Posts Tagged ‘Professional Resume’
Three Ways To Jumpstart Your IT Career
We all get stuck in ruts from time to time, and that happens on the job as well. You’ve thought about doing something different with your information technology career, but just haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. Sound familiar?
You can make 2006 the best year yet for your IT career. There are several simple steps you can take to accelerate your career – but you have to take the step, not just think about it!
Learn something new. One of the biggest reasons you get tired of a job is that you’re doing the same thing every day. If you happen to love what you do, that’s great, but if not it’s time to break out of the box. Besides, learning a new skill adds value to your career. If you’ve been doing server work for a long time, take the time to learn some Cisco skills. If you’re an Exchange specialist, learn some Linux skills.
Get certified. Not very many of us get to work for the same company for the rest of our IT careers. The only job security is the security you give yourself, and one of the ways to get that security is to add professional certifications to your resume. Certifications such as the MCSE and CCNA get you noticed and help you stand out from the crowd. Ask yourself what your resume would look like if you were laid off today, and then take steps to improve yourself and your professional standing.
Be prepared to take one step backwards in order to take multiple steps forward. You may be in a situation I was in a while back when my employer saw me as strictly a server guy. I wanted to get on the Cisco side of things, but there was this perception that I was “only a LAN guy”. I had to leave that company to get my shot. There was some short-term financial pain, but in the long run it was the best career move I’ve ever made.
People get typecast in every field. In his book “Often Wrong, Never In Doubt”, Donny Deutsch writes about a job candidate who wanted to become a junior ad executive, but couldn’t break in with his current employer – which was an ad agency! He was typecast in a support role, so he applied to other ad firms and was quickly hired.
Sometimes you have to look outside your current situation in order to create a new situation for yourself. Don’t be afraid to take a step backwards in order to open up new possibilities for yourself. There’s an amazing career out there, waiting for you – if you have the courage to make it and take it.
How to Conduct a Job Search
Conducting a job search is a daunting task, even for seasoned professionals. There are many pieces to the puzzle, and each piece plays its own important role in the process. Knowing the pieces of the process is a crucial element for your success.
While there is no such thing as doing too much, there is a basic guide to follow. It consists of five painless steps that will outline your work ahead. Together, they form the foundation of a job hunt that will yield exceptional results.
1. Put together a great resume.
Before your job search ever begins, you need a resume. The resume is the first contact you will have with a prospective employer. It is an extension of your life and a summary of your accomplishments. It is how a manager will pick you out of hundredspossibly thousands of applicants. It can mean the difference between exciting job interviews and a phone that never rings, between success and failure.
This is a complex task for two pages (maximum) of paper. Thats right, two little pages to talk about your education, job experience, accomplishments and awards, special skills, training, professional experienceaffiliation, and so on. Basically, you need to sum up your life, and make it interesting, in two pages.
There are numerous websites that can help with writing a bullet proof resume. Some offer free information and examples for you to follow, and some will write the resume for you (for a fee of course). Careerbuilder.com is an excellent website for writing and posting your resume.
Professional resume writing, when done by a human resource expert, can give you a significant edge over the competition. You can expect to pay 100 or more for this service, and can be well worth the money. However, before hiring someone to write it for you be sure to check their credentials.
2. Determine the locations you may want to live.
Once you have your resume polished and shiny, its time to think about where you want to live. Determining a location can have a significant impact on your income earning potential. Some jobs are concentrated in certain areas and the pay can be dramatically more than where you live. For example, the vast majority of computer programming jobs in the U.S. are in Silicon Valley, California. Jobs there can pay up to five times more than other parts of the country.
Unfortunately, pay isnt everything. To accurately assess your situation, other factors must come into play. Cost of living, for example, can be dramatically different from one city to another. A 50,000 a year income in Mobile, Alabama is equal to over 122,350 in Manhattan, New York, a 145% increase.
Other factors, such as quality of schools, real estate, environmental quality, quality of life, and proximity to friends and family should also be evaluated. These factors are more difficult to measure than cost of living. Not having your mom to watch the kids can cost you thousands of pounds a year and must be a part of your decision. Write down pros and cons for each factor and take a look at the entire picture.
3. Put Out the Word.
Once you have a resume and decide your desired location, its time to get hustling. The most important place to start, and the most often overlooked place, is your network. Your network is the group of family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances that make up your life. They are the backbone of your search and a great source of information and leads.
The big advantage of your network is that it is compiled with people who already know you. Depending on your relationship, many people in your network will feel a vested interest in your success, and will go out of their way to help. If they come in contact with a potential employer, they can vouch for your character and work ethic on the spot and help you leap to the top of the prospect pool.
4. Look Online
With the advent of the internet, the first place many job seekers look for job listings is now online on the internet. There are more job search websites than you know what to do with and each one is telling you they are the best. The truth is they are.
Monster.com is another excellent job search website. They have great tips, will write your resume and cover letter for, and get you job hunting in minutes.
You can find more by going to Google.com and doing a search for jobs. The key to successfully using these websites is being systematic. Pick a time everyday when you can spend time working online (example: from 2pm to 6pm daily). Start a daily journal and write down what job search sites you visit and the job listings you apply to. This journal will keep you from back tracking and can save you hours of time.
5. Look Offline
Do not overlook the tried and true ways of finding a job. Get the daily newspaper and other classified periodicals to look for listings. Also, get a copy of the Sunday edition from the papers in the locations you are interested in living. Be mindful of signs and conversations everywhere you go, and let new contacts know you are on the hunt.