Review My CV
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Note: Location is Belfast, NI, UK
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Personal Statement
A highly motivated individual who likes everything to be done to the highest possible standard, I am very results-oriented, resourceful, persistent and responsible. In previous roles, I have demonstrated that I work well under pressure and that I adopt a logical approach to reaching effective solutions to problems. Good interpersonal skills enable me to work well with customers and as part of a team. I am equally content to work independently or closely with others. I am passionate about this work with a genuine interest in applying and developing my skills.
So this part depends heavily on the culture of the location. In the US, this would be seen as "filler" and should be removed. It doesn't tell anything useful and is just marketing fluff. It's seen by a negative by most hiring managers and you would be less interested in jobs with the ones that would be taken in by it.
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Education & Training
Diploma of Higher Education in Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (2002)
(This is equivalent to BTec Level 5 / SQA Higher National Diploma (HND) Standard)
The course covered multiple subjects including computer science, further mathematics, business, economics and mechanics.Linux Foundation X LFS101x – Introduction to Linux (Dec 2015)
Linux Foundation X LFS201x – Essentials of Linux System Administration (April 2016)
LinuxAcademy.com – LFCSA v2.16 prep course (September 2016)
LinuxAcademy.com – DevOps Essentials (September 2016)
LinuxAcademy.com – Learning Puppet DevOps Deployment (Puppet Professional Cert) (Nov 2016)
LinuxAcademy.com – OpenStack Essentials (October 2016)
ALISON – Introduction to Cloud Computing (November 2016)
ALISON – Databases – DML Statements and SQL Server Administration (Dec 2016)
LinuxAcademy.com – SQL Primer (December 2016)
JUNIPER NETWORKS – Networking Fundamentals – WBT (Jan 2017)
PEARSON – CompTIA's Network+ Exam Cram and Labs (February 2017)
Cisco CCNA – Routing and Switching (in progress)
Howtonetwork.com – Master Subnetting (Aug 2017)
Howtonetwork.com – Cisco CCNA Simplified (in progress)In addition to the above, I have completed multiple Xerox, Canon and Toshiba products courses. IT and customer support training through my employers.
Condense this, a lot. This is way too much info, mostly filler. Your diploma in civil engineering is fine, keep that. Not sure that I would keep the third line saying what the course covered. If the hiring manager is unfamiliar with civil engineering, you have other problems.
None of your classes from LF, Alison, LA and so forth should be listed. That's not appropriate for a CV. A quick listing that you have taken continuing education in Linux, DevOps, Cloud, Database and Networking as a single line is sufficient.
Listing your printer experience and skills and customer support training is bad, take those off. If you want to look for more printer work, make a separate CV for that highlighting that experience and those skills, they have no place here and detract heavily from your goals.
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Personal details: Nationality Lithuanian, Date of Birth 1971
References available upon request
Reduce this. Date of birth is unnecessary at best, outright inappropriate at worst. In the US, an employer would not want to see that as it can lead to legal issues. Nationality is, of course, needed. Remove the references, all employers already know that those are available on request, so this is filler.
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Languages are good. Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
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It surprises me how much personal info is listed compared to a cover letter you'd see in the United States. I'd definitely remove the driver license and listing every single course you've ever taken definitely isn't necessary. Although I do like to have that handy in my notes for me when I interview.
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@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
often like over here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Senior-IT-Infrastructure-Analyst-Job-1288288.aspx
Desirable A full driving license with daily access to a vehicle.
Sometimes they add a clean driving license, meaning no offence points.
Driving here is on opposite side of the road than rests Europe and US, this makes insurance more expensive for those who just came from continental Europe, sometimes for company cars also. -
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
often like over here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Senior-IT-Infrastructure-Analyst-Job-1288288.aspx
Desirable A full driving license with daily access to a vehicle.
Sometimes they add a clean driving license, meaning no offence points.
Driving here is on opposite side of the road that rests Europe and US, this makes insurance more expensive for those who just came from continental Europe, sometimes for company cars also.IT is not normally a career asking people to be chauffers or giving company cars here. Why would IT have driving involved with it?
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@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
often like over here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Senior-IT-Infrastructure-Analyst-Job-1288288.aspx
Desirable A full driving license with daily access to a vehicle.
Sometimes they add a clean driving license, meaning no offence points.
Driving here is on opposite side of the road that rests Europe and US, this makes insurance more expensive for those who just came from continental Europe, sometimes for company cars also.IT is not normally a career asking people to be chauffers or giving company cars here. Why would IT have driving involved with it?
