Technical Resume: How Technical Should My Resume Be?

Technical resumes demand the kind of attention that a full blown software development project would demand. If your aim is to be noticed by managers and land the kind of interview that you are looking for then you must be precise and specific when writing your resume.

Recruiters and HR managers go through hundreds of resumes and undoubtedly throw out many qualified candidates simply because the candidate failed to write a solid resume. You need to assume that your resume will not fall into the hands of a qualified IT manager until several different sets of eyes have perused your resume. Not all of them will know what you do for a living or care.

So what is the secret to a good technical resume?

The secret to a good technical resume lies in the detail. If you are fresh out of school you may not have as many skills as someone with 10 years of experience, nor does your employer expect you to have a long resume. However, if you do have a significant amount of experience you cannot afford to have a one page resume.

Recruiters search online with keywords, if you do not have a specific keyword or technology listed on your resume your resume will never be found. However, even if you list every technology you have ever come across, good recruiters and managers will look for experience with that technology within the body of your resume.

Instead of being very specific in listing all your technologies in the Technical Summary part before your experience, integrate it into the experience showing where you actually used each particular technology. Never assume that whoever sees your resume will know where you used Perl scripts or when you administered an Apache server. Such assumption can cause you to be passed over my HR and recruiters alike.

This bit of advice can potentially be the most relevant advice for a resume I have ever given to a candidate and it's a sure way to get yourself more interviews.

Good Luck!

Gene Leshinsky is a Technical Recruiter currently working for an IT staffing firm. You can visit Gene http://www.resumesalvage.com

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