Selling Your IT Skills

Selling and highlighting your credentials, particularly in today's market is not easy. There are many candidates that recruiters sort through to find the right fit and there are a lot of 'right fits' out there right now.  Here are some tips in preparing a presentable and marketable resume in today's challenging market. 

• Highlight any technologies utilized in current or previous roles including programming languages, platforms, systems, hardware (HW), software, and tools. (If you have used the newest versions - indicate this)
• Highlight job functions such as systems development, administration, upgrades, configuration, management, and other responsibilities.
• Highlight industries worked in such as banking, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, legal, etc. (Especially highlight any packages or specific applications)
• Show exact dates of employment; do not list 'to present' when you are no longer with an organization.  If you were unemployed, participated in training or enrolled in school, be sure these dates are highlighted on resume. 
• Highlight all industry certifications or training.
• Show employment history in chronological order, starting first with most recent place of employment.
• Contact information should be current and correct.  Include a mobile phone number if applicable and email address.
• Be sure to spell check the resume - there is nothing worse than reading a resume that contains typos.
• Make sure that the font and font size are standard throughout the document.
• Length of resume should be as long as you need to list appropriate information.  You may want to have a short version and a long version that lists details of projects worked.

See more general resume writing tips.