Hey IT Guy – Work on your resume.

If you’re looking for your next IT job work on your resume. Personally I quit updating my resume on Monster and Dice regularly because every time I made a change two weeks or more of phone calls would follow. A lot are from Indian call centers for staffing agencies. I do not respond to these at all because they are pure opportunity chasers taking chances on big returns for a small percentage of candidates placed.

Lately I’ve been doing the hiring again. Soon I’ll be taking on another desktop support person and Sys. Admin in Raleigh. I’m reminded why only a small percentage of the IT resumes out there get noticed and others get passed over. These problems could negatively affect a resume in any industry, not just IT. They are mostly unintentional oversights or problems caused by lack of attention to detail. Some are blatant fact manipulation. Here’s the basics of what draws or detracts my attention to or from a resume. Some of these will might increase your resumes visibility on job boards.

1. Spelling – Use the spell check. The English one.
2. Grammar – I will hire a foreigner, but not one that obviously can’t communicate in good English because they can’t write it.
3. Simplicity – Good formatting makes all the difference. Personally I don’t look at a resume that isn’t formatted with some thought using proper chronological order. I don’t want to see the first job you ever had bagging groceries listed first or certifications glorified before experience.
4. Present an index or bullet points of your skill set under your objective. This will really help on job boards because most headhunters are searching by keyword and the more matches you get the more communication you will receive.
5. Don’t submit your resume for jobs you’re not qualified for after making quick modifications to fit the posted requirements. This is usually obvious to the hiring manager and it will only come back to haunt you at interview time.
6. Don’t try to emphasis or supplement corporate or industry certifications for experience. Certifications are generally considered to be a plus these days, not a requirement like professional licenses.
7. Narrow down your resume to a specialization if possible. I always thought my resume was too broad in terms of technologies I’ve administered when I was applying for a jobs with titles like “Exchange Administrator”. Now that I’m in Management I feel a little better about presenting a spectrum of experience. Starting out I would suggest getting your foot in the door with a specialization. If you genuinely have experience in more than one area of an industry keep multiple resumes highlighting accomplishments in each discipline and field them to opportunities accordingly.
8. Know what you’re really worth. Decide and post your salary requirement ahead of time. This could save everyone a lot of time. If you’re too high you won’t get called and you can’t eat the cost of living decrease anyway. If you’re low a recruiter will question the authenticity of your experience or smell desperation. Get in the right range and you’ll get a call. Believe it or not I’ve learned that most headhunter’s really do know what a position is worth, not just what their client’s willing to pay. You should too.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things I could add to this list over time. All I can say is that these are some of the rules I follow and it works for me. But I am a headhunter’s worst nightmare – a waste of their time. I receive as many as 70 headhunter communications a month and respond to less than one a year with genuine interest. At this point I even have recruiters leaving job descriptions on my Contact page.