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How to Build a Strong IT Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your IT resume is the first thing you should get right before you go hunting for a job in IT. Hiring managers have to read through a stack of resumes before finding a suitable candidate for a particular position. So, a few seconds is all you have to catch the eye of the hiring manager. Whether you want to change your career after getting a degree or to search for a new job, use the descriptions below and our resume samples in IT to make your resume different from the rest.

Throughout the recruitment process, employers look for employees with good skills among those who can do the tasks that are beneficial to the organisation. In your search for a job, tailor your resume to underscore your technical skills, experiences, and educational background.

How are IT Resumes Different?

Employers frequently use 'CV' and 'resume' synonymously. Understanding the nuances between these two terms can be a headache. This has made many job seekers doubtful about the resume format to pick, and sometimes, you’ll come across an ‘IT CV template’ and ‘tech resume example’ that are used in similar contexts.

The point is that a resume is a one—or two-page document that includes your education, skills, and work experience. AND a CV is a document written to portray you as a skilled person with all the relevant details about your professional background (usually up to six pages). On the other hand, the classic long-form IT resume, which is more than a few pages long, is no longer worth it in the modern job space.

When a hiring manager or tech employer asks you for a CV in the job requirements, it is just the norm to have the standard resume that usually consists of one- or two pages. Whatever you send them, whether a file called 'CV' or 'resume,' you will not increase your chances of an interview because of it.

The Purpose of Your IT Resume

The first paragraph of your IT resume is to briefly introduce you as a candidate for the chosen position, with the specifics of your skills, experiences, qualifications, and accomplishments. A recruiter or an employer will usually only take a few minutes while initially reading a resume. Therefore, the content that directly answers how you qualify for an interview must be clear and concise.

Creating a Professional IT Resume

The format you select will be the one you use to call attention to your job hunt. Here is how you do the IT resume building:

  1. Professional Experience

In order to start formatting your resume, you will need to bring together all the important details. Make sure to have a take of the job description in front of you as you write your resume. To begin, make a list of all the jobs you have ever had, which contains information about your main responsibilities and how much time you spend working for that company. It is common to struggle with a good memory of long-back experiences of their past jobs if they haven't worked in several years. The fact that you will have all the information in place will enable you to write your resume fast and effectively.

  1. Choose the Format

Take the format that shines the most light on how you would contribute positively to an organisation. A college student or an entrepreneur coming to work again in the field must give preference to a functional resume rather than a combination resume to highlight his earned skills. An executive who is an experienced person with a good work history may prefer to point out the name of their old employers. The resume will likely be the most effective if it is chronological or objective.

  1. Mention Your Contact

Your contact information is definitely essential. Provide your full name, email address, and phone number (if any) along with your website link. Select an email that will be quick to look at and have no doubt about your professional profile. One approach is to put your name first and then use the dot(.) to promote a professional email. This means the employer can easily contact you for an interview. Others will decide not to mention a particular address as their home. This may not sound necessary, but you should leave the phone number with the area code and the email. Leaving out this information is also useful if you are applying for jobs that are at a commuting distance away from you, but you are willing to relocate to get them.

  1. Technical Skills

Your technical abilities are useful because they will show the employer quite clearly how you can carry out some of the important tasks in the company. Along with the experience that appears in the job description, write the transferable skills and other relevant skills. If you have soft skills like communication, management, and problem-solving, use those in your account summary and work experiences. Your technology skills will usually be at the top of the CV after a qualification summary. Make sure to list your biggest capabilities at the top of your resume. This way, a resumé is made more concise and gives the employer an opportunity to extract vital details easily while, at the same time, the resumé is now more likely to be read.

  1. Professional Experience

Firstly, all work history from the last 7-10 years should be included in your IT resume. Mention all the organisations which you have worked for together with the locations and the time they took, starting with the most recent one. Write them in a reverse chronological order of the employers you have had. Indicate the name of each employer, your title, and up to six bulleting items briefly describing your responsibilities and job duties. Please add a list under the heading of your most notable achievements of working with the team. You must write short sentences, but you should clearly describe the roles you were playing and present the achievements you made. Use only the month and year you spent at every organisation for this particular section.

  1. Career Summary

The career summary is a general statement preceding the section representing your professional profile which is relevant to the job you are applying for. This segment will be placed towards the initial part of your resume building as 2-3 sentences that express what special skills, experiences, and education you have. It is the closing paragraph because you can write it as soon as you complete the other sections.

How often should you update your IT resume?

It is always good to keep reviewing your CV, especially in the tech world, where new developments in software, hardware, coding languages, and many others happen so fast that you can become as obsolete as a dinosaur if you ignore the updates. Reviewing your process of resume building and matching it with job descriptions for related roles in the niche industry may highlight skills you need to acquire to get hired for a job you desire.

Even if you are not presently looking for a new job, ensure that you don't miss the opportunities by working on your IT CV and updating it whenever you learn a new skill or achieve something noteworthy at work. It's always more convenient to do it right away after each new experience rather than try to recall what you did weeks or months ago and collect evidence to support it later on.

The Final Word

Are you thinking about going back to school to gain new credentials and expand your opportunities in the IT field? IT Job Board offers online IT degree and certificate programs that can help you take your career to the next level. Our IT courses are 100% online, giving you the flexibility you need while balancing work, education, and family.