The Most Succesful IT Resume Format

 By Rob Hubert

Can you look at my resume and provide me with some feedback? I get asked this question several times per week. I have found a format preference that has worked very well for my candidates and I'll be happy to provide that for you here. But more importantly job seekers spend too much time perfecting their resumes and not making contact with potential employers. The "Resume Rule of 5" states that if you ask 5 people for advice on our resume you'll get 6 or more opinions. Your resume is only a tool to assist you in attaining in-person interviews.

The bottom line is, finish your resume to your satisfaction and move on. If you keep tweaking it, you’re missing out on opportunities to meet with potential employers. You only need one version of your resume and you may need to occasionally add information or re-sequence information for specific jobs that you are applying for. The format that I use is referred to as a "Results Oriented Resume". This format follows the "3 and 30 Rule" which states you have 3 seconds to get the resume readers attention and then you get an additional 30 seconds of their time.

Here's the format that I have used to help hundreds of people get the results that they want.

Section 1 - Professional Summary
In this section you will create 4-5 bullet points that describe who you are using bold statements and a supporting sentence to backup the bold statement.

Format: Bold Statement; Sentence that supports the bold statement.

Example: Strong background in Project Management; Experience in project planning, requirements analysis, functional and technical design, testing and implementation

Section 2 - Key Accomplishments
In this section you will highlight 3-4 of the main accomplishments that you are most proud of in your career where your employer or customer has benefited. The key to making a results oriented accomplishment is to quantify it with a dollar value or a percentage of savings or increase. Always use the transitional phrase "which resulted in".

Format: Stated accomplishment described in a full sentence, which resulted in (quantify the result with a number that reflects savings or increase, if you can't quantify it, then use a positive words like "increased" to demonstrate your results)

Example: Successfully automated medical authorizations entry through a voice response system, which resulted in a staff savings of $140,000

Section 3 - Skills Summary
The skills summary is a table that lists your most relevant technical skills along with the number of years experience in that technology and the proficiency level you have attained.

Format: Skills - Rating - Years of Experience

Example:  J2EE - Expert - 7 Years

Add a new row to the table for each marketable skill. If you want a copy of our skills summary form to help you determine your skills, email me (rob.hubert@eliteitservices.com), with the subject line: Skills Sample

Section 4 - Professional Experience
List your jobs in reverse chronological order (latest to oldest), include titles, company names, employment dates, responsibilities and additional achievements as bullet items

Section 5 - Education
List schools attended, degree attained and year degree was attained.

If you would like a sample resume using this format, send me an email (rob.hubert@eliteitservices.com) with the subject - Sample Resume Request and I'll send them to you.

If you use this approach and you don't get the results that you desire, contact me and I'll do my best to help you.