Video:Tips for Adding Tech Certifications to Your Resume

Transcript:Tips for Adding Tech Certifications to Your Resume

Hi I'm IT Career Counselor Christine Jorgenson, for About.com and today I'm going to be talking about prepping your tech resume.

Your Resume is Your First Impression

Prepping your resume so it is professional and easy to read is the foundation to obtaining a job in your field. This is the first impression you give to an employer so you want to make sure that your resume stands out, and best displays the skills you have.

Tech Resume Formats Differ from Traditional Resumes

Tech resume formats are slightly different from standard formats due to the different skills involved in obtaining a tech job. A variety of skills and certifications are very important in the tech field, and need to be highlighted to separate you from other candidates.

In the tech field, listing your certifications goes very close to the top of the resume since you want potential employers to see how qualified you are. You also want to format your resume differently depending on if you are a recent grad or an IT veteran.

Resume Format for Recent Grads

If you are a recent grad, you want to start your resume with a short summary about you and your objective. Next, you want to list any tech skills and certifications you may have. This is extremely important because tech skills are a premium, and you want to highlight these the best you can. The skills will come before the certifications.

For skills list any relevant ones such as Microsoft Office and HTML. Next list any certifications such as CompTIA A+ or MCP. Abbreviations are fine for certifications, as your potential employer will immediately know where they are from. Make sure that the information is formatted nicely so it is easy to read. Bullet points are great for this.

Resume Format for IT Veterans

If you are a season IT vet the format can be slightly different. You still want to start with a short summary about who you are and your objective. Next, list your technical competencies and certifications followed by your work experience.

Since you may have a lot of different skills and certifications, make sure to format using bullet points. You want your potential employer to notice all of your accolades so make sure they are prioritized. List the most important ones first. If you have less than two certifications, you can include them in the education section of your resume. While it is important to have certifications at the top, you don't want it to look like you don't have that many. Hopefully this video will help you when you add tech certifications to your resume.

Thanks for watching. If you'd like to learn more please visit us on the web at About.com.