|
The
hurdles facing today's new technology graduates are
the same as with other industries. One of the
largest hurdles for new grads in preparing a first
IT resume is the "no-experience" fence. A hi-tech
grad may not have any formal experience working with
technology in a real-world situation. While this
hurdle is best handled long before you graduate by
seeking part-time or full-time employment in
technology or an internship, the fact remains that
you may be coming out of college with literally no
hands-on experience in your major.
Preparing an IT resume for a target career field in
which you have no "real" experience can be a
challenge. It's important when outlining your IT
resume to keep in mind what the hiring managers will
be seeking when reading your resume. In the
technical arena, Skills, Education, and Training are
high on the list of items for which hiring managers
scan IT resumes.
Lisa Lowe sought professional assistance on her
resume, realizing that she faced a significant
problem by not having an internship in a technical
field under her belt before graduation.
Additionally, she realized the skills she had gained
in college were slightly behind the fast-paced
demand of today's market and she needed to attain
further training in some of the more modern
technologies. These training goals were mentioned in
both the lead Summary and in the accompanying cover
letter.
By
including a Skills category in the top half of the
first page of her IT resume, Lisa's resume becomes
much more "user-friendly" to hiring managers. Lisa
was fairly sure she didn't want to start her career
as a programmer, but was interested in working with
database technology. To emphasize this, her
database-related skills were listed first and a
mention of her preference was made in the Summary.
By focusing on this direction with her career, she
also de-emphasizing her lack of training in the more
modern programming languages such as Visual Basic
and C.
Many times, resume books advise new grads to list
coursework in the major to illustrate what the job
seeker did in school. While this might give an idea
of your academic record, it does not help in making
you or your IT resume stand out as someone whom the
company should interview. It also does not show how
you have assimilated and applied the formal
education. A Project Synopsis describing how you
have applied the skills might better serve to
distinguish your IT resume from the resumes of other
recent grads. For example, in Lisa's resume, the
Project Synopsis was included in the Education
section in the top half of the first page and gives
some "meat" to her experience.
The
Employment History section of a new grad resume is
often the most difficult section to compose,
especially if you do not have an internship,
cooperative, or related experience under your belt.
Rather than concentrating on what is not present in
experience, try to concentrate on what is present.
Look for skills that will be required by employers
that may not have been taught in college. More and
more companies are looking for well-rounded
employees who not only can do the technical tasks
but who can work with the public, work in a team,
and generally get along in a positive manner.
Emphasize your team-spirit, your communication
skills, and your enthusiasm to work hard.
"We
look for skills but we also look for someone who can
get along in the work environment," says Jeremy
Hopwood, CEO of Tsaba Networks (www.tsaba.com)
in Franklin, Tennessee. "If you have the right
attitude to work in our team, we will provide you
with the specialized training we need."
Lisa had worked throughout her college career in a
high-public-contact position providing Customer
Service on technical sales of retail software and
hardware. This experience demonstrated that she
possessed the ability to work well with people who
needed technical assistance or who were in a
contentious frame of mind. She had excellent
communication skills, good negotiation abilities,
and a strong grasp of business operations. By
bringing into her IT resume past work history that
demonstrates positive skills and work habits, she is
shown to be someone who is accustomed to a high
stress work environment, who can work with people,
and who is probably very trainable for the company's
specific needs.
If
there is an internship or cooperative learning
experience, be sure to include that in the
Experience category of your IT resume. Detail
project parameters, discuss skills exercised, and
outline context of the position in relation to the
overall organizational operation. Be sure to
highlight what was achieved and what significant
contributions were made. When composing the content
of the resume, write descriptively to fully cover
the work done and the skills attained.
"My
internships and cooperatives were my best selling
point with my education coming second," states
Robert Higgins, a civil engineer with Barge,
Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon in Nashville,
Tennessee. "I had worked full-time as an Engineering
Technician throughout my entire college career and
it led directly to permanent employment. The
experience was invaluable."
Other information that is helpful to have on a
hi-tech grad resume includes grade point average (if
above 3.5), membership in professional
organizations, scholarships and honors, volunteer
work, and civic involvement. Information of this
type on an IT resume shows a well-rounded picture of
what type of employee the company would be gaining.
Developing an interview-winning IT resume can be a
challenge. Making the investment to market your
college education professionally might be a wise
decision. We write IT resumes every day for some of
the fastest movers in the IT industry. Give us a
call if you feel you are ready to advance your high
tech career.
Published in 25 career books, Alesia has been cited
by Jist Publications as one of the "best resume
writers in North America" and quoted as a Career
Expert in the Wall Street Journal. Serving as the
Resume Expert for over 50 organizations, she has
numerous media appearances to her credit and is a
frequent keynote speaker
(http://www.rezamaze.com).
|
