Contrary to popular belief, Resume writing is an acquired skill. Many of us can be excellent programmers, engineers, architects and such but when it comes to writing about our skills, experience, domain, strengths, etc. it gets confusing as to what to add and what to leave from the resume.
Added to that, there are thousands of resumes that recruiters go through each day, so how do you make your resume stand out?
Here are a few tips that will help you write better resumes for IT Jobs and get your resume noticed amongst the thousands:
What Can You Do For Us?
Organizations are less interested in knowing what you have done in your career but more interested in what you can do for them. If you think about it, it’s very logical.
You might know coding, testing, writing SQL queries, or prepare functional specification documents. This is all good but what the organizations want to know is
- Can they rely on you to deliver the solution to the client?
- Can you build and maintain teams and make them work towards a common goal?
- Could you be the one person who can take the quality assurance responsibility of the product?
- If you are a developer, then would you be able to work on your own without handholding and deliver quality code on time?
The answer to these questions might involve everything that you know and maybe a little or a lot more. But the Organization is essentially asking, “Can you do this for us?”
Professional & Relevant Experience
Professional Experience should be highlighted prominently and mentioned in reverse chronological order. Also, mention the relevant experience. Relevant experience will be according to the job role you are applying for. E.g., you might have an overall 6 years of experience but have only spent the last 2 years in Business Analytics then those 2 years shall be your relevant experience.
Also, mention the different roles you have undertaken during your entire professional experience. Mention the responsibilities that were part of your job role — e.g., team management, Regression Testing, Client Communication, PMO Reporting, Solution Deployment, etc.
If you have worked extensively in some domains, then highlight it under your experience.
Technical Certifications
Any technical certifications you have done (especially if it’s internationally renowned) should be highlighted. Mention the most recent ones first. Sometimes some non-technical certifications such as IELTS, Foreign language also adds a different dimension to your resume.
Abstain from mentioning old and irrelevant certifications — e.g., Certification in Foxpro or VB 6.0, automation testing certification for a software developer job profile.
Technical Skills
Technical Skills from the level of proficiency (most proficient to least proficient) must be clearly mentioned in the first part of the resume.
Try and categorize your technical skills into different headings such as Front-End Technologies, Programming Languages, Cloud Technologies, Operating Systems, Databases, etc.
Relevant Project Experience
There is no need to add details of all the projects that you have worked on until now. Mention the important projects of your career or where you have played a key role.
Give preference to the relevant projects for the job you are applying for. E.g., If you have experience as a programmer and DevOps Engineer and the job you are applying for is for DevOps, then mention the projects where you contributed as DevOps Engineer and leave the others projects or mention them in the end.
Additional Details
A few other essential details that should go in a resume:
- Mention your contact details (phone number, email) clearly and where it can be easily found (first and/or the last page or in the page header).
- Prepare the resume in MS-Word and the version should be the one which is highly supported not necessarily the latest one. In case you are unsure about the version or availability of MS-Word with the recruiter then send the resume in PDF format.
- Provide details such as if you hold a passport, visas, etc.
- If you think there are other certifications or skills that you possess, that might make your resume stand out, do mention them. E.g., Foreign languages known, any national or international non-technical certificates, any client appreciation, etc.
Make Multiple Sets
Often one resume will not do justice to your skills and experience. If you have extensive experience (5+ years), then you must have worked on multiple projects, technologies, and different roles. And you can apply to different job roles in the market.
Keep separate versions of resume for different job profiles to which you intend to apply. E.g., Front-End Developer and Full Stack Developer, Technical Lead and Project Manager, Senior Programmer, and DevOps Engineer, and so on.
The overall information might still be the same, but the information organization should be different, and the details provided should be as per the role applying for. It’s better to have 2-5 versions of resumes ready for applying quickly whenever you see an opening.