Navigating the Cybersecurity Career Path

CHAPTER 6Is My Résumé Okay?

Summary

• Sell yourself: Make sure your résumé is tailored to a particular company and for a particular job; it should not be generic. Include all relevant educational experience and any hobbies that might indicate an affinity for security.
• Sell yourself more: Always — always — include a cover letter, and use it to explain things that can't be included on your résumé. Use your résumé to show what you know and what your potential is.
• Sell yourself all the time: Make sure you have an up-to-date profile on LinkedIn or other social media.

Once you have determined what kind of role you want, the skills and experience that are required, and where you want to apply, you then have to create a résumé. The résumé needs to be specific enough to get past the computer recruiting algorithms that will filter candidates who lack matching skills. It needs to be creative enough to catch the eye of the recruiter and hiring manager as they sift through many similar candidates. It needs to show all the skills and experience you have, without over- or understating your qualifications. Lastly, it needs to give the hiring manager a sense of who you are. No wonder job seekers get stressed about writing a résumé!

Many new job seekers think a résumé is something like a school transcript. It shows the work you have already done and the skills you have already learned. People know they don't have all the skills the hiring manager is asking for, so they struggle to ...