You must have noticed it by the number of people offering you jobs every five minutes: for a few years now, the demand for tech professionals has exploded. The good news for you is that this trend will not go anywhere anytime soon. Concretely, it means you are more than likely to find a job, and that’s quite comforting, isn’t it?

However, and unless you are happy to let the best jobs pass right under your nose, you will have to put on a bit of an effort to highlight your experience and your technical skills, but also to show that you are able to work with a team.

START WITH A LOGICAL STRUCTURE

Many candidates make the mistake of turning their CV into a list of all the softwares, tools and programming language they’ve every used. Guess what: it’s unreadable, and it doesn’t give your reader a good vision on your impact on their company.

Use a simple font, divide your resume in sections and use a language that even noobs will understand (no abbreviation). The following structure usually works wonders:

• A short introduction at the top to catch the eye of the recruiter and present your most wanted skills
• Right under it, a lit of your skills to give an overview of your tech knowledge
• Your past experiences, with bullet-points descriptions to give a fast and easy read

SELL YOURSELF A BIT WITH A PUNCHY INTRODUCTION

I know you don’t like it, but it could make the difference between landing a nice job and being called for THE position you’ve been waiting for. Write a short catchy introduction that gives an overview of your skills, your experience and all the things you’ll bring to your potential employers. For example, if you’re a web designer, you will have to show up your design knowledge, the tools you use and how your skills will help your employer improve the customer experience and generate more sales.

Before starting to write your CV, do some research on the most sought-after skills in your line of work, and make them appear on your profile. It will give the best impression when a recruiter opens your CV for the first time.

UPDATE YOUR TECH SKILLS

As a tech professional, it is expected that you show your technical knowledge. But it doesn’t stop here: your CV must be frequently updated, so that the newest technologies appear. It will not only let you show up a bit but mostly it will help your pass the ATS scans.

The technical skills you show on your resume must be relevant to the job you’re applying to: an exhaustive list of your many skills will dilute the message you’re trying to give, and your CV will be way too long to read.

SHOW OFF YOUR NON-TECH SKILLS

Being a tech expert is great. But to bring value to your employer, you must also master a bunch of other skills. For example, you might have to file a budget for an IT update, or report on the benefits of the implementation of a new data base… Give a few examples of your “non-tech” knowledge, such as communication, management and leadership. It will prove that the impact you’ll have on the company won’t be limited to the IT department. Show your understand the role of technology in a company’s success, and that you’re able to bring positive change through IT: your CV will go from “good” to “amazing-I-need-this-person-in-my-team” in a heartbeat.

GIVE SOME NUMBERS

Because it’s oh-so easy to say that you’re the best, you might as well prove what you’re worth by giving some factual proof. Add measurable data to concretely show the impact you had on your previous positions. For example:

- Leading a 10M€ public sector project and a team of 25

- Relocating 200 desktops and updating 2 database systems

- Assist 5.000 user and answer requests in less than an hour

Adding some measurable data (like money amounts, or time scales) will help recruiters understand your actual level of seniority, and, more importantly, will put your resume above the other candidates’.