Resume Help

[Charger]

So I'm in the market to get a new job. I don't think I'm currently getting paid what I'm worth, so I'm going to toss out my resume to several places and see what kind of offers I get. The problem is I haven't applied for a job outside of my company since I was 17. I've worked for 3 different companies, but that's because we got bought out twice.

If you've got some time to kill check out my resume and and give me any comments you've got. I'd really appreciate it. I will tailor this resume as the job require, but I'd like to have a good start off point. I've italicized Thanks in advance.
______________________
Joseph S. McConnell
Contact Info

Education
University of Alabama in Huntsville
B.S.B.A in Management Information Systems
Graduated May 2003

Certifications
Microsoft Certified System Engineer 2003
Project Management Professional
Chapter 9 of NISPOM

Work Experience
Northrop Grumman Information Technology
System Administrator 2005 – Present
Tech Lead Duties:
* Coordinate efforts of several IT teams for project network
* Work with contractor’s IT department to establish consistency through out network
* Design network for each site
* Work with customer to define needs and define technology needed to fulfill those needs
* Manage installation of new services across WAN

Information Systems Security Officer Duties:
* Establish security protocols for computer systems
* Install security settings for workstations and computers
* Regularly inspect network and computers for suspicious activity
* Audit security logs
* Create accounts

System Administrator Duties:
* Maintain WAN including 6 geographically dispersed sites
* Connect new sites to WAN
* Install and maintain network equipment including encryptors, CSU/DSU, routers, switches, and VOIP phones.
* Install and maintain Cisco’s Call Manager Express for VOIP telephones
* Manage Active Directory Forest
* Manage Microsoft Exchange servers
* Install and manage Microsoft’s WSUS
* Create and deploy images using Altiris Deployment Server
* Install and maintain Condor High Throughput Computing Cluster
* Manage backups using Veritas Netbackup


Northrop Grumman Information Technology
Computer Systems Analyst 2004 – 2005
Duties:
* Image and deploy new computers
* Diagnose Hardware / Software issues on secure LAN and personal workstation computers
* Upgrade computers with new hardware and software
* Assist in maintaining Windows 2000 servers
* Assist in maintaining a Microsoft Exchange Server
* Configure computers for remote access capability
* Assist in managing and maintaining local depot


TRW Inc.
IT Systems Engineer 1999 – 2003
Duties:
* Configure computers for remote access capability
* Diagnose Hardware / Software issues on secure LAN and personal workstation computers
* Configure and install LAN connections
* Upgrade computers with new hardware and software
* Assist in maintaining several Windows 2000 servers
* Assist in maintaining a Microsoft Exchange Server


BDM Inc.
Computer Technician, 1997 – 1999
Duties:
* Troubleshoot various hardware and software problems
* Service computers for 200 users
* Assist in maintaining a Novell server
* Set up workstations
* Configure and install LAN connections

Technical Summary
Every Microsoft OS – Microsoft Exchange – Microsoft Active Directory
VBScript – Veritas Netbackup – Condor High Throughput Computing – Cisco IOS – Cisco CME – Altiris Deployment

[Mark57]

Looks good, except I don't understand why you would want to brag about the Microsuck stuff so much.

[RacerBill]

Some suggestions:

Putting education first is mainly for kids just out of college. Since you have relevant experience, put that first and education last.

Your job descriptions focus on the duties you've performed. To grab some attention, include some of your accomplishments. For instance, you said "Manage installation of new services across WAN" -- what kind of services? What did those services do for the company? Did they result in savings, increased efficiency, stronger market share? Basically, don't just show a prospective employer that you can do do some tasks; show them that you're they guy they want because you can deliver results.

It might help to get involved with a local job club. Many of them offer resume assistance, career coaching, as well as networking with other people.

[ODBSGIRL]

I'd pretty much 2nd what Bill has already said. I went thru the same thing a few years ago, I had worked for the same company since I was 16 and realized it really wasn't where I wanted to be. Focus more on accomplishments as well as duties...any system or operation you may have made improvements to, any awards or honors bestowed by management, etc. GOOD LUCK!

[castufari]

As someone who has to interview and hire IT drones:

• Try putting your goals at the top, then your relevant experience then education.
• If you mention projects, go into some detail.
• Give then an idea of the size of the network you managed, ie xx servers and xxx users.
• List OS versions, every is too broad unless you are a Windows 3.1x guru. It's out there, but details help.

In a nutshell never make the resume reader guess. You want to whet their appetite so they'll call you but you don't want to skimp on details that might draw them to you in the first place.

Mark: I see a lot of resumes where the MS stuff is highlighted/bolded out to the point where it's annoying. At one time MS certs were something, that time is past. Lots of companies were burned on people who supposedly could do something...too bad it was all in a lab with a controlled environment, not in a real life situation when you've been at work for 26 hours straight, trying to drop in 4 new servers, 2 firewalls and answer questions from 187 idiots. (May 10, 1999 for me)

[diamondpete]

Charger

Agree with Bill and Cats. Will add (as Bill impled) you seem one dimensional on paper (thus perhaps his recommendation for volunteerism). There is nothing seperating you from the pack.

