What your resume is for
A resume rarely gets you a job by itself. Its purpose is to earn a conversation. Someone, sometimes a recruiter with only a short time per application, decides quickly whether you look relevant. Software may also sort or search applications, so clear, plain text matters. A good IT resume makes it easy to see what you can do, what you have done and why it might help the employer.
Keep the layout simple
- One to two pages. One is usually enough early in your career. Two is reasonable with many years of relevant experience.
- Standard sections. A short summary, skills, experience, projects, education and any relevant credentials. Familiar headings are easier for people and software to read.
- Plain formatting. Avoid tables, text boxes, icons, photos and multi-column designs that may not read correctly in applicant systems. A single column with clear headings is safe.
- Readable fonts and spacing. Use a common font, a sensible size and consistent formatting.
- Reverse chronological order. Put the most recent role first.
- A sensible file format. Follow the instructions in the listing. If there are none, a PDF or a word-processing file is typically acceptable.
Open with a brief summary
Two or three lines at the top can state who you are and what you want, for example your target role, your main area of strength and one or two relevant facts. Avoid vague claims like “hard-working team player”. Specifics work better: “Support technician with two years of experience resolving user issues and documenting fixes, moving toward systems administration.”
Present skills honestly and usefully
A skills section helps scanning, but long lists of every tool you have touched read as padding. Group them in categories, such as operating systems, networking, scripting, databases and tools, and include only what you could discuss in an interview. If you list something, expect questions about it.
Tailor the list to the role. If a listing emphasizes cloud computing basics or scripting and you have that experience, make sure the matching wording is visible, using the same terms the employer does where they truthfully describe your skills.
Turn duties into results
The most common weakness in technical resumes is a list of responsibilities: “Responsible for resolving tickets.” Better bullets show what you did and what changed.
A useful pattern is: action, what you worked on, outcome.
- Weak: “Handled user support requests.”
- Stronger: “Resolved user hardware and software issues, documenting recurring problems in the knowledge base so colleagues could fix them faster.”
Quantify only where you have real figures and can explain them. If you reduced something, you should be able to say roughly by how much and how you know. If you lack exact numbers, describe the scope instead: the kind of environment, the number of users supported roughly, or the type of problem. Invented or inflated figures tend to come apart in interviews.
Good verbs include built, configured, automated, documented, migrated, resolved, trained and coordinated. Avoid vague ones like “helped” or “assisted” unless the context is clear.
Show projects, especially early in your career
If you have limited work history, projects can carry a lot of weight. Include a few that are relevant, with a line or two on each:
- what you built or set up and why
- the technologies or approach used, in general terms
- what you learned or what it achieved
Examples include a home lab environment, a script that automated a chore, a small database and report, or documentation you wrote for a community group. Link to code or write-ups if you have them and are comfortable sharing, and keep them tidy. A home lab described clearly can demonstrate initiative, and version control history shows how you work.
Include non-IT experience wisely
Previous jobs outside IT still show reliability, customer service, teamwork and responsibility. Keep them short and emphasize transferable parts: handling difficult customers, working under pressure, training others or managing records. Skip details that do not support your target role.
Education and credentials
List degrees, courses and credentials with the issuer and date. Early in your career, put education higher; later, move it below experience. Any IT certification should be listed accurately, with no overstatement, such as saying “certified” when you have only studied for it.
Wording tips
- Use plain language and short bullets, usually a few per role.
- Be consistent in tense and punctuation: past tense for finished work, present tense for the current role.
- Spell out acronyms once if they are not universally known.
- Avoid first-person pronouns and cliché phrases.
- Proofread carefully, and have someone else read it. Typos in a technical resume suggest carelessness with detail.
- Keep a master version with everything, then trim a copy for each application.
Check it before you send
Ask yourself:
- Does the first third of the page show why I fit this role?
- Is every claim something I could explain or demonstrate?
- Could a non-technical recruiter understand the main points? Good technical communication applies on paper too.
- Are my contact details correct and professional?
- Does it match the listing’s key requirements, where true?
A strong resume goes hand in hand with interview preparation, since everything on the page invites a question. Write each line so that you would be happy to talk about it for several minutes.