The ticket to landing an interview is a good great resume. People come into my office all the time with a wealth of experience and capabilities, but they do not have a resume that reflects it.
There are a few keys to a great resume.
- Organized lay-out. Make it easy to read. Do not see how many fonts you can use -- keep it simple. Use headers to help divide sections (i.e. Summary, Technical Skills, Education/Certifications, Experience)
- Use describing words. Don't just say that you developed an application, say that you were solely responsible for developing a high-transaction, high-volume application, or whatever describing words will fit. Paint a word picture of what you did and how you did it.
- State your value. Use quantifiers to talk about the impact of your contributions. Perhaps you saved the company money or reduced run time on an application (thus saving the company money). Let potential employers know that what you did made a difference.
- Don't limit your resume to 1 page. Unless you are fresh out of college, you are doing yourself a disservice. By limiting your resume, you are limiting the amount of information that a hiring manager should know, and eliminating chances to use those all-too-important key words on a resume.
- On the flip side, don't write a book. A manager will look through about 3 pages of your resume.
Hope those tips help! And once you perfect that resume, let's get it submitted for one of these positions:
- Data Architect - SQL Server/SSIS/MOSS
- .NET Server Architect
- Technical Analyst (automating and scripting monitoring software; FTP; encryption)
- Java Developers
- Automated Test Leads
- Load Test Engineers
- SAP: Basis, Product Costing, MM, Project Systems
Contact me at clinebarger@capstoneinc.com for more details, or call me at 972.818.4433
