Critique my resume

[James Bond]

Anybody?

 

[bwatson283]

Originally posted by: Tizyler
I feel like im not telling much about myself in the summary section. I've been using computers my whole life... I've been building computers since I was like 13. I have been doing networking for like 6 years, and I've used every piece of software under the sun.

How do I convey that to them?

Supply them with this picture
http://www.willisms.com/archives/nickburns.gif

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: Tizyler
I feel like im not telling much about myself in the summary section. I've been using computers my whole life... I've been building computers since I was like 13. I have been doing networking for like 6 years, and I've used every piece of software under the sun.

How do I convey that to them?

I'm in a pretty good position to judge this as I am a senior network engineer/manager and I have evaluated resumes and been directly involved in hiring networking candidates. That being said, all of this is of course my opinion and the people at the companies you are applying for may feel differently.

First, what the heck is SQA? I'm guessing the QA part stands for quality assurance, but I have no idea about the S. Don't assume that other organizations know what acronyms from your company mean. Ditto for PBT - I'm guessing that means Provider Backbone Transport but I had to Google it.

You've only been in your current position for ~10 months and the previous one lasted only 5 months. This is going to raise some red flags, so be prepared to talk about it. Employers assume that it will take you months to get fully up to speed in a technical position - someone who leaves in a year is not worth investing the time in.

If you actually have a degree, you need to modify your education section to state what it is (e.g. BS, associate, etc.), but if you didn't finish one it's OK as is. As it stands, this resume means to me that you do not have one.

Honestly, I don't care about your volunteer experience.

You're right that your resume fails to convey pre-job experience. Without really knowing what you've done, I can't tell you what to put on there. Something like "Built PCs from component parts" is one possibility or "Years of experience building PC hardware".

Good luck in your job search.

 

[xchangx]

I personally don't like objectives. It's obvious to me, when I look at resumes, what they're looking to achieve.

As for your resume, you need to add more detail.

"Assisted customers with technical issues over the phone" -> What specific issues have you dealt with?

Since you are looking for a network engineering position, show that you understand how everything works. Explain how certain things you have done have saved your current/past employers money and made processes more efficient.

You need to word things to make your resume look impressive to the person that is reading it.

Let me know if you need any more help.

 

[Elbryn]

Why is the volunteer section even there? it adds nothing to your cause of getting a network engineering job and has no description to convey anything about what it was you may have learned from it other than the fact that you've volunteered in the past.

you should add bachelor's of science to the education section i'd even remove the gpa as a whole. you've gotten past the just graduated stage and have job experience.

things you could talk about:
there's no reference to the scale of the system you work within. is this an enterprise size network you're working on or is this a small network.

try to reword things so they have a cause and effect: ie: i built/configured this that lead to a wtfbbq percentile improvement

what was your actual role there? were you helping in the noc or were you project only?
did you have on call responsibilities?

your ccna certification can be moved into the education section

try to avoid ambiguous terms like in depth understanding.. be more specific. if that means using acronyms go ahead. its a technical resume and will make sense. balance is needed though, you have to get past HR staff before it gets looked at by a techie.

in my opinion the past computer hardware stuff doesnt really apply to a network engineer. its not that applicable to say you can seat a cpu or troubleshoot a bad disk drive when the job you want is comprised of configuring routers from a telnet session.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: Elbryn
in my opinion the past computer hardware stuff doesnt really apply to a network engineer. its not that applicable to say you can seat a cpu or troubleshoot a bad disk drive when the job you want is comprised of configuring routers from a telnet session.

I completely disagree with this. While knowing how to build a PC won't directly help you configure IOS, there are certain core skills involving hardware and troubleshooting that underlie just about every type of computing platform. Need to upgrade router memory? Pretty much identical to the same operation on a PC. Troubleshooting is all about systematically exploring/testing likely causes, and someone who knows how to troubleshoot PC issues well is likely to carry a good troubleshooting methodology into other areas. All else being equal, I'd much rather have an entry level network engineer who has gotten his/her "hands dirty" in a PC rather than one with only theoretical knowledge of hardware.

 

[technophile82]

i just briefly glanced over some of those sections, but on my resume i listed some relevant course names from my major studies in college. but, when i submitted my resume, i had no relevant experience at all, so listing relevant courses was a better fit. could be different in your case.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: Pheran

Originally posted by: Tizyler
I feel like im not telling much about myself in the summary section. I've been using computers my whole life... I've been building computers since I was like 13. I have been doing networking for like 6 years, and I've used every piece of software under the sun.

How do I convey that to them?

I'm in a pretty good position to judge this as I am a senior network engineer/manager and I have evaluated resumes and been directly involved in hiring networking candidates. That being said, all of this is of course my opinion and the people at the companies you are applying for may feel differently.

First, what the heck is SQA? I'm guessing the QA part stands for quality assurance, but I have no idea about the S. Don't assume that other organizations know what acronyms from your company mean. Ditto for PBT - I'm guessing that means Provider Backbone Transport but I had to Google it.