"Provide support to users across 6 locations"
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
often like over here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Senior-IT-Infrastructure-Analyst-Job-1288288.aspx
Desirable A full driving license with daily access to a vehicle.
Sometimes they add a clean driving license, meaning no offence points.
Driving here is on opposite side of the road that rests Europe and US, this makes insurance more expensive for those who just came from continental Europe, sometimes for company cars also.IT is not normally a career asking people to be chauffers or giving company cars here. Why would IT have driving involved with it?
"Provide support to users across 6 locations"
So a deskside support tech? That could make sense. In the US, though, it would be rare for you to have a company car for that. People might ask you to be able to drive, but how you drive is of no concern. And better companies have chauffers for that so that you can stay productive.
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@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Personal Statement
A highly motivated individual who likes everything to be done to the highest possible standard, I am very results-oriented, resourceful, persistent and responsible. In previous roles, I have demonstrated that I work well under pressure and that I adopt a logical approach to reaching effective solutions to problems. Good interpersonal skills enable me to work well with customers and as part of a team. I am equally content to work independently or closely with others. I am passionate about this work with a genuine interest in applying and developing my skills.
So this part depends heavily on the culture of the location. In the US, this would be seen as "filler" and should be removed. It doesn't tell anything useful and is just marketing fluff. It's seen by a negative by most hiring managers and you would be less interested in jobs with the ones that would be taken in by it.
I had been told that I don't meet criteria like these:
"It is essential that you have strong communication skills, you are well presented, possess a flexible positive attitude and have good proactive problem solving skills.""The role would suit a keen, hardworking motivated candidate who wants to develop their career within a dynamic and ambitious company."
Pulled from here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Telecoms-Field-Engineer-Systems-Networks-Job-1289805.aspx -
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Personal Statement
A highly motivated individual who likes everything to be done to the highest possible standard, I am very results-oriented, resourceful, persistent and responsible. In previous roles, I have demonstrated that I work well under pressure and that I adopt a logical approach to reaching effective solutions to problems. Good interpersonal skills enable me to work well with customers and as part of a team. I am equally content to work independently or closely with others. I am passionate about this work with a genuine interest in applying and developing my skills.
So this part depends heavily on the culture of the location. In the US, this would be seen as "filler" and should be removed. It doesn't tell anything useful and is just marketing fluff. It's seen by a negative by most hiring managers and you would be less interested in jobs with the ones that would be taken in by it.
I had been told that I don't meet criteria like these:
"It is essential that you have strong communication skills, you are well presented, possess a flexible positive attitude and have good proactive problem solving skills.""The role would suit a keen, hardworking motivated candidate who wants to develop their career within a dynamic and ambitious company."
Pulled from here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Telecoms-Field-Engineer-Systems-Networks-Job-1289805.aspxThat you need to meet that criteria isn't connected to making filler statements on the CV, though. Everyone says that exact same thing on every CV, it means nothing and no hiring manager reads it, ever. It's just words that everyone is trained to skip over and many firms remove it before giving the CVs to hiring managers.
Your communications skills are determined in the interview.
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
"It is essential that you have strong communication skills, you are well presented, possess a flexible positive attitude and have good proactive problem solving skills."
"The role would suit a keen, hardworking motivated candidate who wants to develop their career within a dynamic and ambitious company."
These are filler on the job listing side, too
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@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
Your diploma in civil engineering is fine, keep that. Not sure that I would keep the third line saying what the course covered. If the hiring manager is unfamiliar with civil engineering, you have other problems.In the UK at Universities, they have very few subjects, but in Lithuania course is very broad. Studies Civil Engineering or Architecture just last year is different. Not many people aware of that difference.
Sometimes requirement is like level 3 Computer science or close subject and it is my effort to stretch level 5 Engineering to cover level 3 computer science -
@john11smith
Qualifications:
CompTIA Network+ N10-006 (March 2017)
15 years’ experience of support networked office & production equipment
Excellent PC troubleshooting skills in complex software and hardware problems
Experience support Windows, Apple, Linux desktops and laptops
Servers hardware knowledge and virtualization (Virtualbox, Vmware, KVM) skills
Experience with Linux LAMP and Windows servers
LAN/WAN, VPN, TCP/IP settings, subnetting, cabling and troubleshooting skills
Confident at Linux command line interface CLI
Strong problem-solving skillsTechnical Skills: Linux distributions (Ubuntu, CentOS), Linux CLI (command line interface or console), Apache, Tomcat, PHP, HTML, CSS, MySQL, Puppet, DNS, NFS, Samba, RADIUS, SNMP, TCP/IP, Network routing, Shell Scripts, MS Server 2008 2012, MS Exchange Server 2010 2013, Active Directory
Education & Training
Diploma of Higher Education in Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (2002)
(This is equivalent to BTec Level 5 / SQA Higher National Diploma (HND) Standard)I have completed multiple IT and customer support training through my employers and taken continuing private education in Linux, DevOps, Cloud, Database and Networking.
