In the professional world, resumes are key to finding a job. Whether it’s your first job or you’re advancing to a higher position, a good resume is paramount. This is especially true when you are writing a resume for an IT or cyber-related position. This month at Aspis, we are taking a wider look at resumes as a whole. This will be the third new blog with more IT resume tips. We have covered what you should add to your resume, top mistakes people make when writing an IT-specific resume, and today we will cover how to make your IT resume stand out. Now is a great time to be hunting for a job. Many companies, Aspis included, are hiring. Our goal is that this blog, and the other resume blogs that we have released, will help you improve your resume and find your dream job.
This blog is all about sanding out. Your IT resume should represent you. Are you boring, plain, and no different than everyone else? Yes? Then this blog isn’t for you. If you want your resume to blend in and be indistinguishable from everyone else’s, you have come to the wrong place. Oh, you’re still here? Good. That means that you want to stand out. There are right ways and wrong ways to go about standing out. In this blog, we’re going to go over how NOT to stand out and how to properly stand out in today’s competitive job market. We recommend having a copy of your resume handy to look over while reading this article.
How NOT to Stand Out
Resumes tend to all look the same. A logical idea for making them stand out might be to make yours look different. 10 years ago, a good tip might have been to print your resume on very nice, high-quality paper. This would make you seem more professional and help you to stand out. However, nowadays many resumes are submitted electronically. How do you stand out in an electronic world? Well, you could still focus on looks to make your resume visually different than other applicants. While this is true, you must be very careful. It is easy to overdo this. Some people may add color. others may add graphics. lastly, some may even include a photo of themselves on their resume.
Doing things like this on a resume may be appealing to some hiring managers. BUT, and its’ a big but. Some hiring manager may be turned off by this. Unless you know the personality of the hiring manager or the personality of the position you are applying for, I would tread lightly. However, my intention is not to be entirely pessimistic. Creative resumes have been used with great success in the past.
Take this resume for a role at Spotify for example https://www.campaignlive.com/article/love-this-spotify-responds-college-students-viral-spotify-themed-resume/1709360 Obviously, this cannot be done for every job in the world, but this person took creative liberties for a resume that was being submitted at a relatively new and young company. It paid off. If you’ve made it this far, I would encourage you to just trust your gut.
How to PROPERLY Stand Out
When I sat down to chat with Jeff Wagner, the founder, and CEO of Aspis, he mentioned an interesting phenomenon to me. He would often see IT resumes that looked eerily similar to each other. Of course, the names and job titles would be different, but the descriptions read almost the same. In the eyes of a hiring manager, this is a red flag. You don’t stand out. You literally look like everyone else.
Lucky for you, you read our previous two IT resume tips blogs (found here: Things you need to add when writing an IT resume and here: top mistakes you need to avoid when writing an IT resume) so you know how to write a good description. The only thing you are missing is the final tip: Write about your achievements. It is great to talk about the duties you performed on the job, but that’s what everyone else is doing too. You need to spice it up with accomplishments. Prove that you aren’t everyone else. You’re you! You not only do the tasks, but you achieve success for your business. This will set you apart from the field. How do you talk about these achievements? You just follow the advice of the previous two blogs. Use the same sentence structure. Format it the same. But show that you’re different.
All around, this series of resume-themed blogs are going to help you a ton. We’ve gone over what to add, mistakes to avoid, and finally how to stand out. You are well on your way to creating a rock-solid resume. Of course, a resume should be ever-changing. Always being updated. Refined. Improved. After you have learned all that you can from our blog series, hop on the internet and find some more IT Resume tips. have more questions on how to make your IT resume stand out? reach out to us at info@aspis.us and we can happily give you some tips.
There will always be more to learn. Who knows… maybe you could send your killer resume over to us at Aspis. We have plenty of open positions! to learn more about our offerings make sure to check out our careers page here: Aspis Careers
Who is Aspis Consulting?
Aspis is a cybersecurity and administrative service firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Starting in 2019 with a goal of democratizing cybersecurity, Aspis believes that all businesses deserve to feel safe from cyber threats. Because of that we took our government-level services and offer them to small businesses for a price they can afford. With additional branches in Duluth, Minnesota, and Washington DC Aspis has grown to become a national brand and has helped countless businesses with their cybersecurity needs. Our team offers a full suite of services including Darkweb Monitoring Solutions, Cybersecurity Management Consulting, and Cybersecurity Consulting to both our commercial and government clients. Our organization has been featured in countless publications including Forbes, IBM, and the US Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Aspis is proudly HUBZone certified and a national LGBT Business Enterprise.
To learn more on how Aspis can help you with your cybersecurity or administrative needs check out our website. Also, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We post things to stay up to do on cybersecurity news, company updates, and need-to-know tips.
Our other blogs like “How to Make Your IT Resume Stand Out”
Thank you for reading How to Make Your IT Resume Stand Out. Additionally, check out some of our other resume blogs here:
