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.