Also you you list current activities in and past ones in the same tense. I would suggest that you differentiate then. More importantly you need to stand out or differentiate yourself from the other " IT drones " for the wanks in the personnel dept (LOL, castufari). So detail and clarity are important, avoid words like various, avoid nonsensical jargonic phrases like: geographically dispersed sites. You need to look for consistancy in your language and meaning, if you are going to use "define needs" in is not the same tech jargon as "geographically dispersed" and read your text more carefully "define technology needed to fulfill those needs" Technology is not "defined", it is "applied". How about "needs assessment" and technology applications, etc.

There is an inconsistancy in the language choice which feels like you "copied and pasted" some of these phrases. It may seem picky but these are the kind of things that a resume reader does not specifically identify (unless he/she has a lot of free time on his/her hands) , but feels that the resume lacked punch. When you see a good resume, you do not notice this either, but when you check for it, you will see that there is a consitency in tone, diction (vocabulary choice ) , etc.

Also, I think that you would be wise to spend time and energy on your cover letter which should highlight your strengths and show your individuality. Are you a leader? a team player? a winner? I cannot tell from your resume, but I should be able to!
Hope this helps

peter

[Paradigm]

It's definitely best to list skills quantitatively in terms of how they helped you company, if you can somehow come up with a number to associate with what you've done. For example, something like "Saved over $10,000 in client/server deployment" sounds a lot better than "Design network for each site". Again, I'm not sure this is relevant to what you did, but at least highlights the need for more specifics. If I were an employer, already I'm not sure exactly what you did there; I'd ask you, if I were interested, but I don't think I'd have a base idea of what it was until I actualy finished the entire resume (which many employers don't, they just breeze through it to see what stands out).

[castufari]

Originally Posted by diamondpete

More importantly you need to stand out or differentiate yourself from the other " IT drones " for the wanks in the personnel dept (LOL, castufari).

Not HR here, IT Direktor. HR doesn't even screen anymore, if something arrives I get to look at it.

Some stuff NOT to put on a resume: personal stats and bits of trivia. I had one resume that had "hobbies" listed. Somehow taking walks with your "gf of 5 years and your 2 poodles, fluffy and fefe" isn't gonna get you too far.

I'd also not put down activities that aren't related to what you do. I used to list athletic stuff (competitive cycling, surfing) but had someone ask me if my listing those was a hint that I'd probably be taking a lot of time off from work. Took those off my resume really quick.

[diamondpete]

Originally Posted by castufari

Not HR here, IT Direktor. HR doesn't even screen anymore, if something arrives I get to look at it.

I stand corrected. Something to differentiate your self ffrom the other IT drones to the heads of IT drones!

Cheers!

[Simon389]

I sort of go along with whats been said - it depends on the job you are applying for. With your background it seems there are at least 3 paths you could take:

support and operations, technical focus
support and operations, management focus
engineering
project management.
(OK, thats 4 already - I'm sure you can break it down more)

The reason you need to make the distinction is not only that each type of job will be looking for different skillsets, but also that the people reviewinig your CV will have different skillsets and priorities.
For example, a company looking to hire a team leader for their support operation will want leadership and management skills, experience of delivering projects ontime and on budget and probably a technical awareness, the reviewer will probably be someone like the IT Director or Operations Director, with possibly little technical IT experience, so your CV might contain something like, " responsible for delivering continuous availabiilty of the critical infrastructure on which the business depends".
ON the other hand, if you are applying for an engineering job, possibly with an outsourcer, your CV will be reviewed by a senior engineer with detailed technical experience who will be looking for a very specific set of skills and expertise with specific versions of technologies - your CV would need to contain detailed technical information, eg, "responsible for an AD Forest comprising 2 domains, 60 domain controllers and 20 sites spanning 2 continents".

Myself, I keep 2 CV's up to date, I'm a techie through and through with no interest in management, so I have one focussed on interaction with customers, gathering requirements, designing and delivering solutions, and one focussed on support and operations. Both have detailed accounts of the technologies I have used and am expert in, and the scale of the systems i have worked on. If I was interested in management, I would have one that was woolier on the technical detail, with more of the business benefits of the projects I had delivered/instigated. In addition, I customise them for every post I submit for, to account for the detailed technologies in the job spec.

(To give you some context for my comments, I work for a global outsourcer, and regularly perform technical reviews of CV's and technical interviews)

HTH

Simon

[chris_f]

Racerbill touched on a lot of what i wanted ot tell you:

move education to the bottom and your relevant experience up to the top. Also, don't just list what you did, but how it's useful if at all applicable or possible. best of luck!