The Gun Counter

Hi gang,

I was laid off back in November. Here it is January and I have had only one job interview. Unfortunately I just found out that I didn't get the job I interviewed for. Needless to say this is not good. So I figure maybe someone on the forum might have some pointers for my resume, or know someone who needs someone with my skills. I am posting an internet sanitized version of my resume.

Thanks

Moose42

Sorry Moose. I can't help.

Apply for a job with the Border patrol?

You do speak Spanish. The FBI is also looking for linguists.

Sorry to hear that. It sucks, bigtime. I'm afraid I can't help, either, but I hope something comes along for you.

Some tips...

* Make it a full-time job to FIND a full-time job - get up every AM, shower, dress and get busy
* Beat up all the job-search sites
* Beat the bushes. Go door-to-door. You never know who might know a guy who knows a guy...
* Apply for everything for which you're remotely qualified. You never know...

I once spent $300 to have a pro go over my resume. The difference in responses was amazing. Nothing "wrong" with what I had, but her version really made the difference.

HTH!!

DD

I feel your pain because I'm in the same boat.

What DD said, especially:

Beat up all the job-search sites

Job before the one I have I got because I spammed my resume on all the job sites. I got called for a job that was not being advertised because the recruiter found my resume on Monster.com. The only jobs that company was publicly advertising at that time were entry level for almost $10k a year less than the position I got.

The job I have I got notified to apply for because I signed up on their website and got e-mail notifications.

I'm still getting e-mails and calls for jobs I did not go looking for. (NOW of course. Where in the hell were you guys when I was unemployed!). (Oh and the latest ones were for southwest Ohio, and temp contract positions, I can send you info if you wish, but doesn't seem ideal for your situation).

Just a quick look at your resume. You've got a lot of the good "what you did", but not so much of the results. The big question you need to answer with each bit of information is "so what? Why is that important?" Don't assume your audience is going to know it. Especially not the HR types who will be the first filter you have to pass through.

For example: (Italics my suggestion examples)

Handled in-house repair on multiple systems, saving the company $X,000.00 a year in service calls.

Helped users recover data from failed drives, saving hundreds of man hours and thousands of dollars that would have been needed to re-develop mission critical data.

Assisted fellow agents with technical questions, improving their productivity, building their skills, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Ditto what Randy said. You are trying to sell yourself to a new employer. You have to make yourself stand out from all the other IT professionals looking for work. Start with your qualifications, list the work areas that you are experienced in, show detailed results how YOUR work improved either the companies productivity or saved the company money. Finish with your future goals (ie. schools, further qualifications, etc) and how you are going to continually improve your abilities to support a company.

Also, do not overlook the importance of outside activities. Associations, fraternal orders, community involvement, volunteer service. List them all, use whole sentences as much as possible, show that it means more to you than just a punch on a ticket.

Good luck.

Especially don't overlook professional organizations since many of them can also provide networking links to people you might be able to apply with who aren't advertising.

Are you a member of AITP? At least in San Diego, they have monthly meetings and there are frequently people there scouting for qualified job hunters.

In San Diego, our next chapter meeting is:

Architecture from Solution to Enterprise
A necessary evil or effective best practices?
Paul Preiss, President & Founder of IASA
February 11, 2009

IT Architecture is quickly becoming the differentiating factor in providing faster time to market, lower overall IT costs and greater business flexibility. As organizations try to align the business need with IT delivery and create sustainable solutions--IT architecture is becoming an accepted best practice. Paul's presentation will be followed by a panel of San Diego senior architecture practitioners.

Location & Time
Bridgepoint Education 4th floor
13500 Evening Creek Drive North, San Diego, CA 92128

5:00 pm - Networking Social
6:00 pm - Presentation & Panel
7:00 pm - Adjourn

Seating Is Limited--Please Register Online Now!.
Meeting RSVP messages should be sent to: Email RSVP

You can usually attend the meetings as a guest, but you have to pay a little more - but it's also a GOOD way to get your face known and spread your resume around behind the HR gate-keepers. If you go and are looking for work, dress as you would for a job interview, because many companies use these meetings to recruit from and have been known to do on-the-spot interviews at the meetings where you might get hired.

Frequently, the IT people are just as hamstrung as the applicants by the hiring process and use things like these to get around some of the barriers.