Resume - Limited experience in field.

[Rathji]

I am being forced to consider looking for a new job in the near future, so I have been upgrading my resume. I recent graduated from UofC (April)0but have been working in my field (System Administrator) for 3 years at my current employer.

Aside from a few small consulting gigs, the only experience I have is at my current employer and it is leaving my resume a little light in relevant occupations.

So after some research, I have a few options and want to get some feedback on them.

My first thought was to do a Skill-focused resume, where I downplay my job but focus on the education and skills I have. The stuff I read online seemed to indicate that you should try and avoid this kind of thing unless there is no other option.

The other option is to put my education first, and include relevant courses for my field. The result is a little better, but still makes it pretty obvious that I am short on work experience.

I also tried more completely fleshing out my duties within my job and including details of my consulting work that was of a larger scope. I like this option the best, but I get the impression that someone reading it might get the impression that I am trying to stretch things out.

I guess what I am wondering is, assuming the candidate has the experience (education, years exp, skills) you are looking for, would you be concerned if there was no other experience listed? Also, I have always tried to keep my resume to a single page. In this age, where a digital submission is likely, does that rule still make sense?

[Rudee]

What a person likes or doesn't like about a Resume is the same as if it were food. No single food item pleases everybody. No matter what you do, it all boils down to the person who reads your Resume. Depending on the person your Resume could come across as being too short, too long, just enough experience, not enough experience, etc. Some may look at contract work in a negative light. Others will have no problem with it. It's really out of your hands. When you have a lack of experience, you want to put emphasis on the experience and skills you obtained while you were working. You don't want to overdo it though. There is a fine line.

[aem123]

focus on your degree - this is what will get you your next job

[GP_Matt]

I get a bunch that are two pages or more and have found myself scanning the resume for key words rather than reading the whole thing. That is for entry level jobs, my industry is small enough that personal recommendations count for a lot more with a seasoned employee.

I think the mission statement on the top is really important and should be customized for every position being applied for. I discount a resume pretty quick if their objective sounds like they have no idea what they are applying for.

[WCan_Kid]

Degree will open the door and maybe get the interview. I can't speak for everybody, rudee nailed that part, but my list when hiring is like this:

Education - The right degree means I look further down, but unless it's extremely specialized, it might not be enough to even get you an interview.

Experience - In your case, as a recent grad, I'd look for an indication that you've got some work ethic. Consulting on top of a full time job is good, having some solid summer work experience.

Above all else - give me a reason to want to meet you. There are lots of well educated people out there with some experience, so there needs to be something on the resume to pique my interest.

Software/IT isn't my area, but I imagine any technical position would be similar? Your resume needs to get you in the door, after that it's all you.

Hope it helps. Good luck.

[Leon]

Surprised no one has mentioned competencies yet. Education, Competencies, Work Experience, Volunteer Experience, Personal Interests and Work/Academic references (list both).

2 pages is fine though some recruiting agencies will tell you 1, others 3. It's all over the map.

[undercoverbrother]

focus on how what you have done has affected your company(s).

IE: increased productivity, or sales, or however you industry is tracked.

Other than that good luck,

[Sliver]

A cover letter is going to be your golden ticket on this.

I think (from past posts) that you're a little older than your average university grad. I'd address a bit of your history in the cover letter and the reasons why you chose to go to university and pursue a different career from the path you were on. I think this can be done in a few sentences as you'll want to be very concise in the letter, but it should get the attention of somebody as that shows a lot of gumption and sets you apart from your typical wet-behind-the-ears grad.

[Rathji]

Yeah, I am not a typical grad, that's for sure.

I really don't know if they want to hear about why my experience hacking apart dead cows prompted me to return to school to pursue a new career, though.

Either way, I like the idea of addressing the whole issue in the cover letter, it gets it out of the way and doesn't cloud the issue when they are looking at the details.

[CaptainCrunch]

I think you need to make an achievement based resume instead of your standard resume that I see crossing my desk all of the time.

Even if you have little experience forcus on the impacts that you have done, and in an achievement resume you can be descriptive.

Action - effect - benefit

eg I implemented a new method of prospecting that used an outside organization to cold call within our key market area. By doing this we saw an increase of 10 qualified prospect meetings a month. We were able to increase our close rate by 10% which increased my personal sales revenue by 50%

Too many people fall into the trap of not selling themselves in a resume, they just list experiences. The Resume is your only way to sell yourself into a interview. You have to stand out in what you achieved because companies receive hundreds of resumes for a position and they ultimately want to talk to the top 5 resumes.

I usually tend to mod my resume based on positions, in order to be effective think about the role that you want and grid out what's important to the role and then weight those factors based on importance. Then build your resume based around that.

Cover letters are fairly important to, and you want them to be concise and do the same thing that you did in your resume and that's sell you.

