First Resume Critique
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Windows Server 2008 to 2016 & Roles...
For keyword reasons, avoid "to" if possible and put versions.
What does "& Roles" mean? Roles are part of Windows Server.
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"Active Directoryw/ Group Policy"
Two separate things. List them that way. And as Kelly said, avoid w/
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I would avoid the big blue block and the logos and such. People want to be able to print out resumes and that's a lot of ink wasted.
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I'm not a fan of GPAs on resumes. Even when they are good. Too much focus on things that are too minor.
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Avoid things like "contact vendor when necessary". That's just assumed. Much like "asked my manager for assistance, when I was stuck." This isn't a skill or task to highlight.
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You might highlight not needing vendor support. Like supporting thousands of servers over many years and never once needing the vendor to assist you. But anyone can "call a vendor for help", even non-technical people. So it doesn't show anything you want to show off.
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This section, maybe boost it a bit..
System Administrator, Jr.
Responsible for the management of Windows Server environment across three geographically dispersed locations, business focus on increased resiliency while lowering operational expenditures.
- Migrated on premises MS Exchange 2013 to Office 365 and ADConnect.
- Migrated physical environment to VMware ESXi 6 based virtual infrastructure.
- Designed and implemented a Veeam B&R backup system and procedures.
(Leave Jr till the end, don't make an extra point of it.)
Avoid repetition, like naming OS versions again.
Don't highlight basic job functions as if they are special.
Don't use filler lines like "during my time here, I did...", people already know what the list is for.
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Just from a quick look:
- I did not know where to look first. To many boxes and hard breaks in your design (worked for a media / design agency years ago)
- Skip versions maybe
- Skip basics
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I like that your resume was concise but mainly told me it was you are a Microsoft System Administrator. I assume that is it correct?
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@thwr said in First Resume Critique:
Just from a quick look:
- I did not know where to look first. To many boxes and hard breaks in your design (worked for a media / design agency years ago)
- Skip versions maybe
- Skip basics
Design.. well. You got some major things you should take care of in your document, IMHO.
- Good spacing and line height, easy read.
- Font is a little light, but that's still ok. Just keep in mind: HR guys get tons of resumes and they need to - literally - scan them in a very short amount of time. The font can either make your resume look awesome or a "won't read".
- I would avoid that 2x2 grid you are using. The eye can't follow, it's to "chaotic".
- Nice to know your name, but you're wasting a lot of space for it
- The main content block looks a bit... disrupted. Check your alignment. I would change the captions to align to the left
- There's the first centered block labeled "Skills". Below that you got a left aligned list. Any reader would have a hard time reading this. Either make it align to the left (see above) or maybe try some centered or justified formatting, can make a huge difference:
(Glued that together in a sec. Isn't supposed to look awesome, just meant to give you an idea about formatting effects)Keep in mind that our resumes are very different, so I won't comment much on the technical side.
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Thanks everyone for the help.
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@dbeato said in First Resume Critique:
I like that your resume was concise but mainly told me it was you are a Microsoft System Administrator. I assume that is it correct?
Yeah, that's basically correct for the time being.
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The theme is a little interesting. I don't dislike it, it's just different. The gripe I do have with it is the lines not joining precisely at the bottom. I'm sure that was the point, but I could hardly concentrate on anything else once I saw it.
You have your Master's, but are currently only a junior sysadmin. Did you go straight into your Bachelor's and right onto your Master's? Did you not work in the field for a couple years with your Bachelor's first? I'm asking because the amount of education doesn't really fit your current title, as in you should be much further along and into some kind of management role having been out of school for around 5 years.
Overall... what happened between when you got your Bachelor's and today? What drove you to obtain your Master's? Was it to get into management, personal reasons, or something else?
I'm not so much critiquing your resume, as you asked, but rather very curious about your situation in the last 6 years and how you got where you are today.
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@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
The theme is a little interesting. I don't dislike it, it's just different. The gripe I do have with it is the lines not joining precisely at the bottom. I'm sure that was the point, but I could hardly concentrate on anything else once I saw it.
You have your Master's, but are currently only a junior sysadmin. Did you go straight into your Bachelor's and right onto your Master's? Did you not work in the field for a couple years with your Bachelor's first? I'm asking because the amount of education doesn't really fit your current title, as in you should be much further along and into some kind of management role having been out of school for around 5 years.
Overall... what happened between when you got your Bachelor's and today? What drove you to obtain your Master's? Was it to get into management, personal reasons, or something else?
I'm not so much critiquing your resume, as you asked, but rather very curious about your situation in the last 6 years and how you got where you are today.
Went from the BS to the MS degree. No time gap there.
I got my degree just before I was introduced to SW, which lead to ML.
