your coworkers - or will you cause friction or breed dissension, hurt morale, or talk down about the company?
   
• Will you fit in with the corporate culture - attitudes, values, personality, and personal style?
   

4. Are you manageable ?

• Will you be easy or difficult to manage - by the person who will be your manager or supervisor? Is there evidence to support this?
   
• Will you follow and/or support organizational policies and procedures?
   
• How will you take direction?
   
• Will you support organizational changes?
   
• Will you fit in with the existing style of management?
   

Money Concerns

5. Can the company afford you ?

• Is the salary range of this job compatible with your salary history?
   
• Is what you want to earn, reasonably expect to earn, and/or need to earn compatible with what this job pays?
   
• Is the benefit package consistent with your needs and expectations?

Not every job is right for you

Not every job is the right job for you, but you can address many of these concerns by being prepared. And having a great resume goes a long way to helping you be prepared for an interview.

Be prepared

The above concerns are front and center when a recruiter or employer is reviewing your resume, during interviews and when your references are consulted.

Now let’s start finding out how to write a resume that will get you interviews.

Table of Contents

• 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
• 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
• 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
• 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
• 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
• 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
• 07. Resume Writing: Length
• 08. Resume Writing: Content
• 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
• 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
• 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
• 12. Resume Writing: Take action!

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