Sample Resumes for Technology Executives

Sample Resumes for Technology ExecutivesSample Resumes for Technology ExecutivesA tech pros resume has to match the speed of this fast-changing industry.IT pros, polish those resumes Technology staffing firms and recruiters say hiring is finally growing at a steady pace again.IT is becoming stronger and stronger each month, said Dave Willmer, executive director of IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology (RHI). Willmer in mid-July had just returned from Microsofts Worldwide Partner Conference, wzu siche businesses heading into the third fiscal quarter reported they plan to staff up for new projects, including Windows 7 deployments.In fact, RHI has witnessed healthier application-development hiring in the first half of the year, and now the firm is seeing more interest in infrastructure skills - just the type of hiring youd expect in a business environment overdue for Windows 7 rollouts, Willmer said.Before technology professionals tackle the reawakening job market, they should take t he time to look at what distinguishes a well-done IT resume from its generic brethren. Technologys an animal unto itself. Its fast pace means musty resumes wont pass muster. In addition, the project-based nature of most IT organizations means special handling of the documents work-history section. IT workers have to portray both technical and functional skills. We checked in with IT staffing pros, and what follows is their advice on how to do an IT resume right.Be specificShana Westerman is a recruiter and resume expert at IT staffing firm Sapphire Technologies. She finds hiring managers with whom she works look for two things in an IT resume specifics and consistent experience.IT pros must spell out whatever skill set is specifically relevant to a given position. Even if some skills might seem self-evident, they mucksmuschenstill need to be listed, Westerman said.Even if skill sets are mundane for the role, people still want to know that job candidates are doing them, she said, and how far back their experience goes, as well as their ability to integrate technology components. That creates its own dynamic.Heres an example Basic job duties for a business analyst include meeting with users, gathering project requirements and documenting the requirements.A lot of people might think, ?Well, youre a business analyst, of course youre going to do that. But some companies might structure job duties differently, and some of those responsibilities might fall to another person, Westerman said. Its important to highlight those skills. Just because you do it at Company A, you cant assume somebody did it at Company B. Hiring managers arent going to assume that just because you have the job title there, you have the skill set they need.Dont delugePour on the specifics, but dont bury the most important items. You want to be specific and list every skill relevant to the job, not every skill youve ever exercised, and dont date your resume with out-of-date skill sets, RHIs Will mer said.Be sure to highlight the most sought-after skills that are tough to find, he said, such as SharePoint development ASP.NET and C++ (not new, but still important). Then resist the temptation to list 13 others that everyone else has. Youve used Outlook and roger and pretty basic things. You dont list them all, he said. One common mistake, especially with a very tenured person, is to list out every thing youve done skill-wise. The most important is, what do you have thats most current? Less is more, especially when it relates to skills that are relevant to a targeted job.ProjectsTo deal with the project-based nature of IT work, Westerman typically tells job candidates to write a summary of the project in a paragraph form comprising five to six lines that detailThe projects end resultThe technologies involvedDay-to-day project tasks (underneath, in a bulleted responsibility section)Highlight one or another component depending on where the project intersects with a targeted job d escription. One focus might be whether the project came in under budget, if the team was rewarded for on-time delivery, or specifically what you were accountable for within the project. Alternatively, focus on the project being Web-based, internal, or external and rolled out to clients, if thats how it will complement the targeted job, Westerman said.Listing quantifiablesTechnology professionals can represent a big investment for a hiring company, whether its project-based contract work or full-time, Willmer said. That makes it particularly important for a resume to demonstrate a candidates return on investment The financial impact of his or her being on staff or on a project.That means a resume should show not just, for example, C++ experience, but that use of the skill generated 200 thousand additional hits in four months, with a bottom-line revenue increase of $4 million.RHI is constantly working with candidates on how to spell out this kind of ROI. Its not so easy. From an IT pe rspective, your financial value, somebody doesnt know that, Willmer said. Somebody doesnt bump into you in the hall and say, ?Hey, nice work on that site, it generated $4 million for us. You might have to do some homework with supervisors and peers if its not shown to you. Anything relating to direct impact on revenue or productivity is very important.Resume lengthWith multiple projects per job and lots of skills to list, it shouldnt come as a surprise that IT resumes tend to be longer than those of the typical job seeker. Westerman said that five to seven years of experience on a three to four page resume is typical, with more senior positions going a little longer.Technical peoples resumes also run slighter longer than functional workers. You can trim some length if you write a brief summary of projects (three lines each), summarizing multiple projects and then providing a detailed, concise bulleted responsibility section of day-to-day tasks.