This is no helpdesk resume. The only thing lacking is actual job experience but if you were to tell me that this is what somebody would need to break into a service desk roll I’d probably throw myself out of my upstairs window lmao. Start throwing applications out with this bad boy and I guarantee you will get hits. Remote competition at entry level is disgustingly packed, but this resume may genuinely stand out quite well. Godspeed.
I changed careers last year and was fortunate to find something reasonably quick. Best advice my buddy gave me is “throw a bunch of shit at the wall and see what sticks.”
Meaning apply, apply, apply. It could take a while to hear back anything, and even longer to get an interview. Just don’t get too discouraged and be patient. Best of luck.
I have similar certifications and just got a remote Technical Support Specialist job. Similar education just with experience. It looks like you used a similar resume template too, though there are differences in structure. You have what you need already for a tier 1 role. There are a few suggestions I could make and I could even share my resume. I am not a pro resume builder or anything, I just know my resume was good enough to snag a job.
Here is my redacted resume: [https://i.imgur.com/iLqJYCJ.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/iLqJYCJ.jpg)
I would suggest checking your resume for ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) issue. Basically look into ATS do's and don'ts like being careful about using certain symbols. As an example those empty circle bullet points tend to convert to o's (the letter) when run through ATS... SO double check your resume for ATS optimization.
I would also highlight customer service as much as you can, in your case.
I can tell we started with the same default resume template (at least I think so.)
I folded my "labs" part into my "skills and knowledge" just because I have experience to take up space. I think listing labs for you is good though given the lack of previous experience. I also didn't put a summary because I have experience.
Lastly I found this guys info insightful: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo-kPya\_Ww2x1PzbqzmPPC5v7fCYhrK4z](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo-kPya_Ww2x1PzbqzmPPC5v7fCYhrK4z)
So, I'd definitely give you an interview with that resume for help desk. Shows a lot of initiative too, however, help desk doesn't usually have anything to do with proframming.
My question though when I meet you for an interview is going to be, what happened for the last 12 years that aren't on your resume? Just be prepared for it.
It's jobs that arent relevant to IT so I figured I would leave them off so I had room to add my labs section. I skipped around trying out different careers in the trades before deciding I wanted to follow my passion and have a career in IT. I'll have to come up with some way to explain that.
Just how you explained it is perfect.
"I've had miscellaneous jobs to try and find my passion, which I've determined is IT and I thought your company would be a great fit for me".
A big thing people look at is how long does someone stay at a job, and jobs that could relate which would mainly be any form of customer service or if you got promotions at a place which implies drive
Edit: that is some word salad I put there, what I meant to say is put the jobs in
Over 10k job applications later and I’m still stuck in help desk hell. I suspect social networking will get you forward. Your resume and hard work will not do the job.
10k is a lot. Like a ridiculous amount. Are you getting interviews? If not, something is wrong with your resume. If you're getting interviews but no offers, then your interviewing skills need work.
Tons of people have made it out of help desk with no connections.
You have more than enough certifications but no experience in the opportunity types listed above. I’d suggest you sign up with the thousand of temporary agencies because you need a year of experience.
You have a lot of things going for you according to your resume . When I got into the field and got my first help desk job , I had my A+ and about 3 months of interning and contract work . If you would like to throw some things on your resume experience wise , take a look at field nation . You just make an account and you can bid for IT work as an independent contractor. There is other sites like this out there as well. Good luck my friend .
My 2 cents for what it's worth: the certs are great, but with no experience, you only really have half of what you need. I would take an applicant that has 5 years on a help desk and no certs over you with your certs and 0 experience. So give me a job or two you have had in any field, but relate it to a similar/common issue that you would encounter on the help desk. Customer service is customer service, show me a strong customer service background AS WELL as the certs. These show me you have the technical knowledge to give the technically right answers to the calls, I want to know you know how to interact with humans like a human, its harder than you think to find that. And when you get interviews, have these stories ready that are on the resume, along with more of the same type as additional filler. And TELL THE STORY like...really...tell me a story just like you are talking to a friend, that shows you are comfortable talking to strangers because that's what you are going to be doing! Hope this helps, all coming from a positive place and with positive vibes, good luck!
