Mark Barrineau ⋅ Fairfax, VA SynergisTech ⋅ 18 years experience

I'd be happy to take a look at your resume. If you don't have a whole lot of applicable work experience, you should focus your resume on your technical skills and education.

Ali Hoban ⋅ New York, NY AOL ⋅ 5 years experience

Hi Ben,

Unfortunately, at the moment, the private messaging feature does not support attachments. We are in the process of redesigning the site and this feature should be added this summer. In the meantime, many users share their email addresses through the private messaging feature and exchange attachments this way. We know this is an extra step, but we should have the feature updated soon.

Good luck,
Ali Hoban, ACP AdvisorNet Staff

Ben Sneyd ⋅ Fuquay Varina, NC U.S. Air Force, Technical Sergeant ⋅ 16 years served

Greetings Everyone,

Does anyone know how to send attachments using ACP's private message feature? I have been trying to respond to everyone that offered to help, but my attempts were met with disappointment. I am only able to send links/maps to my Google Drive. So, if you have any suggestions, I am open. If not, I can send everything direct.

Thank you again for all of the assistance!

Cheers,
Ben

Corey Ehrenwerth ⋅ North Granby, CT AdvizeX ⋅ 16 years experience

Ben,

Thank you for your service. I would tend to say "less is more" when it comes to resumes. I make sure my resume is never more than two pages personally. I treat resumes as door openers not autobiographies. Look at each bullet point in your resume and ask yourself why is this important to the job I am applying for. If you have several pages of relevant experience then great, if not better to keep it concise. Keep in mind that leadership experience is always relevant.

Do you know what aspect of IT you want to pursue? I checked your LinkedIN page and it looks like you have a ton of project management experience. Have you considered pursuing PMP (http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx)? Lots of great jobs out there for IT Project Managers that often lead to careers in IT leadership. Would also be happy to review your resume or answer any other questions.

Tom Arnaiz, CISA, CISSP ⋅ Richmond, VA IBM ⋅ 12 years experience

Hi Ben,
Honestly, it will depend on your the job that you are seeking and the experience and what you are trying to portray. For example, if you are looking for a job that requires a handful of skills then you may be in great shape with a one page resume. I think of my friend who is looking to be a police officer, his focus has been to create a two page resume that focuses on his security experience, his shooting abilities etc., but also accounts for 10+ years of working experience that the departments require. Basically, a very targeted resume.

Sometimes, it is also a matter of tailoring your resume to a specific industry. My friend who is seeking to be a police officer, he has a "law enforcement" resume that focuses on those skill sets (2 pages), but he also was a car salesman so he has an "automotive" resume for that industry (1 page). Each document has different areas of focus highlighted, different mission statements, and different levels of detail (car/automotive being a one pager).

However, if you are seeking a job as a systems consultant and the hiring party is looking to understand your specific technical experience, you would want to have a multitude of client experiences documented as well as the technical aspect of what you performed. This is because the person hiring is looking for a specific key word or a specific skill set. I have seen some of these resumes to be 8-10 pages long!

So, you will hear contradictory responses for the question because the answer may vary based on the industry and position being sought.

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would be glad to help you in any way, be it further discussion, or resume review.

Ben Sneyd ⋅ Fuquay Varina, NC U.S. Air Force, Technical Sergeant ⋅ 16 years served

Again, thank you for all of the responses!

I appreciate any assistance offered. In fact, I sat with an counselor on-base today for nearly two hours. She was extremely helpful and inked up my resume. I am going to try and have a "master" copy revised by the end of the week.

Could anyone tell me if it is really acceptable to do a "one page only" resume? I feel like she may have been right, but I have no civilian experience to support. We live in a world where the one thing that everyone lacks is time. So, I am understanding of the the fact that if you don't have the reviewers attention in the first few lines, they are not going to bother with the rest. I just don't want to short myself.

It seems like every time I have what I think is a finished product, someone tells me I am doing it all wrong and contradicts everything I was just told.

Thanks again!

Deb Greene ⋅ Reading, PA IBM ⋅ 20 years experience

Thank you for your service Ben. I am a Managing Consultant in Technology at IBM and would be honored to critique your resume. Please also send a sample cover letter.

Tom Arnaiz, CISA, CISSP ⋅ Richmond, VA IBM ⋅ 12 years experience

There are many companies that give veterans priority status. If you would like resume assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I would agree that focusing your resume on educational and technical skills is ideal. May I ask, have you determined what specific kind of work you would like to do within IT? (e.g. consulting vs technical vs code development) It may be a matter of taking your ideal job and refocusing your resume on the key words and skills that your "dream job" is looking for. Also, I learned through my first job, that my ideal position was in a company that I never even considered - and I ended up working there for 8 years! I would be happy to help with your resume and speak with you more. Please feel free to reach out to me.

Douglas Lavelle ⋅ Chatham, NJ Financial Services ⋅ 24 years experience

Thank you for your service. I took a look at you linkedin. It is impressive. I would streamline your summary section into crisp bullet form. Think of direct answers to Who are you? What are you looking for? Why you? I think that may make your profile jump out more. Photos also increase your hit rate on linkedin? Perhaps you could follow some key IT companies. It is not my specific field, but I am sure there must be networking groups for IT professionals on linkedin as well. I hope this provides some help.

Dr. Scena Webb ⋅ Auburn, WA Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) ⋅ 15 years experience

Hi Ben,

I have a few friends who are in the IT business and are veterans. If you send me your resume, I will gladly forward it and call in a few favors. I don't know enough about that area but they sure do!

Scena

Ben Sneyd ⋅ Fuquay Varina, NC U.S. Air Force, Technical Sergeant ⋅ 16 years served

Guy,

I would be forever grateful. I have found that the translation portion of my transition is far more difficult than I could have imagined.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Ben

Guy Graves ⋅ San Antonio, TX GEO Group, Inc. ⋅ 15 years experience

I am aware of a great small business in San Antonio, TX that is closely associated with Rackspace (former employees there) They are approachable and I believe I could get one of them to speak with you about skills presentation and testing. Guy Graves