Technical Skills Resume Writing Tips

Technical Skills Resume Writing Tips How to show tech skills on your IT resumeFeature your tech skills on your resume so you stand out. Employers often screen candidates based on their technical skills, so technology job seekers naturally want to make koranvers they present their skills properly. As a result, creating the skills section of a technology resume section can be a challenge.So what are technical skills, exactly? Technical skills, as listed on a resume, includeprogramming languages, tools and operating systems you have a high level of experience using either through employment or otherwise.Typical resume issues technology professionals wrestle with includeWhether to list skills alphabetically or in order of importance.Whether to include every skilland how muchdetail to provide.How to differentiate between expert knowledge of a technology with passing familiarity.Dont exaggerateOne recruiters advice is simple Dont obsess over the skills section of your resume to the point of embellishment. In adding a skills section to their resume, a lot of people have a tendency to exaggerate their level of expertise in various technologies, says Scott Hajer, senior corporate recruiter for Software Architects. They figure the more keywords, the more exposure.Such tactics are likely to backfire, especially during a technology job interview. We had a candidate who had a big grid on his resume, listing all the skills he had and rating himself on a scale of oneto 5 in them, says Hajer. One of the skills was J2EE, with a 3 (for average ability) tagged to it. When asked to talk about J2EE, he could elend even define the term, much less talk about his experience in it, he says.Some employers provide questionnaires asking candidates to rate themselves on particular technology skills, but they dont expect such ratings in a resumes skills section. Keep things simple. Denote each technology skill with the number of years ofexperience, orif youre intent on includi ng a rating, use rankings like novice, intermediate, and expert.Skills and their usesThe skills section should be buttressed with job descriptions detailing how those skills have been used in the workplace. For example, a resume listing Java, Oracle and UML in the skills section should describe how each technology was employed on a particular project. Those details provide employers with genuine insight into the depth of a persons knowledge and experience with those technologies.Stay relevantConsider these tipsDelete outdated skills or those with no relevance to the job youre pursuing.Separate technology skills into familiar categories such as operating systems, networks and programming tools.List skills in the order of their relevance to your objective, rather than alphabetically.If youve only read about it in Computerworld or on News.com, dont include it.Resume organizationTechnology job candidates may want to place the skills section after the job objective and before the experie nce section. But there are exceptions. If youre just starting out, you may want to place a greater emphasis on education and internships. If youre seeking management or sales positions, you may want to avoid crowding the resume with a list of technical skills. Instead, consider placing the list below the experience section or adding other elements, such as communication abilities and foreign languages, to the skills section.Here are examples of one job seekers technical skills sectionParagraph formatthe most commonTechnical SkillsLanguages Java, XML, C, C++, JavaScript, SQL, hypertext markup language, UML.ToolsJBuilder, Dreamweaver, Rational Rose, UltraEdit, Borland C++Builder, Oracle SQL*Plus.Operating systems Windows XP, Linux, Mac OS X.List formatgives employers a quick overviewTechnical SkillsLanguagesToolsOperating systemsJavaXMLCC++JavaScriptSQLHTMLUMLJBuilderDreamweaverRational RoseUltraEditBorland C++BuilderOracle SQL* PlusWindows XPLinuxMac OS XList format with years of exp erience and skill levelmore detailAn alternative is to denote only the years of experience.Technical SkillsLanguagesYears experienceSkill levelJavaXMLCC++JavaScriptSQLHTMLUML63646462ExpertIntermediateExpertIntermediateExpertIntermediateIntermediateNoviceTest yourresumeFiguring out the right way to present your computer skills on your resume is the first step in your job search. Now you need to make sure what you wrote is enough to get a hiring managers attention. Would you like some help with that?Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts atMonsters Resume Writing Service. Youll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review ofyour resumes appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiters first impression. Think of it as QA testing for your job search.