8 Tips to Upgrade Your IT Resume

Since we entered school, we have been taught about what a resume is and why it is important. In many career fairs, this topic has never failed to be mentioned to us. The CV is a very important aspect of our professional life. It summaries who we are professionally and outlines our professional roles and capabilities to our future employers. Its importance cannot be overstated in any way and that is why it has been mentioned to us that it needs to be perfect always. It is important for one to know how to properly craft a resume so that it brings out the best of who you are to your future employer. Many HR managers look at numerous resumes and how they are crafted will determine if you land the job or not. Your CV should clearly present you to your future employee in the best possible manner so that you can warrant that interview.

Any IT professional will need a resume to outline one’s IT experiences to his or her future employer. There are lots of things that need to go on an IT resume to make it perfect. A good IT professional should be able to craft his CV in a good way. Upgrading your resume is very important so as to capture your recently acquired skills, knowledge or experiences. If you outline them properly, then your chances of getting called for that interview are very high. The truth of the matter is that whether you are a new or experienced IT professional, you need to have a good resume as this will boost your chances of getting that dream job. Many IT professionals still use outdated resumes to apply for IT jobs today and this is very risky. So it is important for IT professionals to always keep their resumes updated and fresh. An updated resume will be able to showcase to your future employer the kind of employee you are and give him or her good reasons to hire you.

8 Tips to Upgrade a CV

Below are some tricks you can use to upgrade your IT resume so that you stand out in the eye of your future employer:

1. Relevant Details only

When you are applying for a job, then you need to read carefully the job description and understand it then craft your resume to match the job description. To be able to do this, you need to only highlight your recent and major work experiences and newly acquired skills. Avoid putting unnecessary details in your resume. A good resume is one which is clear, short and precise and which captures the important details. As you progress in your career it is important to note that your very early experiences like IT internships would not be necessary for you to include in your current resume. Check out on this always. No need to fill your CV with all your work experiences as this will make you come out as being too desperate. Just highlight the important information and then leave the rest which you can talk more about once you are called for an interview. A good resume should not go beyond two pages.

2. Spelling and grammar

The resume is an official and professional document and it should be treated with the respect it deserves. It shows who you are and how you craft it will give the employer a glimpse of the type of person you are. A strict HR manager will not have the time to read through a CV that is littered with spelling and grammatical errors. Therefore, ensure that you thoroughly go throw your resume countless times to weed out those errors. A human resource manager has got lots of resumes to go through and he or she will be looking out for the slightest mistakes so that he or she can throw out your application. So, always remember the rule keep it clean.

3. Format Writing

Nowadays, their lot of resume formats that you can get online. Research and find one, which will allow you write your resume in short but concise manner. Furthermore, you can get even creative with your format as this will serve to attract the HR manager to read it. Also, ensure that the format is consistent all through. Pay attention to the fonts, font size and headings you are using. Let it be consistent from start to finish. One thing that you should always ensure you do when updating your CV is that you need to pay attention to consistency. For example, if you have decided to use Times New Roman as your font, then ensure you use it all through. Do not mix up the fonts as it will make your resume look like an utter joke. This should also apply to font size and headings. They all need to be consistent.

4. Relevant Work experience

Detailing your IT experiences on the resume is very crucial. How you outline your work background in your resume will determine if you will be called for an interview or not. Depending on the job you are applying for input only relevant work experience. In case you don’t have much experience, outline the little you have it in a very creative way to boost your chances. In addition, always ensure that you outline your work experience in a chronological manner starting from your current job station to your first.

5. Seek Professional Services

In case you do not know how to craft your CV in a catchy way, then you are free to seek the services of professional resume writers. Most of them are usually online and all you need to do it submit your old resume and they will handle it for you but at a small cost. This will go a long way in ensuring that your resume is updated with the latest writing formats and with the relevant details. Ensure that before you submit your CV for an update that you have done a good background check on the company.

6. Check References

This is an important part of your resume but with time it has been advised not to include it in the CV but to submit only when asked to. This will go a long way in helping you get extra space that you can use to write more about your experiences and abilities. In addition, when asked to submit your references always ensure that they are factual and that they are people who know you best more so professionally. Also, make an effort of contacting them and letting them know that you are including them as your references.

7. Proofread your resume

This cannot be overemphasized as it is essential not just in resume writing but any other form of writing. As an IT specialist, you need to ensure that before submitting your resume that you have proofread it to remove all the errors. A resume full of errors will definitely deny you that opportunity of being called for an interview. You can even have your friend or colleague proofread it too so that the errors are removed completely. Many IT practitioners overlook these simple rule and they end up missing good jobs. Your CV is the first contact an employer has with you so you need to make a good first impression.

8. Highlight your strengths

We all have our weakness and strengths as individuals and they form part of who we are. But with an opportunity, especially in terms of employment, you need to put your best foot forward and present yourself as a worthy and able potential employee. For both new and experienced IT professionals, it will be best to showcase your strengths and how it is relevant with the job you are seeking and of what benefit will it be to the company. For instance, an experienced IT professional can use the fact that he or she has several IT certifications as strength and showcase how the certifications will benefit the company.

Bottom Line

As an IT professional, you need to value your resume and keep it fresh by constantly updating it will relevant and newly acquired experiences and skills. Using one resume for all your job applications will lead you nowhere. Always ensure that you read through the descriptions of the job you are applying for and then tailor your CV to match those descriptions. This will serve to boost your chances of getting ahead of the pack. If you are not confident of making yourself a good resume, then you can hire the services of a good resume writer. Freshly updated IT resume will best serve to improve your professional image and make a good first statement on your behalf to your potential employer. You don’t want to miss out on a job that you were qualified to do just because you submitted an old IT resume. To nail that job you so much desire, always keep your CV clean and updated. Try to also ensure that you update your IT skills each time so that you can be relevant to your future potential employers.