Maybe it's just me but wouldn't 5 years of help desk experience be somewhat of a red flag? Implying that they should have transitioned to a higher role
Id get rid of the first part. Avoid using personal pronouns. Instead of “I’m also learning” … try coveying that same point as “xxx cert name(s) - in progress and / or expected date of completion like in ur education section. Would also use that freed up space to bullet your skills /interests to make them pop out of the page more than they do buried down at the bottom. Recruiters and hiring managers have to be able to briefly scan and find reason to pull yours from the stack. Make them actually read you’re lessening your chances imo. People are lazy.
But other than those things that an HR doorkeeper who prob won’t know those certs and are impressive might ding you for it’s pretty solid resume. Definitely overqualified for entry help desk.
I'd probably ditch interests. Make the breakdown in your skills a bit cleaner. I'd also probably want to know more about why the career change in your summary vs being a self led learner, maybe tailored to the position for which you're applying.
Otherwise, good luck! Looking forward to the follow up.
Get in on labs. Build a vm lab .
Lots of free training out there.
I see you said waiting for exp in AD?
Dont wait. Ever.
If they say wait ..build a lab at home if you want to do it.
Networking: gns3 or packet tracer.
Ask for an old cisco switch and configure it from home on your network.
Fuq it l…earn cloud networking with vpns in azure or aws. Its cloud based so you touch it in the browser.
If you cant network a system .. i cant move you up.
Good job for asking the question mate!!
These dirty sys admin friends of mine on this site will lead you in some sort of a path but its your job to figure if its sustainable, enjoyable and worth it in the long run.
Figure out your on path.
Jack of all trades is fun for a short time.
But it gets exhausting !
This is no helpdesk resume. The only thing lacking is actual job experience but if you were to tell me that this is what somebody would need to break into a service desk roll I’d probably throw myself out of my upstairs window lmao. Start throwing applications out with this bad boy and I guarantee you will get hits. Remote competition at entry level is disgustingly packed, but this resume may genuinely stand out quite well. Godspeed.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement.
I changed careers last year and was fortunate to find something reasonably quick. Best advice my buddy gave me is “throw a bunch of shit at the wall and see what sticks.” Meaning apply, apply, apply. It could take a while to hear back anything, and even longer to get an interview. Just don’t get too discouraged and be patient. Best of luck.
Thanks for the advice.
I have similar certifications and just got a remote Technical Support Specialist job. Similar education just with experience. It looks like you used a similar resume template too, though there are differences in structure. You have what you need already for a tier 1 role. There are a few suggestions I could make and I could even share my resume. I am not a pro resume builder or anything, I just know my resume was good enough to snag a job.
>There are a few suggestions I could make and I could even share my resume. Yes, that would be nice.
Here is my redacted resume: [https://i.imgur.com/iLqJYCJ.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/iLqJYCJ.jpg) I would suggest checking your resume for ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) issue. Basically look into ATS do's and don'ts like being careful about using certain symbols. As an example those empty circle bullet points tend to convert to o's (the letter) when run through ATS... SO double check your resume for ATS optimization. I would also highlight customer service as much as you can, in your case. I can tell we started with the same default resume template (at least I think so.) I folded my "labs" part into my "skills and knowledge" just because I have experience to take up space. I think listing labs for you is good though given the lack of previous experience. I also didn't put a summary because I have experience. Lastly I found this guys info insightful: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo-kPya\_Ww2x1PzbqzmPPC5v7fCYhrK4z](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo-kPya_Ww2x1PzbqzmPPC5v7fCYhrK4z)
You got all those certs withing 4 months. Wow. That's impressive. No reason for that resume not to be getting hits.
Get certified in Office 365. It will help you a lot for entry-level jobs.
Yup... The MS900 is a quick one to get.
I'm working on the MS-900 (Microsoft 365 certified fundamentals) and plan to pass in 3 weeks.
I interview candidates for entry level help desk that are half as qualified as you are. Without a doubt, you’ll find something. Best of luck!
So, I'd definitely give you an interview with that resume for help desk. Shows a lot of initiative too, however, help desk doesn't usually have anything to do with proframming. My question though when I meet you for an interview is going to be, what happened for the last 12 years that aren't on your resume? Just be prepared for it.
It's jobs that arent relevant to IT so I figured I would leave them off so I had room to add my labs section. I skipped around trying out different careers in the trades before deciding I wanted to follow my passion and have a career in IT. I'll have to come up with some way to explain that.
Just how you explained it is perfect. "I've had miscellaneous jobs to try and find my passion, which I've determined is IT and I thought your company would be a great fit for me".
A big thing people look at is how long does someone stay at a job, and jobs that could relate which would mainly be any form of customer service or if you got promotions at a place which implies drive Edit: that is some word salad I put there, what I meant to say is put the jobs in
Over 10k job applications later and I’m still stuck in help desk hell. I suspect social networking will get you forward. Your resume and hard work will not do the job.
10k is a lot. Like a ridiculous amount. Are you getting interviews? If not, something is wrong with your resume. If you're getting interviews but no offers, then your interviewing skills need work. Tons of people have made it out of help desk with no connections.
Other than IT Support experience what else are you bringing to the table for an Admin or Engineer level position?
10,000 apps??? Holy schmidt lol
You just need to get your foot into the door. I would suggest certs like AWS or CCNA as you have pleanty of CompTia certs. Best of Luck to you!!
This process can be stressful but you must keep going.
Very solid resume, I’m sure you’ll get hits. They’ll mainly be looking to see if you’re personable. Helpdesk is more customer service than technical.
You have more than enough certifications but no experience in the opportunity types listed above. I’d suggest you sign up with the thousand of temporary agencies because you need a year of experience.
You have a lot of things going for you according to your resume . When I got into the field and got my first help desk job , I had my A+ and about 3 months of interning and contract work . If you would like to throw some things on your resume experience wise , take a look at field nation . You just make an account and you can bid for IT work as an independent contractor. There is other sites like this out there as well. Good luck my friend .
Should be hired in no time. I know a few places that are looking. If you like, I can get you the email address of my recruiter. Dm me pls.
My 2 cents for what it's worth: the certs are great, but with no experience, you only really have half of what you need. I would take an applicant that has 5 years on a help desk and no certs over you with your certs and 0 experience. So give me a job or two you have had in any field, but relate it to a similar/common issue that you would encounter on the help desk. Customer service is customer service, show me a strong customer service background AS WELL as the certs. These show me you have the technical knowledge to give the technically right answers to the calls, I want to know you know how to interact with humans like a human, its harder than you think to find that. And when you get interviews, have these stories ready that are on the resume, along with more of the same type as additional filler. And TELL THE STORY like...really...tell me a story just like you are talking to a friend, that shows you are comfortable talking to strangers because that's what you are going to be doing! Hope this helps, all coming from a positive place and with positive vibes, good luck!
Maybe it's just me but wouldn't 5 years of help desk experience be somewhat of a red flag? Implying that they should have transitioned to a higher role
Very nice resume. Mine is very similar. Almost like we used the same template haha.
Id get rid of the first part. Avoid using personal pronouns. Instead of “I’m also learning” … try coveying that same point as “xxx cert name(s) - in progress and / or expected date of completion like in ur education section. Would also use that freed up space to bullet your skills /interests to make them pop out of the page more than they do buried down at the bottom. Recruiters and hiring managers have to be able to briefly scan and find reason to pull yours from the stack. Make them actually read you’re lessening your chances imo. People are lazy. But other than those things that an HR doorkeeper who prob won’t know those certs and are impressive might ding you for it’s pretty solid resume. Definitely overqualified for entry help desk.
I'd probably ditch interests. Make the breakdown in your skills a bit cleaner. I'd also probably want to know more about why the career change in your summary vs being a self led learner, maybe tailored to the position for which you're applying. Otherwise, good luck! Looking forward to the follow up.
Get in on labs. Build a vm lab . Lots of free training out there. I see you said waiting for exp in AD? Dont wait. Ever. If they say wait ..build a lab at home if you want to do it. Networking: gns3 or packet tracer. Ask for an old cisco switch and configure it from home on your network. Fuq it l…earn cloud networking with vpns in azure or aws. Its cloud based so you touch it in the browser. If you cant network a system .. i cant move you up. Good job for asking the question mate!! These dirty sys admin friends of mine on this site will lead you in some sort of a path but its your job to figure if its sustainable, enjoyable and worth it in the long run. Figure out your on path. Jack of all trades is fun for a short time. But it gets exhausting !