Your new and improved resume should also show that your work experience and exposure to the IT industry has allowed you to further develop your personal and professional attributes, in conjunction with the technical skills that employers are looking for. Included are such aspects as proven ability to work in a team, time management, ability to work under pressure, proven technical skills, self-confidence, ability to adapt to situations, industry awareness, and a displayed ability to put learned theory into practice.
With experience, you can now afford to be a little more selective in choosing your next job. In many ways you need to be. The next job should utilize your current skills and at the same time enable you to expand on those skills. Choosing the wrong position can land you in a situation where you are neither utilizing your old skills or learning new ones. When you first looked for a job, these kind of things were of less relevance; you just wanted the workplace experience. Now you need to consider them fully because even six months of working with old technology can leave you lagging far behind.
Of all the tangible skills gained through experience, there are the intangible ones such as confidence and communication skills. You may be surprised just how much of a difference these skills can make when you are going for a new position. Not only do they enhance your overall worth, but they can make you suitable for positions as a team leader or project manager, where personality and organizational ability is as important as technical skill.
Interviewing the Second Time Around
For your second job, and for every subsequent one, the interview process will almost surely be different. Technical interviews are likely to be more aggressive with the intention of exposing weaknesses in your technical ability rather than exploring the strengths. For this reason, resumes should be blatantly truthful about your level of technical knowledge. Chances are that the person interviewing you knows how to find out what you don't know just as easily as what you do. Be honest, and if you are asked a question to which you don't know the answer, say so. Never lie, or even be tempted to talk your way around the answer. Both are likely to end badly for you.
At the same time, be confident about what you do know.You are an IT professional with practical field experience.You have the right attitude and you want to contribute.You also want to leave them with little doubt as to why they want to employ you. Talk comfortably about the technology you have been working with, but avoid making judgments about what products or technologies are good and bad.You may say the wrong thing, and there really is no need to be making those sorts of statements. People in IT often have allegiances to certain products and technologies and want their new employees to feel the same way about them.
And If All Goes to Plan
If things work out the way you want, you will get the job you were after. Now the work starts again, but hopefully without whatever made you look for a new position in the first place. You have completed a full cycle of a job in IT, and our work here is almost done. But just before we go, here are a couple of things to think about before your first day in a new job. After this, you are on your own.
Hitting the Ground Running
When you started your first job, your employer almost certainly expected there to be a period of time when your productivity was not at its peak. It was your first time in an IT job, and you were still getting your bearings both technically and professionally. The second time around, you are less likely to be extended the same courtesy. As a professional with some experience, your new employer will have a certain level of expectation. You will be expected to know the technology that you said you did, which is likely to have been verified during the interview process. You also will be expected to know how to react in certain situations.Your employer also will have expectations of your professionalism, and your ability to interact with other staff. In effect, starting your second job can be somewhat more daunting than starting your first, when not a great deal was expected, and a certain degree of tolerance was exhibited.
