Graduate Support
This page will soon be updated with great I.T. C.V Samples, Tips, Interview Overviews, and Other information regarding life after graduation.
Please remember to keep Steven Castle, up-to-date with applications, interviews and secured jobs, by emailing steven.castle@ames.ac.nz
C.V Tips and Tricks
Most students and graduates will have some form of general C.V.
Most will look like this........ Joe Bloggs General CV
Generally this will start with some personal details and a very broad statement including your personal summary highlighting attributes such as Resourceful, Quick Learner, Hard Worker and Ability to work in a team.....
Following this would possible be an outline of every job you've ever had, with a paragraph of block text or block bullet points, outlining the daily duties and tasks.
After a number of different jobs with details, naturally you would cover every piece of education and certification you've received in detail.
And to finish it off you put "References available on request"
Done!....or so you think....
Is that really enough?
How much does the C.V above tell a potential employer about you..?
Well, it really does depend on which type of employer is reading it and what they are looking for.
If it was a Bakery Employer, it might just slip in with enough vague details regarding the skills Bakery Staff may need - maybe.
If it was an Helpdesk Employer, this type of general C.V would be skipped over in 2 seconds and a quick..
"Sorry a candidate that better matches this position has been employed, thank you for your application"
So what is needed?
To understand this we must first understand the process an application from the employer listing a job, through to them being interested enough to call you and/or interview you.
Depending on the type and size of the company the steps below may be separate or combined, and there may be two to three people involved if its a larger company compared to a small owner/operator type company.
First comes NEED:
This initial need to hire would come from a team leader who needs extra staff to meet continue to meet targets or to simply replace staff that have moved on from the company.
In smaller businesses it is usually the owner/director/CEO that decides to expand and take on addition staff to cover new customers.
The JOB DESCRIPTION:
The team leader consults with the Human Resource Manager commonly referred to as just HR.
The HR Manager in most cases will have come from a Communication/Marketing, Business or Psychology background and as such may have little technical understand of the inner-workings of the company - especially if it's very technical such as I.T.
As such, technical skills and technologies that are needed for the position normally come from the Team Leader and then HR would add on top, the general business aspects such as Communication, Teamwork etc.
What HR look for in a C.V?
Your application will go to the HR Manager who will scan your C.V. quickly (due to the large number of applications it is just impossible to read every C.V. word for word) looking for the technical skills and keywords given to them by the Team Leader.
When they find a word or skill that matches either the Team Leaders technical list or a general business skill, they tick it and keep scanning.
Those with enough ticks will be short listed - those without will be declined.
The problem with most C.V's.
eg..
An HR Manger (who would not normally be technically minded) is asked to create and advertise a Helpdesk Job, and the Team Leader gives HR a list of key skills such as...
- Knowledge of Active Directory and simple exchange mailbox setup
- Remote desktop support skills an advantage
- Good knowledge of IP Addressing, Subnetting, Lan/Wan's
- Able to setup simple home user routers and troubleshot internet problems
- Able to communicate clearly with customer and resolve problems
- Basic networking skills
Your application, such as the 'General C.V." above, says you've done a Diploma of Systems Administration at AMES, and you've noted your MCITP Certified.
But how does HR know MCITP and CCNA include everything that the team leader listed when they know very little about I.T.?
A tick for communication, as its mentioned as a paper from your Psychology Degree, and possibly a tick for basic networking if they are savvy enough to match it to your Diploma in Systems Administration.
But unfortunately not many more ticks....resulting in your C.V being declined.
If it where a smaller company where the owner had created the company worked hard doing all the work needed and was now moving into hiring other staff to work for them, then they would possibly know what MCITP and CCNA entailed and may have some idea of what the AMES Diploma might cover.
They would hopefully (if they are not scanning too fast) pick up MCITP or CCNA, and move your C.V. directly into the short list.
But lets not take any chances of them missing those small details, or having HR not understand.
Short but detailed explanation is required to ensure the keywords are covered and have a better chance at being picked up by the reader (whether a small or larger company).
The I.T. C.V.
Joe Bloggs General CV Vs. Joe Bloggs IT CV
Quiet different...yes?
There are a number of major differences to change a general type C.V into a good I.T. C.V including:
Removal of the Cover Page
A wasted page with nothing other than your name. This will quickly be flipped over and forgotten.
A bold page title before your personal details is more than enough to replace this.
Shortened Personal Statement
Be honest...did you actually read the entire personal statement from the general C.V?
If you didn't, dont expect to have an employer with 300 C.V's to read such a large block of text - mostly talking above personal attributes that have no validity or evidence to back it up.
A short direct sentence is all that is required.
Inclusion of Technical Strengths and Technical Experience
The first explains the technology you feel skilled and totally comfortable in implementing.
The technical experience is then a great place to put all the other technologies that may be used in the job you are applying for, aswell as any other personal technology experience.
Extensively Detailed Certifications & Education
For most this is all the I.T. you have - so you need to explain it in detail, let the reader understand exactly what you have learnt.
Hopefully most of this will match the skills outlined in the technical requirements that the team leaders give to the HR Managers.
If you have no other I.T. work experience - This is where they will decide to shortlist you - so make it good!
Referees
Have them on your C.V.!
If they like your C.V. they may want to call your referees immediately to confirm the C.V. details - why make it hard for them.
The idea of having employers call you to gain your referees, to personally 'know' they are check you out is simply not going to help - and its certainly not making it as easy as possible for the employer.
The infamous Cover Letter
Use it only when required too. If there is no statement in the job description specifying the inclusion of a Cover Letter, then send through your C.V only.
Your C.V. has all the details that will get you short listed, the cover letter is a long-winded general overview of what your C.V. includes.
In my opinion this fact makes your C.V. far more important to your job success than a Cover Letter, which maybe skipped over because they have no time or motivation to read every applicants 300 word cover letter - rather focusing on the real evidence of skills contained in the C.V.