Employment History
Danwood Group Ltd., Belfast (Mar 2010 – Mar 2015)
Service Engineer
Duties
Install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair a wide range networked machinery and Windows, Unix and Linux based print servers and network controllers in office and production environments and integrate new equipment into clients’ existing systems, Including OS and software installation
Install and troubleshoot software solutions on customers' servers and desktop computers (Windows, Apple). Install printer drivers, configure network scanning, importing address books, configuring LDAP address books, checking Active Directory and Exchange settings.
Support customers on-site, by phone and email. Support and assist colleaguesBMK (Biznio Masinų Kompanija) Ltd., Lithuania (May 1999 – Nov 2009)
Service Engineer
Duties
Mostly the same as with Danwood
Senior service engineer called to the most difficult problems
Celi Ltd., Lithuania (1998-1999)
Sales Manager
Duties included the wholesale of telephones and market analysis.Ofisa Ltd., Lithuania (1998)
Assistant Manager
Duties consisted of trading in photocopiers and associated consumablesSelf-Employed, Lithuania (1992-1998)
I set up my own country which traded in stationery and office machineryNational Service, Lithuania (1989-1991)
Telephone and Radio Communication Systems TechnicianGrigiskes JSC, Lithuania (1987-1989)
Turner
Duties comprised of using a lathe to manufacture spare parts for paper factory machineryAdditional Skills
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Personal details: Nationality Lithuanian
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@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Review My CV:
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence, 28 years’ driving experience (8 years UK based)
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian, Lithuanian and have some ability in Polish and German.
Driver's License, unless there is some specific reason that this is here, remove it. You are looking for IT, not driving work, this is awkward.
often like over here:
http://www.nijobs.com/Senior-IT-Infrastructure-Analyst-Job-1288288.aspx
Desirable A full driving license with daily access to a vehicle.
Sometimes they add a clean driving license, meaning no offence points.
Driving here is on opposite side of the road that rests Europe and US, this makes insurance more expensive for those who just came from continental Europe, sometimes for company cars also.IT is not normally a career asking people to be chauffers or giving company cars here. Why would IT have driving involved with it?
"Provide support to users across 6 locations"
So a deskside support tech? That could make sense. In the US, though, it would be rare for you to have a company car for that. People might ask you to be able to drive, but how you drive is of no concern. And better companies have chauffers for that so that you can stay productive.
It definitely seems like overkill for a job that pays 20,000 to 30,000 euros.....
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@scottalanmiller said in Getting Started in IT SAMIT Video:
@john11smith said in Getting Started in IT SAMIT Video:
Statistics, in a couple of years I have applied for approximately 250 jobs and have received some feedback regarding medium and senior positions and nearly zero regarding junior.
Given your resume, why apply for senior positions? Given that you are making a major career change, it's just not reasonable to step into a senior role.
I have pulled this question from another topic. I think it is more appropriate here.
Counter-question. Why not? What is really wrong with my resume? There are guys in companies I used to work with titles "Senior IT Engineer" "Enterprise Architect". They install and configure printer drivers, configure scanners, software, install and support document solutions like Y-soft, Equitrac, Follow Me. I used to do the same thing + repaired devices also. As the matter of fact, I used to do it much better because I never had an opportunity to blame somebody of something else. Whatever was wrong I had to fix it. I'm sure if somebody of them were applying for the same job it wouldn't be considered as a major career change. The only major change I see here is switching from Window to Linux. If I got some Microsoft qualification and change just positions names my resume would be perfect even for senior positions.
Somehow experience fixing machines makes me unqualified for even junior positions.
What if I put in my resume line about last 18 months buying cat-C damaged (repairable, the cost of the parts, labour and potentially an expensive hire car would significantly exceed the value of the vehicle) cars fixing myself and selling things? Before that decorating my house (plastering, fitting tiles, painting) in addition whole time since March 2015 helping disabled wife. Lifetime IT career ban?
Is it somehow related to a theory of boxes in men's brain inability to touch each other?
https://www.facebook.com/enjoy.science/videos/549386455409236/Leonardo da Vinci had interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. And he is called "Universal Genius"
Where is going our society?
