How to Write an IT Resume that Recruiters Want to Read

As a technology professional with strong technical skills, you know how to virtualize a complex environment, manage cloud governance, and optimize code, but do you know how to write an IT resume?

The challenge with technology resumes is the subject matter. It’s complex and gets muddy when you get too far into the weeds. An HR manager or a recruiter is likely not an expert on client-server technology or open source databases so it’s best not to bore them with allllll the gory details.

When attempting to convey your technical cred, focus on the business benefit! As always, the same advice applies. Don’t bury the lead, quantify, and use strong, action verbs. Here are a few of my favorite tips:

• Avoid buzzwords and cliches. To a certain extent, this is tricky because sometimes the buzzwords are part of your job. In that case, they are keywords and should be used. Avoid, at any cost, overused, ineffective words such as results-oriented, goal-driven, and achievement-oriented.

• Start with a Headline: The biggest compliant I hear from recruiters is that they get too many resumes that are not focused. The best way to quickly target your resume and showcase for a hiring manager what you are looking for is a headline. Use the job you are targeting, even if it is not the one you have. If you are not comfortable using Director of IT when you are a Manager, an add-in such as Career Target: Director of IT can help to bridge that gap.

• Organize Information. Nothing is worse than a “laundry list” resume where the recruiter simply doesn’t know where to look. Use keywords to indicate what the bullet is about or try adding subject headers above a grouping of bullets. This helps your ATS and also tells the reader what you do.

• Focus on the Last 10 Years. I am not a proponent of excluding any experience prior to the last 10 years if it is relevant. Ageism is alive and well and you don’t want to date yourself, but you also don’t want to appear 30 when you are 45. It’s confusing and can do you a disservice. In technology, however, even more than in other fields, the older experience is simply not relevant. Technology moves at lightning speed. Your experience implementing Windows NT technology is not going to impress anyone. While we’re at it, neither is your @yahoo or @aol email address, so change these please.

• Highlight Business Benefit: Technologists of today are business enablers, business partners, and conduits for efficiency. Use language and quantifiable achievements to demonstrate not just the technical elegance of your solutions, but the bottom-line results to the business. This will give a hiring manager confidence that you understand the big picture and will add value to their organization.

• Include Git Hub and Personal Development Projects. Technologists, more than almost any other profession, are expected to truly walk the walk. Demonstrate your geek status and love of all things IT by including personal projects, Git Hub links, and involvement in the thriving tech community.

When writing your IT resume, the most important thing to remember is that you need to focus on the reader. Think like a recruiter! Using job descriptions and profiles of other people currently in your role, compile a list of keywords—both technical and soft skills—and address these, quantifying mastery whenever possible, throughout your resume.

Typically, an E or F pattern works best for structuring information, as the eye naturally skims down the left side of the page. There is nothing wrong with adding color or well-placed graphics for emphasis, but always best not to go too far out of the box, particularly when you are in a conservative industry. The content, the words on the page, are the most important part of your resume.

Struggling to find the words to express your achievements? Schedule a discovery call today to find out how my professional IT resume writing service can help you bring your career to the next level.