One of our recent clients agreed to let us use his resume as an example of a compelling and effective IT resume. If you are gearing up for an IT job search, read on to hear expert resume writer Katie Maloney explain how she crafted his resume to help him stand out in this fast-growing industry. Note: The client’s name and identifying information have been changed.
IT jobs are in high demand globally. Computer and Information Technology jobs are expected to grow 15% in the 10 years between 2019 and 2029, resulting in 680,000+ new jobs. Technology managers have said that finding skilled tech professionals in software and applications development, automation, and cloud architecture and operations is challenging. If you have a background in these, or other areas of IT, and are looking for a new role, use this IT resume example to help you optimize your resume for your job search.
Wondering how your current resume stacks up to the competition? Submit it for a free resume critique from a Let’s Eat, Grandma senior writer!
Preparation: Old Resume Review
When I began working on this IT resume for Joe Smith, I knew I needed to highlight his extensive IT experience and his ability to successfully align technology needs with growing businesses. I also wanted to highlight his experience working remotely for 8+ years, as many IT jobs are hybrid or remote.
During my review of the original resume, I noticed that he had some really great information surrounding his past roles and had great quantifiable metrics. However, I needed more detail from him to really be able to showcase his accomplishments and skills and align them with the jobs he was applying for. We reviewed this during our consultation and I was able to get more detailed information from him. A couple examples of bullet points where I needed more information to create more impact:
Example 1:
Old resume bullet point:
- From 2020, delivered approximately $5 million in professional services revenue
I wanted to find out how he did this and who he did it for, in order to give context to the large amount of revenue. The new bullet point outlines these details.
New resume bullet point:
- Assisted in a $5M+ project to update processes and migrate technologies for the Maine state government
Example 2:
Old resume bullet point:
- Documented internal processes needed for stabilization and turn-up efforts for managed services accounts, decreased administrative overhead required for onboarding
This sounded like he had direct involvement in developing a workflow for staff that helped clients, which is great to highlight. The new bullet point makes this more clear.
New resume bullet point:
- Analyzed and developed internal processes to stabilize and improve services for managed service accounts; implemented a remote training model and standardized documentation, resulting in a significant decrease in administrative costs during the onboarding process
IT Resume Example
Here’s what Joe’s new resume looks like:
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IT Resume Example Section by Section
Let’s go through Joe’s resume from top to bottom.
Contact Information & Header
Any resume must begin with your contact information, so a hiring manager knows how to reach you. At LEG, we suggest following that with a resume title, which should be the exact position you are applying to, along with a few key skills.
As you can see, my client is applying for a position titled “Cloud Infrastructure & Solutions Architect” and I have listed three of his top skills just underneath that title.
Summary of Qualifications
When I began working on this IT resume, the first thing I focused on was the summary. My client already had a summary on his old resume, but I wanted to ensure that I aligned his skills and experiences with the job description for the role he was applying to, while creating a detailed and impactful outline of his experiences and skills.
It is extremely important to have this section clearly and concisely describe your attributes and skills, as this is one of the first things that a recruiter or hiring manager sees when reviewing a resume. Remember: the first person who reads an IT resume may not have a background in IT. I needed to make sure that this summary was written in a way that someone with or without an IT background would understand.
The first sentence should provide:
Descriptive Word + Job Title + Years of Experience + Key Area of Expertise (remembering to align it with the job description).
This should be followed by two more bullet points that follow a similar structure and highlight your skills and experience that are relevant or transferable to the position you are applying for.
As you can see, for this opening sentence, I outlined his job titles with a descriptor, years of experience, and expertise, utilizing information from the job description:
- Innovative engineer and systems architect with 15+ years of experience in leading the design, development, and deployment of business systems and technologies.
Anyone who reads that opening sentence will know exactly what the applicant’s experience is and how they can help an organization.
Skills/Areas of Expertise
This section is a great place to include keywords from the job description. As you review the job description, see what skills they are looking for or mentioning. If you have those skills, be sure to include them on your resume!
For IT roles, it is important to highlight not only technical skills, but also operational and leadership skills. My client’s old resume only highlighted his technical skills (and he had over 50 of them listed, many of them specific to the company he was working for at the time). I needed to streamline his list.
Remember: you don’t have to list every skill you have. You should tailor it to what the job requirements are. For example, my client had listed Cybervortex-specific systems on his original resume. If he was applying for an internal role, those should be included. But externally, he needed to focus on more industry-recognized systems, plus any that were specifically mentioned in the job description or used by the organization he was applying to.
It’s also great practice to separate skills into categories. As you can see in this IT resume example, I began with “Technical” since he is in the IT industry, followed by “Operations” since many of the jobs he was looking at needed someone who could manage programs and understand business operations. I finished it with “Leadership” to showcase his skills in overseeing staff, conducting trainings, and improving processes.
If you are looking for roles that are more leadership-specific, then you can easily switch the order of the categories, or even create a more specific one that aligns directly with a role you are going for.
Professional Experience
When it comes to professional experience, it’s important to remember that your resume shouldn’t just show your past job responsibilities. It should show what you did to help the business, project, or program grow or succeed and showcase quantifiable measurements and/or achievements.
In IT, as well as other industries, it is important to mention things like project budgets, plans, outcomes, partnerships, leadership, etc. I wanted to highlight some of my client’s accomplishments and projects throughout his career and show how his experiences directly aligned with the job descriptions he was looking at.
For example, I used some of his experiences from Cybervortex to highlight multiple areas that companies are focusing on in their job descriptions:
Example 1
Key skills: Leadership/management | project budget/size/scope | client size | collaboration
- Manage seven technical consultants for a long-term $100M+ staff augmentation project for a top-10 U.S. department store; act as intermediary between sales, project management, and services; report directly to executive leadership
Example 2
Key skills: Technology solutions | global collaboration (important because he was looking at several global tech companies)
- Developed and implemented global methodologies for unified computer platform solutions and created a scalable training program for technical staff throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and the U.S.
Remember: really pay attention to what the job is looking for and focus on your experiences and achievements that align with those.
Want to go further with your bullet points? Check out these blog posts:
Take Resume Bullet Points from Boring to Bold in 4 Steps
The Numbers Game: How to Quantify Achievements on Your Resume (Even Without Dollar Signs)
Trainings & Certifications/Education:
It is important to show any continuing training or education in your field, especially IT where things are ever-changing. This was why I highlighted Joe’s certifications and trainings.
This was also important because he was specifically looking at roles at the companies who awarded him those certifications.
He did have a Cybervortex-specific certification that I left off of his resume, since he was not making an internal move. Again, if he was making an internal move, I would have included that.
If you are looking for a job at a specific software tech company or know the systems that an organization uses, it is a great idea to have some trainings or certifications that align with those.
List any degrees you have received in your Education section. If you are currently pursuing an advanced degree in IT, it’s great practice to add any relevant courses you have taken, as I did with my client.
As you prepare for your IT job search, use this example to create a quality resume that highlights your amazing skills, experiences, and accomplishments, remembering to align it with the job you are applying to.
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