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@john11smith said in Review My CV:
@scottalanmiller said in Getting Started in IT SAMIT Video:
Given your resume, why apply for senior positions? Given that you are making a major career change, it's just not reasonable to step into a senior role.
I have pulled this question from another topic. I think it is more appropriate here.
Counter-question. Why not? What is really wrong with my resume? There are guys in companies I used to work with titles "Senior IT Engineer" "Enterprise Architect". They install and configure printer drivers, configure scanners, software, install and support document solutions like Y-soft, Equitrac, Follow Me.
If that's true, then those titles are just flat out lies.
Scott's a big stickler about titles and lieing. The reality is, in SMB it won't matter what you call yourself, assuming the title keeps them reading to the description. But, in the Enterprise it's much more likely that your titles will matter. If you are an Enterprise Architect, you better have experience setting up enterprise networking, etc. not that list of things you listed above.
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Fix all the grammar and typo errors, because there is a lot. Perhaps write it in Lithuanian and have it translated by sworn translator.
The line about Linux LAMP bothers me, it implies you only know how to setup LAMP stack. It's also on the same line as Windows servers, perhaps change it to "Experience with Linux and Windows servers". You list Apache and MySQL skills below, no need to be redundant.
"I set up my own country which traded in stationery and office machinery" - perhaps you meant company here?
I don't know if I would list entire employment history, especially if it's not relevant to the position you're applying for. You have a lot of sales experience, but how does that relate to IT position?
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@marcinozga said in Review My CV:
The line about Linux LAMP bothers me, it implies you only know how to setup LAMP stack. It's also on the same line as Windows servers, perhaps change it to "Experience with Linux and Windows servers". You list Apache and MySQL skills below, no need to be redundant.
Corrected, but with some redundancy for girls at agencies and search engines.
"I set up my own country which traded in stationery and office machinery" - perhaps you meant company here?
This line had been corrected by native NI English teacher. Never questioned, though it is an expression.
I don't know if I would list entire employment history, especially if it's not relevant to the position you're applying for. You have a lot of sales experience, but how does that relate to IT position?
I know in the USA irrelevant experience usually not mentioned. In Germany mustn't be any CV gaps. Looks like in the UK something in between, because that English teacher did many things in an effort to fit my CV in 2 pages, but never attempted to delete those.
Is it better now?:
Qualifications:
CompTIA Network+ N10-006 (March 2017)
15 years’ experience of support networked office & production equipment
Excellent PC troubleshooting skills in complex software and hardware problems
Experience support Windows, Apple, Linux desktops and laptops
Servers hardware knowledge and virtualization (Virtualbox, Vmware, KVM) skills
Experience with Windows Linux and servers, confident at command line interface CLI
LAN/WAN, VPN, TCP/IP settings, subnetting, cabling and troubleshooting skills
Strong problem-solving skillsTechnical Skills: TCP/IP, Network routing, Cisco, Linux distributions (Ubuntu, CentOS), Linux console, LAMP, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Tomcat, HTML, CSS, Puppet, DNS, NFS, Samba, SNMP, Bash Shell Scripts, MS Server 2008 2012, MS Exchange Server 2010 2013, Active Directory
Education & Training
Diploma of Higher Education in Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (2002)
(This is equivalent to BTec Level 5 / SQA Higher National Diploma (HND) Standard)I have completed multiple IT and customer support training through my employers and taken continuing private education in Linux, DevOps, Cloud, Database and Networking.
Howtonetwork.com – Cisco CCNA Simplified (in progress)
Employment History
Danwood Group Ltd., Belfast (Mar 2010 – Mar 2015)
Systems Engineer
Duties
Install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair a wide range networked machinery and Windows, Unix and Linux based print servers and network controllers in office and production environments and integrate new equipment into clients’ existing systems, Including OS and software installation
Install and troubleshoot software solutions on customers' servers and desktop computers (Windows, Apple). Install printer drivers, configure network scanning, importing address books, configuring LDAP address books, checking Active Directory and Exchange settings.
Support customers on-site, by phone and email. Support and assist colleaguesBMK (Biznio Masinų Kompanija) Ltd., Lithuania (May 1999 – Nov 2009)
Systems Engineer
Duties
Mostly the same as with Danwood
Senior engineer called to the most difficult problemsAdditional Information
Driving Licence: Full Category B Licence
Languages: I am fluent (including technical language) in English, Russian and Lithuanian
Personal details: Nationality Lithuanian, Live in Antrim town
