Employers only take 6 seconds in glancing at your information security resume. If your resume doesn’t attract them at that point, you lose. That means say goodbye to your hope of working with that company. Hence, it is crucial how you write your details.
Choose The Best Format
The best format in writing a resume is chronological order. Follow this order:
- Resume objective/summary statement
- Past experience, duties, and achievements
- Education section
- Cyber cryptography and criminology skills, if there’s any
- Certifications, clearances, and other sections
You should put only the relevant ones when filling in these sections. Furthermore, choose the best fonts to keep your resume legible. Use headings and white space efficiently to guide the managers’ eyes to various sections.
If you’re entering the infosec field for the first time, place your education section above your work history section. Moreover, save your resume in PDF format. Your resume won’t get messed up whatever app you or the hiring manager use to open it.
How To Put Skills in An Information Security Resume
Let’s say that you are very good at hacking. However, all of your competitors for the job also do. So how can you stand out? Start by listing both your hard and soft skills. These two are very important in any job.
Hard skills are those you study and learn. These include technical skills needed for the job such as detecting intrusions and vulnerabilities. Yet, it’s easy to find people with hard skills. Moreover, all companies can teach such skills. Hence, you also must have soft skills to succeed.
Soft skills are good qualities of a person. It takes time to cultivate these skills. Some of these skills are great communication skills and patience.
However, don’t simply add those skills. Doing so is like sending credit card information over an unencrypted channel. That is not a good idea at all. Instead, choose only the skills that are relevant to the job ad. Analyze the job ad and decide which skills are most important to the company.
Tailor your skills depending on their needs. For instance, instead of simply saying “malware detection”, you could say, “skilled at development of security controls”.
Do Not Forget ATS
Moreover, don’t forget about the applicant tracking system or ATS. Larger companies use ATS to help them manage tons of resumes they receive daily. The ATS scans resumes and whitelists resumes that contain the specific keywords a hiring manager is looking for. If your resume lacks the keywords, say goodbye in landing that job.
Furthermore, it’s also crucial that your skills are modern and up-to-date. Otherwise, employers will cringe if you list outdated encryption methods on your information security resume. Hence, the skills you’ll put in must reflect your knowledge of future security methods.
Add Extra Sections On Your Information Security Resume
Make sure to add security clearances, if you have one. A security clearance will greatly boost your chances. Furthermore, it’s not enough to just have a 4-year degree. Add certifications to strengthen your portfolio.
Also, add relevant volunteer work to your resume. Knowing a second language is also a great way to stand out among the rest.
