Resume Update

scottalanmiller

I've considered adding a summary statement, but declined for this draft.

I generally don't. If you do, keep it super short "Systems Focused IT Practitioner Seeking Career Growth, Systems-focused Role" or something that just says who you are and what you want. Nothing more. But it can backfire, if you describe yourself in a way that they don't like, or you describe a role that they don't realize matches (or doesn't match) what you say, you can lose something you otherwise would have had.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

Not much has changed for draft 3.

I've considered adding a summary statement, but declined for this draft.

I think a summary is important for a few reasons:

You get a change to provide the narrative and tell the reader how you want your resume read. @scottalanmiller sees this is a negative, but I see this as a positive. If their position doesn't align with your summary, do you even want the position anyway? I also believe this area is even more important if you are changing roles. Because you will get the chance her to show your new direction
People reviewing resumes will appreciate it, because it is a 10 second spiel where you give a quick overview of yourself. It is a time saver for them.
Do the simple math for your interviewer. Add up your experience in years and certifications in numbers. I would say something like 10+ years in system administration, consulting, and engineering . If I see a statement like that right off the bat, you have 10 years experience and that pops right into my head.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

People reviewing resumes will appreciate it, because it is a 10 second spiel where you give a quick overview of yourself. It is a time saver for them.

This is the greatest potential benefit I see from having the summary statement. Though many of these I've seen on the resumes that have come by me read as thoughtless filler.

scottalanmiller

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@scottalanmiller sees this is a negative, but I see this as a positive.

Not always a negative, but it's a risk. For example, you see a position that you are perfect for and you say so. They don't know what to call the position and perceive the same job as a different title and rule you out because you knew too much.

IRJ

@scottalanmiller said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@scottalanmiller sees this is a negative, but I see this as a positive.

Not always a negative, but it's a risk. For example, you see a position that you are perfect for and you say so. They don't know what to call the position and perceive the same job as a different title and rule you out because you knew too much.

I don't put my position. I put my experience. Everything is pretty general and would not disqualify me for any position.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

I don't put my position. I put my experience. Everything is pretty general and would not disqualify me for any position.

After work, I'll do some drafting of either bullets like that or a single sentence and see which seems better.

EddieJennings

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

It's an easy choice for me. Get rid of the training team members bullet point

IRJ

Also you don't have any Linux test systems or anything in your current role? If you did you might move those to front of skills and windows in the back. Keep the other skills in between.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

Also you don't have any Linux test systems or anything in your current role? If you did you might move those to front of skills and windows in the back. Keep the other skills in between.

Unfortunately no. Current role is truly 99% Windows with about 1% of appliances.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

It's an easy choice for me. Get rid of the training team members bullet point

Tough for me to let go of that particular bullet point. I think my teaching skills can bring value to whatever team I'm in.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

It's an easy choice for me. Get rid of the training team members bullet point

Tough for me to let go of that particular bullet point. I think my teaching skills can bring value to whatever team I'm in.

What IT role doesn't require training and/or documentation? Also, that bullet point doesn't say what you just told me. If you want to keep it, maybe you can tweak it to convince someone you bring extra value there.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

Also you don't have any Linux test systems or anything in your current role? If you did you might move those to front of skills and windows in the back. Keep the other skills in between.

Unfortunately no. Current role is truly 99% Windows with about 1% of appliances.

Yeah that's unfortunate for sure.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

It's an easy choice for me. Get rid of the training team members bullet point

Tough for me to let go of that particular bullet point. I think my teaching skills can bring value to whatever team I'm in.

What IT role doesn't require training and/or documentation? Also, that bullet point doesn't say what you just told me. If you want to keep it, maybe you can tweak it to convince someone you bring extra value there.

I'll see about that. In my experience I've seen many folks provide poor training due to lacking any skills in teaching.

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

Also you don't have any Linux test systems or anything in your current role? If you did you might move those to front of skills and windows in the back. Keep the other skills in between.

Unfortunately no. Current role is truly 99% Windows with about 1% of appliances.

Yeah that's unfortunate for sure.

Part of the reason why it's time for me to start looking for the next opportunity. There's zero chance of me acquiring any Linux experience where I am.

IRJ

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

With Draft 4, which I think is close to the final draft, I chose a one sentence statement to replace the horizontal row.

Any more text (unless I kill some of the white space, which I hesitate to do for readability), and this spills into a second page. While second pages aren't the end of the world, I don't yet have enough substance to make good use of it.

I really like it. The only thing I'd say is your summary statement looks out of place. I think it needs a heading or something. Other than that it looks really clean

Thanks. That's something I'm considering. To give it a heading, I'd need to remove some bullets from the experience section. If I did, these three are currently on the chopping block.

Managed integration between Active Directory and HR data sources
Configured load balancing and TLS offloading for line of business application servers
Served as escalation point for L1 / L2 technicians.

It's an easy choice for me. Get rid of the training team members bullet point

Tough for me to let go of that particular bullet point. I think my teaching skills can bring value to whatever team I'm in.

What IT role doesn't require training and/or documentation? Also, that bullet point doesn't say what you just told me. If you want to keep it, maybe you can tweak it to convince someone you bring extra value there.

I'll see about that. In my experience I've seen many folks provide poor training due to lacking any skills in teaching.

Another option is building up your summary of qualifications and increase your text size to make this bad boy 1.5 pages. Your summary becomes your 1/4 page resume, so you can extend the total length and still have the courtesy of allowing potential employer to get a quick summary.

Really talk about Linux and designs you've done. Talk about training as well if you want to make it a main point on your resume, and talk about consulting projects in whatever fields

LPI certified with 6+ years experience on Linux based operating systems ( CentOS, RHEL, Ubuntu, appliances, etc)
Passionate about training and good documentation
Hands on experience in all aspects of managing and administration of IT infrastructure (Basically elaborate on generalist role)

EddieJennings

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

Another option is building up your summary of qualifications and increase your text size to make this bad boy 1.5 pages. Your summary becomes your 1/4 page resume, so you can extend the total length and still have the courtesy of allowing potential employer to get a quick summary.

Really talk about Linux and designs you've done. Talk about training as well if you want to make it a main point on your resume, and talk about consulting projects in whatever fields

LPI certified with 6+ years experience on Linux based operating systems ( CentOS, RHEL, Ubuntu, appliances, etc)

Passionate about training and good documentation

Hands on experience in all aspects of managing and administration of IT infrastructure (Basically elaborate on generalist role)

I like those ideas, as they've got me thinking some more.

1337

@EddieJennings said in Resume Update:

@IRJ said in Resume Update:

Another option is building up your summary of qualifications and increase your text size to make this bad boy 1.5 pages. Your summary becomes your 1/4 page resume, so you can extend the total length and still have the courtesy of allowing potential employer to get a quick summary.

Really talk about Linux and designs you've done. Talk about training as well if you want to make it a main point on your resume, and talk about consulting projects in whatever fields

LPI certified with 6+ years experience on Linux based operating systems ( CentOS, RHEL, Ubuntu, appliances, etc)

Passionate about training and good documentation

Hands on experience in all aspects of managing and administration of IT infrastructure (Basically elaborate on generalist role)

I like those ideas, as they've got me thinking some more.

Eddie, you might want to search for skills-based CVs for some ideas.

Typical CVs are reverse chronological which basically is a list of where you worked, aka experience. But if you want to change direction (more linux) that is not optimal because your work experience doesn't align 100% with that.