Career Advice: What to keep on a resume

I have been reworking my rsum and think it’s too long, but I hate to cut out any of my experience. I have been in the IT industry for over 30 years. What approach should I take? While you don’t want to sell yourself short in terms of your accomplishments and experiences, take your audience into consideration. Who are they? What are they looking for? Which of your accomplishments most distinguish you from others? Will hiring managers understand what you’re saying? Will they even be interested in what you’re saying? In other words, rather than focusing on the overall length, make sure that what you say presents you in a way that your audience will understand and appreciate.

As a manager, what are the qualities you value most in your employees? I’m not necessarily talking about tech skills. While having great tech skills are important and sometimes even a rare commodity, I also value people who can bring their tech skills and work well in a team environment, have an interest in, and even a thirst for, the business, and the tenacity to deliver and be accountable to achieve results. There are very few circumstances when an individual can get a job done alone. The problems we need to solve and the opportunities we need to address as technology professionals require us to collaborate. And we collaborate with a purpose in solving something to move a business forward. Something else to think about: Too often, IT is known for never-ending projects. IT professionals and teams that are known to get the job done will garner the praises of the business.

In the course of your career, what do you wish you hadn’t done? Not to be a Pollyanna, but when I look back at my career, I can’t say that I wish I hadn’t done one thing or another. Sure, I have run into problems and have made my share of mistakes, but I don’t wish they hadn’t happened. At the time I might have felt differently, but in retrospect all of my experiences, including the mistakes, have added to my current capabilities and knowledge.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now