That is exactly why we are here! We have curated this complete guide and provided some bonus tips for you so that you can ace your cyber security analyst job, by getting hired- by writing a perfect, job-winning professional resume!
Writing a cyber security analyst resume is not difficult, if you are aware of industry standards and such information that concern a professional job-winning resume. Resumes are usually similar regardless of professions, in terms of their layout and how they are formatted however how you present your profile information depends on your role and every profession needs particular expertise, skills, knowledge and experience that need to be highlighted well on their respective professional resumes as well.
So let's talk about all of these important points in detail now!
How to make my cyber security analyst resume professional?
What makes a resume professional? Professionalism? Yes! Okay, so how do you show your professionalism? What it means to be professional? Formal attire, formal etiquettes of behaviors and courtesy behaviors etc. all are defined as professional but how can you reflect that on paper in your resume?
With language and presentation, how you have written the information in terms of the language and how your resume looks in terms of visual appearance can make the most difference for you and help you make your resume professional.
Your cyber security analyst's resume should have certain defining characteristics to ensure that it is a professional resume. Here is how you can do it:
- Your professional resume should be written with utmost accuracy meaning you cannot have a single spelling mistake or grammatical error on your resume. You should also ensure there are no factual mistakes on your professional resume. In case you have made any factual errors that is detected during verification of information, you will be terminated (in case you are hired by then) and you can also get rejected (in case the hiring process is on-going). Making any spelling or grammatical errors also cause you great loss because when the hiring managers see any such errors on your resume, they will conclude that you do not pay attention to details, which is considered extremely unprofessional in the corporate culture.
- Your professional resume should reflect professionalism through the language that is used throughout your resume. The way to do that is to use formal language and to make the language formal, you need to use third person and past tense. Make sure that you maintain third person and past tense throughout your resume without any mistakes in between. You should also avoid pronouns because using pronouns in your language, makes it less formal and gives it a bit of informal touch.
- Apart from using the language to reflect professionalism, you can also use the language in a manner that helps you create better and powerful impact on the hiring manager. To do that, you need to use maximum action verbs, power words, relevant keywords and action words so that the language is more effective. You can also use numbers wherever you can to quantify the information so that the hiring managers will perceive such information quickly and also be impressed with the same.
- You should also be mindful of how you label your resume document. Most people leave the document with tis default label which is big mistake. Professionalism is when you label the resume document appropriately. The professional and right way to label your resume is to use your first name and last name (your full name) along with the term 'resume' or 'CV'. You can also write Curriculum Vitae in place of CV. You can also include your role in the label, for example: Your first name-your last name-cyber security analyst-resume or Your first name-your last name-cyber security analyst-CV. This will help the hiring manager figure out what exactly they are looking at in case they are going through your resume offline or outside their job application portal, it will also help any reader of your resume figure out what exactly they are looking for and your name will be remembered and associated with your profile easily and quickly. This is very important when the shortlisted resumes are passed to the superior official that does not belong to human resource department but plays a role in the last stage of hiring process and makes the final decision of who should be hired.
- Your professional resume should be written in a particular format that is right for your profession and role. There are many formats that you can choose from however there are 3 most prominent and preferred by the professionals that you might want to choose from. These format help you lay out your resume in the standard format that the hiring manager would be expecting. We will talk about resume formats in depth in a little while in this article.
- If you are opting for templates for your resume, you should know certain things about using templates, make sure that you make the final edits and fix certain things about your resume's visual appearance. We will talk about it at length in a while.
- Your resume may be written on any platform, what you need to keep in mind is how you save the resume as in which document format you are choosing. We advice that you stick with the document formats such PDF or Microsoft Word and do not choose any other because in case you use any other document format, you might lose many good opportunities. The reason is that your resume will be viewed by many people through various document viewing mediums and platforms o a wide range of devices, your resume will also pass through many applicant tracking systems or the ATS or software that the recruiters use and they will not be compatible with wide range of document formats. In case, your document is not compatible with these mediums, platforms, devices and software or systems, your resume can be rejected and you will lose the opportunity. PDF and Microsoft word formats are the ones that are likely to be compatible with most systems and mediums which is why you should always save your resume in these document formats.
Where should I begin?
Your next question after understanding how to make your resume professional, would be- okay so what next? How should I go about my cyber security analyst's resume? And where should I begin? The answer is-with research!
We always do some research before we do anything, right? Whether we go for movies or plays or vacation or shopping or dining out, we always go on the internet and look up various things such as- best options, its ratings and reviews, expenses and costs, location and much more.
Similarly, when you want to write a professional cyber security analyst's resume, first thing we need to do is do some research. But what should you research? You should explore your role, your job description, your job title, designation, your potential employers, your industry of cyber security and relevant areas such as information security, network security and so on.
When you do this research you will realize so many things were important that you did not know about such as latest industry trends and job market scenario. You will learn about what is the salary range that you can expect at your next job with your profile of experience and skills, you can also use this knowledge to negotiate a better offer for yourself during the final interview or the hiring process stage. You can also learn which are the top skills that are in demand for your role and profession at the present with the emerging digital trends and technology along with advancements.
The research will also help you learn what is it that you can offer and bring to the table as 'something extra', that will increase your market value and get you a better offer than your counterparts in the market. You will also know how you can write your resume in a way that is efficient and powerful enough to get you hired for your dream job.