You've only been in your current position for ~10 months and the previous one lasted only 5 months. This is going to raise some red flags, so be prepared to talk about it. Employers assume that it will take you months to get fully up to speed in a technical position - someone who leaves in a year is not worth investing the time in.

If you actually have a degree, you need to modify your education section to state what it is (e.g. BS, associate, etc.), but if you didn't finish one it's OK as is. As it stands, this resume means to me that you do not have one.

Honestly, I don't care about your volunteer experience.

You're right that your resume fails to convey pre-job experience. Without really knowing what you've done, I can't tell you what to put on there. Something like "Built PCs from component parts" is one possibility or "Years of experience building PC hardware".

Good luck in your job search.

I was gone all weekend so I didn't get a chance to reply to this thread. Thank you though guys for the help, every single comment really does help me a bunch.

SQA stands for Software QA for the company I currently work at. I thought that was pretty universal, so I'll change it.

I thought PBT may be a little "unkown" for some companies. I'll maybe swap it with MPLS since its more well known (they are similar).

I'm prepared to answer questions about how long I have worked at each company. The last one I worked for was strait out of school--I had that job while I was studying for my CCNA and they were aware that I wouldn't be there for too long. I took this job to get about a years worth experience at a company which actually deals with computer networking in order to set me up for my next job which I plan at staying at.

I did not graduate, I was at school for 3 years. In all honesty, how much does a degree matter for a computer networking position? I would like to know.

I was trying to stay away from stuff like, "years building PC's/troubleshooting" and "years of small business/residential networking" because they feel ambiguous to me, but if you think they are good I'll put them back in.

 

[James Bond]

I think I should probably add more information about my job, because you guys seem to be getting confused

I work for a company which designs/programs/manufactures switches. In order to make sure these switches are functional I test them. I set up networks of all sizes and run different protocols on them and make sure everything works right. I make sure there are no bugs/defects with the software itself. I validate that I can have the maximum amount of VLANs created and that RSTP will still function, etc.

 

[James Bond]

Okay guys, I made another update to my resume. Anyone mind taking a peek?
I tried to go a little more into detail and use more keywords.

Any more advice is much appreciated, thanks again.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/mzinz/resumepic.JPG

 

[yours truly]

keeping it to one page is good

seriously, employers/HR departments see 100's of CVs every day

if you can add a little something, change the style abit. screw around with different fonts. just something that'll catch their eye. individual, but simple. dont go crazy and start using wingdings or some shit.a little pic of your face could maybe help.

i dont know whatever.

gl

 

[James Bond]

In other news, I just got my first callback so I'm totally stoked. It's a position dealing mostly with the support and management of a couple thousand VPN tunnels. Sounds fun! Too bad I don't know much about VPN tunnel configuration.. Maybe I should brush up on it?

 

[yours truly]

yeah do that...

if you get an interview, be positive about everything. dont figit. be confident and look relaxed. research as much about the company as possible. talk about their profits and where they are going in the future and how you'll fit into their organisation. you're a good team player etc etc blahblahbla

 

[Chewy]

Originally posted by: hopeless74
keeping it to one page is good

I don't know if this is the norm anymore. I think 2 pages is now, but that obviously depends on how much experience you have. I just applied for a job where the VP asked me to make mine as long as possible because the President loves seeing all experiences.

Anyway, here's my suggestions:

1. Either expand your objective or remove it. Your line is so generic that is pretty much means you "don't care" about what job you get. Here's mine:

"Mr. [Chewy] is a dedicated and skilled individual recognized as a valuable resource for managing and implementing enterprise solutions involving such enterprise content management (ECM) technologies as Stellent and FileNet, Java programming, service-oriented architecture (SOA), and web services. He is in search of leveraging his current skill set to help improve project efficiency, maximize profit, extend client relations, and build team unity."

I don't know if talking in the 3rd person is a good idea, but I've received call backs from everyone I've applied to so far

2. Listing the protocols like you did in the first bullet seems a little weird. I would list them under a "Skills" section (see #8).

3. I would put the company on the same line as the position and remove its location...I don't like consecutive bolded lines.

4. Consider changing "Volunteer Experience" to "Volunteer Service" or just "Community". "Experience" almost sounds like you're forcing yourself to volunteer.

5. Spell out numbers 1-10 (one, two, etc.). Use #s greater than 10.

6. Try using a different resume format. Yours is pretty generic (looks like mine outta college...heh)

7. Since you're CCNA certified, you really want to highlight that somehow. It's pretty hidden in your resume (perhaps put a "Certifications" section).

8. You need some kind of a "Skills" section. What do you have to offer? Your "Summary" section has bits and piece of it.

9. I don't like "Summary" sections. Whoever reads your resume should be able to figure out how long you did what under your experience section. I know it's tough since you're right out of college, but maybe list your "6 years of..., 7 years of..." under experience. You can say you worked as an independent (Tizyler Inc.) to sharpen your skills (and shows your entrepreneurial side )

 

[Accipiter22]

copper and fiber;
should be "copper and fiber:"