How do I address/describe myself in a resume?

[Guest_imported]

I am having trouble with my resume. I recently acquired my A+ certification and will have my Network+ in less than 4 weeks. I then will begin my MCSE-2000 track. I have been working in a non-technical field for the past 7 years(my degree is in psychology) and I am having trouble merging my "new" skills into my current resume. Also, I have no idea how address myself. LOL...am i BillGates,A+ or something like that? And is it better to put my certifications under my education section or something else? I sincerely appreciate any help that could be offered.

Danny

 

[butchrecon]

First off, congradulations!

Incorperating your Certificatins into your resume will depend on the job type you are applying for. If your applying for a technical job then you need to gear the resume to emphasize your knwledge and certifications.
As for putting your Cert under your education, not really. Put them in a section for related skils and list the certifications first. You wil get many opinions on this one so read them all. the above works for me. James Collins
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.

 

[webnetwiz]

I have to agree with James, my signature looks like this:

David Kotlerewsky
Information Systems Specialist
MCSE, CCNA

(Hmmm, I wonder... I also hold a Microsoft Certified OEM Preinstallation Specialist certificate.....????)

 

[butchrecon]

webnetwiz,

I too hold the MS OEM Preinstall Specialist cert. I just omit it. I find that if a company has never herd of it then they are not interested in it. James Collins
Field Service Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.

 

[chiph]

Danny -

I work for a company who sells an Applicant Tracking System (if you apply for a job at IBM North America, you're really talking to us), and our expert systems are geared to do keyword searches and pattern recognition. I would suggest that you have a section of your resume devoted to keywords. List them in descending order for the type of job you think you want. If you have equal skills repairing Dells and Compaqs, but you'd rather not work on Compaqs, put it last (but still list it, as you might get a "hit" on it).

Make sure your resume is in plain ASCII, not HTML, not MS-Word, not PDF, not WordPerfect 5.1 or any other strange format. Plus, make sure you run it through a spell-check. Example: we don't do searches for "notwork certification", as we figure if you can't spell it, you aren't that interested in doing it. That being said, you should still have a "pretty " resume to hand out at interviews. People will appreciate the effort you make to present them with something a little easier to read.

Good luck in your job search.
Chip H.

 

[stonetown]

Since when is MS-Word a "strange format"?? It must be THE most popular WP on the planet. My CV is in Word and is emailed and accepted by everyone. Surely as an applicant tracker your software should be sophisticated enough to scan all WP formats?!?

Apart from that, you give good advice.

 

[chiph]

Stonetown -

Because of the danger of viruses, many of our customers do not open email attachments. I know I don't.

Plus, if we were to open attachments on our servers, they'd quickly become infected, no matter how often we update our virus patterns (no virus checker detects all possible viruses). I understand there's even a virus that infects Acrobat files (*.pdf) now.

Chip H.

 

[Guest_imported]

Congratts!!

I always liked the title "Acting Overlord"

 

[jonscott8]

PMFJI - but the PDF based virus is only a threat to those who use Acrobat Writer, not Acrobat Reader. Let's not go crying wolf just yet.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6808673.html?tag=mn_hd

Jon Hawkins

 

[chiph]

jonscott8 -

Thanks for the clarification. Just read that in PC World this afternoon myself.

Chip H.