Many IT professionals possess excellent technical skills, but they have difficulty conveying the same in words. This takes a toll on your job prospects as you fail to convey who you are on your resume and will hurt you as you seek to snag one of the hottest IT jobs.
Now, we know your work speaks for itself, but a good resume garners the right industry buzz and helps you stand out in the crowd. So avoid writing a generic, one-size-fits-all resume. Know what details hiring managers in the IT field look for when considering job candidates and improve your application and resume accordingly.
Contact information
In a frenzy to pack as much information about their accomplishments and achievements into the resume as possible, people often forget to include a key detail — their contact info. A decent practice is to include contact details to the resume’s footer, but it doesn’t hurt to include the details in the body of the document. It all depends on the format you’re following.
Nowadays, it’s also acceptable to include social media or networking links, such as CodePen, LinkedIn, and GitHub. But refrain from including your social media handle such as your Facebook page — especially if you post things unrelated to the intended field of work.
Do not to enter the contact information randomly on your resume; it could diminish the quality of the main content. Attention to detail matters. You don’t want to appear unprofessional or to do things in a haphazard manner.
Avoid including websites that lack quality material or information. Ideally, you should enter details like your full name, phone number, email address, personal portfolio/social media/blog, and your full address.
Include a summary
Your career summary should be no more than four or five sentences, highlighting both your technical and soft skills along with some references to your ability to conduct yourself in a team setting efficiently.
Make sure you mention the number of years you’ve been a part of the IT industry, the skills you possess in training employees, and the tech programs you’ve finished in your position.
Your ultimate goal should be crafting a resume that includes zero fluff. So, focus on quantitative content and convince the HR recruiter that you’re suitable for the position.
Pay attention to your history
While transparency is a terrific quality in a potential IT employee, keep things relevant in your resume. If you’ve been a part of the industry for years, you don’t need to cover your whole work history. Mention the last three to five positions you’ve served or jobs you’ve done in the past decade of your employment history.
However, if you occupied an irrelevant role or two in-between jobs, make sure you mention the same.
Why? Because gaps in your work history create a negative impression among potential employers and look worse on your resume than a job that does hold no significance to the position you’re applying for.
Get personal
Yes, we mentioned earlier about separating the personal and professional aspects of your life. But there are exceptions, especially if your personal life overlaps with the professional.
For example, if you code in your free time or taught yourself advanced software, you should include that in your resume. It’s impressive and adds some personality to your document. Think about traits that are likely to catch the eye of potential employers and check whether you possess them.
Certifications on your resume? Be wary
Certifications are good when it comes to furthering your IT knowledge, but including all of them in your resume won’t do you any favors.
Multiple certifications across a variety of technical specialties give off the impression that you’re less committed and focused — traits you do not wish to exhibit while being evaluated for a new job role.
For that reason, it makes sense to include a handful of certifications, especially those which are relevant to this new position. Still, unless a specific certification is listed as a key requirement for the job, make sure your certifications do not take center stage on your resume.
Increase readability
Considering how long you spent perfecting your resume, it’d be a shame if all that effort was wasted because the document turned out to be unreadable. This includes the use of different fonts, no whitespace, typos, and other errors.
To minimize the chances of these things happening, it’s best to spell check the paper and use a maximum of one to two fonts. Remember, the inclusion of bullets and white space make it easier for people to go through your resume. And that’s kind of the whole point, right?
Punctuality
More often than not, IT jobs are all about delivering the necessary projects at the stipulated time. So, you need to paint a picture in your resume to reference just how prompt you are with your tasks. Maintain a record of on-time projects and illustrate this elegantly, if necessary and if possible (well, if you don’t have work experience mention your academic success).
Work experience
This is the most important part of the resume, so put some thought into it. If you’re a graduate and lack sufficient work experience, include a couple of jobs which indicate your past employment.
Internships are a nice way to rack up some work experience and are a salient option for individuals new to the industry. In case you lack the ability or means to get suitable work experience, highlight jobs that show off your technical skills. Freelance jobs are also a salient choice.
Be sure to include the name of your employer along with the job location. Don’t forget to include the period you worked for your last company and the month and year you ended the job.
State what title you held earlier, as well as your key responsibility areas, stating what you had to do. Offer strong examples of contributions that you’ve made and include positive language at all times. Examples of positive language include “launched,” “influenced,” “mentored,” and “achieved.”
How you present yourself matters
IT professionals often underestimate the importance of a resume. You might have mad coding skills, but unless you find a way to make your knowledge and talents known, you will find it hard to find a favorable job in the industry. Put some effort into perfecting your tech resume and reap rich rewards going forward.
Featured image: Pixabay