I tried to find jobs in IT, but the problem was everybody wanted experience but nobody was willing to give experience. Somebody took a chance and gave me some experience in Tech support for a cable company.
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@nerdydad said in First Resume Critique:
@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
The theme is a little interesting. I don't dislike it, it's just different. The gripe I do have with it is the lines not joining precisely at the bottom. I'm sure that was the point, but I could hardly concentrate on anything else once I saw it.
You have your Master's, but are currently only a junior sysadmin. Did you go straight into your Bachelor's and right onto your Master's? Did you not work in the field for a couple years with your Bachelor's first? I'm asking because the amount of education doesn't really fit your current title, as in you should be much further along and into some kind of management role having been out of school for around 5 years.
Overall... what happened between when you got your Bachelor's and today? What drove you to obtain your Master's? Was it to get into management, personal reasons, or something else?
I'm not so much critiquing your resume, as you asked, but rather very curious about your situation in the last 6 years and how you got where you are today.
Went from the BS to the MS degree. No time gap there.
I got my degree just before I was introduced to SW, which lead to ML.
I tried to find jobs in IT, but the problem was everybody wanted experience but nobody was willing to give experience. Somebody took a chance and gave me some experience in Tech support for a cable company.
Makes sense. I would continue to maintain a strong rule of 18-24 months per job. Get what you can and then move on. When you move on, do not move on without moving up. Take a look at this rough sketch... sometimes you make a direct lateral movement, other times it might feel like you're taking a slight step back but with a much higher ceiling.
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@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
@nerdydad said in First Resume Critique:
@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
The theme is a little interesting. I don't dislike it, it's just different. The gripe I do have with it is the lines not joining precisely at the bottom. I'm sure that was the point, but I could hardly concentrate on anything else once I saw it.
You have your Master's, but are currently only a junior sysadmin. Did you go straight into your Bachelor's and right onto your Master's? Did you not work in the field for a couple years with your Bachelor's first? I'm asking because the amount of education doesn't really fit your current title, as in you should be much further along and into some kind of management role having been out of school for around 5 years.
Overall... what happened between when you got your Bachelor's and today? What drove you to obtain your Master's? Was it to get into management, personal reasons, or something else?
I'm not so much critiquing your resume, as you asked, but rather very curious about your situation in the last 6 years and how you got where you are today.
Went from the BS to the MS degree. No time gap there.
I got my degree just before I was introduced to SW, which lead to ML.
I tried to find jobs in IT, but the problem was everybody wanted experience but nobody was willing to give experience. Somebody took a chance and gave me some experience in Tech support for a cable company.
Makes sense. I would continue to maintain a strong rule of 18-24 months per job. Get what you can and then move on. When you move on, do not move on without moving up. Take a look at this rough sketch... sometimes you make a direct lateral movement, other times it might feel like you're taking a slight step back but with a much higher ceiling.
Sometimes people get stuck and discontinue growth. You should always be moving into a position you might even be slightly unqualified for. The reason being is if you leave a help desk for another help desk position, you aren't advancing your career. You've already learned all there is in a help desk position and hit your ceiling in 2 years. But you might leave a help desk position for a junior sysadmin position, move up in the company to a senior sysadmin position, then hit your ceiling and leave to become a business infrastructure engineer at another company. Rinse and repeat.
Just because you haven't mastered something, doesn't mean you shouldn't apply for it. You might understand concepts and have done certain things in a lab (valid hands on experience).
Bottom line, if you're not moving up then you should be moving on.
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Version #2
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@nerdydad said in First Resume Critique:
Version #2
Try a simple template that adds just enough color to give it a little contrast. Redactions for personal privacy.
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@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
@nerdydad said in First Resume Critique:
Version #2
Try a simple template that adds just enough color to give it a little contrast. Redactions for personal privacy.
What does the better side of 10 years mean? That introductory paragraph seems weak at best. Also you seem to have barely anything about your skills on your first page of your resume.
Also it seems like there is so much wasted space...
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@bbigford said in First Resume Critique:
You have your Master's, but are currently only a junior sysadmin. Did you go straight into your Bachelor's and right onto your Master's? Did you not work in the field for a couple years with your Bachelor's first? I'm asking because the amount of education doesn't really fit your current title, as in you should be much further along and into some kind of management role having been out of school for around 5 years.
Why would he have left IT to go into management? If he wanted to do that, he'd presumably have started in management, not IT, and his degree would be an MBA. Management is a different field than IT, you don't naturally move from one to the other without intentionally switching career paths.
Why does the amount of education not fit the title? Education does not promote you up the chain. Someone with a PhD still needs time and experience in junior roles before moving up. It's not like the university process provides experience or training that will move you up in the field.
