IT resume makeover: Turn your resume into a story

The pressure of writing a professional resume or cover letter can often leave the finished product stiff and lacking personality. It can be difficult for job seekers to find a balance between writing a resume that feels too professional and one that’s too casual. But, unfortunately, finding the right tone is one of the most important parts of writing a resume. You need to get the attention of the hiring manager, according to Jennifer Hay, professional resume writer for IT Resume Service. In this month’s Resume Makeover, Hay transforms the resume of John Kent, who has over 20 years of experience in IT manufacturing, to show his qualifications as an IT director. Kent’s name has been changed at his request.

Kent thought that his resume didn’t illustrate his experience in IT and his qualifications as an IT director. “I felt that my resume did not express the true nature of my expertise [or] the direction that I wanted to go for my future career.” What he wanted was resume to show that he has the background and education to qualify for IT director roles, which became the focus of Hay’s process.

Create a strong narrative

[ Download original resume ]

Hay says she first looked at the “story” of Kent’s resume to see how it would stand out among a pile of resumes on a hiring manager’s desk. “Imagine a hiring manager having to wade through lots and lots of technical resumes,” she says. “A resume has to include the technical stuff, but should also describe the journey for getting to the achievements. I have tried to do this with interesting narratives that are completely factual and not full of exaggerated language.”

Hay says that most resumes land on a hiring manager’s desk in a large stack of other candidates’ resumes. To ensure that Kent’s resume stood out, she worked to reduce some of the technical language and connected the dots to create a career narrative to show Kent’s extensive experience and education.

Considering a new tack

Kent said he hadn’t considered turning his career into a story. “I felt this was unique and a great process. Most IT people don’t think about that approach. We just write down our experiences associated with the employments and dates.”

[ Related story: Top 11 resume tips from 2015 ]

Add your continuing education efforts

One major gap in Kent’s resume, according to Hay, was the absence of any mention of his current efforts to continue his education. Rather than include the certifications he was working towards on his resume, Kent decided to leave that to the interview process. But Hay knew that his dedication to keeping his skills relevant in the tech industry deserved a prime spot on his resume. Working in the tech industry requires staying on top of relevant technology, which means hiring managers will be happy to see a candidate actively pursuing more education.

“I included the credentials he is actively pursuing and created a message around that for his summary. Both the ITIL and PMP certifications are important to his message as an IT manager,” says Hay.

Injecting some personality

Next, Hay looked to make Kent’s resume better reflect his personality. Hay says that the person she spoke with didn’t come through on the page and since a resume is a first impression, she tried to convey more about Kent in the final product. One aspect she made sure to highlight was Kent’s efforts in helping students move forward in their careers in his current position as IT manager at a college. To a hiring manager, talent management and professional development are crucial skills for a manager or director, which made this aspect of Kent’s background an important ingredient in crafting a strong resume.

Hay made an effort to emphasize his background in working in IT at a college. “I resolved this issue by describing how he creates career opportunities using a robust learning plan. I tried to write it such that his passion for educating others came through. Also, John had buried the information about his very successful certification program so I built that out as well.”

Connecting the dots to the business

Finally, Hay worked on connecting the puzzle pieces of Kent’s resume, noting he “had a lot of one-off statements that weren’t connected to any particular project or initiative.” She also deemphasized his experience in networking, because it “made him look like a network engineer and not the IT manager that he is.” To accomplish this, she grouped relevant items together to support the narrative, rather than let them sit alone as a disjointed list of skills and experience.

[ Download the updated tech resume

Getting to the next level

The final result from Hay is a resume that tells a story about Kent’s experience in IT and demonstrates how his career trajectory makes him the perfect fit for a position as IT manager or director. And Kent was happy with the result, “The process was good and gave me a thoughtful look upon my career change. The jury is still out in reference to what the employers think and the job market related to Chicago.”

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