Don't use the standard boiler plate crap of"I believe I can be a valuable asset to your team" Make it a selling statement.

"Everywhere I've worked I've increased revenue based around my process, initiative blah blah blah"

Just my two cents for a short resume.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Yeah, I am not a typical grad, that's for sure.

I really don't know if they want to hear about why my experience hacking apart dead cows prompted me to return to school to pursue a new career, though.

.

I read this as you having a good work ethic. Remember employers hire the person and the potential as well as the current skills set.

[CaptainCrunch]

Good work ethic might not get you through the resume selection process.

Even if most of the experience is school based you can still sell yourself on that.

You wouldn't believe how much bs I put in my resume about my senior poject. By the time I was done, not only could the software that I wrote schedule employees based around performance evaluations, but it would power a space station, bring peace to the middle east and generate top 10 hits in rolling stones magazine.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I read this as you having a good work ethic. Remember employers hire the person and the potential as well as the current skills set.

That's how I'd read that as well. Dude had a hard job, so he worked even harder and made sacrifices for something better. That's a guy that knows how to work, thinks long term and doesn't accept that he can't make an improvement. They'll friggin' hire you before the interview if you frame that right, Rathji.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Good work ethic might not get you through the resume selection process.

Even if most of the experience is school based you can still sell yourself on that.

You wouldn't believe how much bs I put in my resume about my senior poject. By the time I was done, not only could the software that I wrote schedule employees based around performance evaluations, but it would power a space station, bring peace to the middle east and generate top 10 hits in rolling stones magazine.

I really have no problems with the skills and things I am able to say I did. My current employer thinks I am a rockstar, and I have tons of stuff I can lay out that displays that.

It's the "guy in his mid-30s coming into our office with 3 years of work experience listed on his resume" negative vibe that I am trying to avoid.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by fotze

Good, it always annoyed me that you were a smart guy, going back to school at great sacrifice, taking the hard road, then you seemed too happy to just continue working at the same place that would likwith limited upside for yourself (this is taken from what you have said, so I could be wrong). Never wanted to say anything because it was none of my business.

Amazing that, with all your smart ass comments, you are very insightful.

There are lots of good reasons to stay where I am short term but the 1+ year plan has always been to move on.

[mykalberta]

If you are still applying for Sys admin jobs, make sure the words used in the posting match those in your resume as they all now use software to match the resume, even example you have limited experience to almost none with VM ESX put it in the resume anyway, that will get you in the door and you can go from there.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I think you need to make an achievement based resume instead of your standard resume that I see crossing my desk all of the time.

Even if you have little experience forcus on the impacts that you have done, and in an achievement resume you can be descriptive.

Action - effect - benefit

eg I implemented a new method of prospecting that used an outside organization to cold call within our key market area. By doing this we saw an increase of 10 qualified prospect meetings a month. We were able to increase our close rate by 10% which increased my personal sales revenue by 50%

Too many people fall into the trap of not selling themselves in a resume, they just list experiences. The Resume is your only way to sell yourself into a interview. You have to stand out in what you achieved because companies receive hundreds of resumes for a position and they ultimately want to talk to the top 5 resumes.

I usually tend to mod my resume based on positions, in order to be effective think about the role that you want and grid out what's important to the role and then weight those factors based on importance. Then build your resume based around that.

Cover letters are fairly important to, and you want them to be concise and do the same thing that you did in your resume and that's sell you.

Don't use the standard boiler plate crap of"I believe I can be a valuable asset to your team" Make it a selling statement.

"Everywhere I've worked I've increased revenue based around my process, initiative blah blah blah"

Just my two cents for a short resume.

Yep, completely agree with everything posted here.

Don't include generic things you did at your job that are standard things you would find in a job description. For example, if you're applying for a Project Manager position, don't list things like, "Managed multiple projects concurrently, working with teams across multiple functional areas".

I'm also a big supporter of listing specific achievements made in your previous positions.

I also hate profile summaries or mission statements. To me, it's fluff and I never read them.

[calf]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

Yep, completely agree with everything posted here.

Don't include generic things you did at your job that are standard things you would find in a job description. For example, if you're applying for a Project Manager position, don't list things like, "Managed multiple projects concurrently, working with teams across multiple functional areas".

I'm also a big supporter of listing specific achievements made in your previous positions.

I also hate profile summaries or mission statements. To me, it's fluff and I never read them.

Agreed 100%. Also, focus on what you offer the company, not what you want. I want shred almost every resume that starts with "I want to gain experience in...".

[CaptainCrunch]

Hi Rathji if you want me to take a look at your resume and give you feedback pm me, I've done it for other members in the past.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by aem123

focus on your degree - this is what will get you your next job

Rathji, are you staying as a System Administrator or something similar? Or are applying for something else entirely? In this field, the degree is often not that important.