Also a hiring manager (in fact I'm hiring someone this week): - Two pages max. Oh you can send me your 4 page resume, but I won't really ready past page two and I might just toss yours for being overly verbose. I am also a long-term, rabid follower of the www.manager-tools.com [1] podcasts/website, but I disagree with their 1 page resume for Technical positions. - For $diety's sake people Spel Chunk and profred your resume. Then have 3 other people beside your mom/wife/girlfriend read it...outloud. - Don't put an objective on your resume. You're wasting valuable space and it means nothing. - For each position your bullet points should be accomplishment and results focused statements. Don't put "Managed Exchange stuff" on there. But rather reword it into something that shows you did something concrete for the company either through efficiencies, savings, improved productivity, etc. For example (and of course always tell the truth) "Designed and deployed Exchange messaging system that consistently provided 99.99% availability measured on an annual basis. Responded to all requests for adds/moves/changes for users at 100% within the defined SLA's" - Related to the point above If you aren't measuring "stuff" (stuff=performance metrics, up-time, user help desk response rates/times, etc.) start measuring it. Even if your management team doesn't care about it, you measure it anyway. - Did I mention spel chunking and profreading yet? - Cover letter, yes you need one, no matter what. I get cover letters on maybe 20% of the resumes submitted. I read 100% of the ones with cover letters. Without a cover letter you might get as little as 15-20 seconds of me reading your resume. - While I personally applaud you for contributing to the community, I usually don't want to see that you were a "Northampton County Farm Safety Day Volunteer[2]". Now if you participate in something industry related, or it shows a very specific skill (for example you sit on the board of a local charity and are trying to show management skills). - If you want to include a Technical Skills section, please put it near the end, not at the beginning. And include only stuff that people have heard of. I don't care if you're proficient in some software package that manages crushed grape sugar levels unless I hiring you to work at a winery. And if you list it, you darn well better have at least an intermediate level of mastery of that Tech Skill. There WILL be a quiz. You watching Bob the Coworker install vSphere 4.0 does not count as a Technical Skill. Oh, and cut the stupid crap like listing NetBIOS and NeiBEUI. That means virtually nothing, and if I do decide to quiz you on that I bet you fail and roll over and wet yourself.
I wrote a couple of Blog posts a few years ago on getting yourself hired (or not getting hired). Feel free to check them out here. http://hampshire.wordpress.com/category/jobs-and-hiring/ Finally while these are thoughts that I've personally developed over the years, it turns out that a significant number of other IT Managers that I've shared these with all concur. YMMV. [1] Even if you not a technical manager, subscribe to their Podcasts. Your career will thank you. [2] This was an actual verbatim bullet point. On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 7:58 AM, Gary Slinger <gary.slin...@gmail.com>wrote: > Nope. The more senior the position, the shorter the actual resume gets. > > Oh, and FWIW - I'm a hiring manager. I won't read your 4 page resume. I > might, at interview, but you'd never get that far. > ------------------------------ > *From: * "Sam Cayze" <sam.ca...@rollouts.com> > *Date: *Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:23:23 -0500 > *To: *NT System Admin Issues<ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > *ReplyTo: * "NT System Admin Issues" < > ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > *Subject: *RE: Resume's > > At first I gawked when I read **9** page resume, but then read on, and > agree with how you did it. IMO (and many others) – *for sure have* that > info avail, on request or as a separate attachment. I would say: A cover > letter, a 1-4 page resume *TOPS*, portfolio/addenda, which also includes > letters of recommendation, documentation examples, references, etc… > > > > A nice portfolio like this, put together well, shows of your seriousness > and organizational skills. During an interview, it also gives the > interviewer plenty of pieces of paper to fumble through while they awkwardly > stumble for things to talk about… > > > > Any resumes themselves in the 3-4 page range should be for senior executive > positions only. > > > > Sam > > > > *From:* MarvinC [mailto:marv...@gmail.com] > *Sent:* Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:31 PM > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues > *Subject:* Re: Resume's > > > > One or two line summary followed by bullet points and everything should be > in chronological order. IT resumes aren't that hard to read depending > on the format used to describe your particular skillset and the job you're > seeking. So I say don't pay anyone unless you're desperate. I suggest > posting here first as I'm sure someone would gladly critique it for you. My > resume is currently up to 9 pages and filled with mostly redundant info > from jobs spanning the last 5 years. I don't list any contracts lasting less > than three (3) months and I keep a trimmed copy that's forwarded to hiring > managers when needed. I present the 9-page booklet during the interview > where I'm given the opportunity to expand on what's listed because no one > wants to read through all of the gibberish. > > > gl > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 9:58 PM, Gary Slinger <gary.slin...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Keep the drafts/full versions - those are your career management documents. > Just don't expect a hiring manager to read them :) > ------------------------------ > > *From: *"William J. Robbins" <dangerw...@gmail.com> > > *Date: *Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:56:48 +0000 > > *To: *NT System Admin Issues<ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > > *ReplyTo: *"NT System Admin Issues" <ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > > > *Subject: *Re: Resume's > > > > Yeah I'm working on cutting mine down drastically. I'm at 3 pages. :P > > > WJR > - from my Crackberry. > > "If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck." > ------------------------------ > > *From: *"Gary Slinger" <gary.slin...@gmail.com> > > *Date: *Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:38:35 +0000 > > *To: *NT System Admin Issues<ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > > *ReplyTo: *"NT System Admin Issues" <ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > > > *Subject: *Re: Resume's > > > > Present! > > Seriously, that's good stuff to manage by, and therefore to use as a guide > from the other side. > > One-pager ideal, two-pages at the outside. > ------------------------------ > > *From: *William Robbins <dangerw...@gmail.com> > > *Date: *Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:11:53 -0500 > > *To: *NT System Admin Issues<ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com> > > *ReplyTo: *"NT System Admin Issues" <ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com > > > > *Subject: *Re: Resume's > > > > http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/manager-tools?filter0=30 > > I love these guys, thanks again to that Corona Light drinking Limey b...@stard > ! > > - WJR > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 16:59, Joseph L. Casale < > jcas...@activenetwerx.com> wrote: > > I have an opportunity coming up and want to make a decent looking resume > but really don’t know what’s currently the accepted format etc. > > > > Anyone have any pointers or examples they wouldn’t mind sharing? I’d be > eternally grateful! > > Thanks, > > jlc > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