The insights and knowledge that you gather during your research, regarding your industry will also make you confident which will be very valuable when you are sitting in an interview and they are trying to gauge how well informed and up to date you are apart from having all the skills, experience and knowledge mandatory for your role, to do the job well. These things will set you apart from the pool of your fellow job applicants who may not put in such extra efforts to ensure that the recruiter is more than satisfied with your skills, experience, expertise, knowledge and your overall profile as well as professional personality. This will also reflect your capacity and capacities along with certain characteristics that are desirable for a professional such as being thorough and putting in extra efforts to go extra miles than others or average professionals.
What are the resume format options?
Now as promised before, let's talk about resume format options. Resume formats are basically the layouts for your resume that are preferred because they not only provide an outline that helps you clarify the information and put it in a distinguished sections, in particular chronology, but also helps you present your profile information in the most efficient manner.
There are 3 most prominent resume formats that most professionals choose from, and recruiters expect to see in the resumes that they receive.
- Functional resume format: This resume format is usually preferred by the recent graduates, freshers and anyone who does not have a lot of experience or lengthy or even significant work history to describe on their resume. So what does this format do for such professionals. This resume format focuses on the education and skills' section on your resume. When you do not have something, you need to highlight something else that you do have, in the case of professional resumes when you do not have professional experience, you need to focus on your skills and education which is something this format helps you with. in this format, you will not only list your skills and education but expand the information with more details such as backing evidence of how you have learned the skills and how you have used them, what exactly you learn during your education, any achievements that you acquired during your studies that are relevant for you role.
- Reverse chronological format: This resume format is suitable for those who have extensive professional experience and work history. When you have the experience of doing the actual job, you will have a lot of things to talk about and you will not need to even focus on other information because the description of your experiences alone will take up a lot of space and will provide more than enough information that the recruiter will be looking for. This is why this resume format is suitable for those professionals who have extensive work history or even more than 2-3 job experiences that they can talk about at length.
- Combination resume format: This resume format is suitable for those who are looking to change their career. When you are looking for a new role and career path, you will need to prove your competency. How can you do that on your resume? By talking about your skills and experience that are transferrable meaning you can use the same skills and similar experience aspects for your new job or role. To do the same, you will need expand and explain your skills and experience a little more and listing them simply will not be enough. This is why the combination resume format helps you focus both on your skills and experience at once by letting you explain more on the same.
When you are choosing the resume format, you will need to keep in mind your profile and your future goal for the career path. You should also keep in mind that with various resume format, the chronology of the sections on your resume will change.
Should I use resume templates?
Many professionals use the resume templates that are ready to use for professionals who are looking for a particular resume format. Resume templates allow you to ensure visual appeal of your resume. While the information of your resume is more important, you should not underestimate the importance of the visual appeal as well.
When you are using resume templates, make sure to keep these tips in mind:
- Resume templates have sample information already written in them and you should make sure that you replace all the sample information with your own profile's information, in case any sample information is left back and not replaced, it will look unprofessional
- Resume templates help you ensure that your resume is visually appealing because they provide various themes, designs and colors for your resume that are professionally acceptable and also easy on eyes
- Resume templates have sample information in fixed fonts hence when you replace that information with your own profile's information, the margins and white space may move and the overall look of your resume may be different. In this case, you will need to make some edits and ensure that the margins and white space on your resume are all symmetrical and in a manner that looks visually appealing, these are some of the basic aspects of visual appearance that reflect professionalism
- Depending on your profession and industry, you need to choose the resume template that is suitable for you, few professional allow creative resume templates that are different than traditional resumes, for most resumes, you will be expected to stick to the traditional resume templates that are simple and professional
What should my cyber security analyst resume look like?
Now let's talk about professional cyber security analyst's resume outline.
Resume header-contact information section
On the top of your resume, you will have the contact information section. The header of your resume should provide the information about you. This includes:
- Your first name and last name (full name) with accurate spelling
- Your professional contact number that you use for professional communication
- Your professional email ID that is formal and use for professional communication
- Your LinkedIn profile link-only if you are regularly active on the platform and your profile is carefully curated as well as updated
- Your home address (it is not mandatory but in case you choose to mention it, keep it brief; you may want to include it in case you are applying for a job in another state or country)
- Your professional headshot in which you are wearing formal attire (not mandatory)
Resume summary
Second section should be your resume summary where you highlight the important aspects of your resume. Remember, even thought the term used is resume summary, it is not just the summary of your resume. In this section, you get the chance to highlight the important and impressive details of your resume that will compel the reader to read the rest of the resume with interest and undivided attention.
Resume summary should begin with the mention of your role followed by 3 to 5 bullet points where you have described your highlights in crisp, concise and short manner.
Your resume summary should include as many action verbs and keywords as possible along with details that are quantified with numbers. Resume summary should cover some of these points:
- Your total years of experience and the background
- Your achievements, exceptional performances and more such important and impressive details, relevant skills that are most important and key skills for your role of security analyst
- The kind of opportunity that you are seeking for your next job and how you will leverage your skills, experience and expertise to perform well at your next job
Professional experience-work history
Your professional experience section is where you show off everything! Your knowledge, your skills and much more! Your professional experience section should be written in reverse chronological order meaning you should list your latest job experience first and then walk back to your first job experience. Your professional experiences should be described after noting few important details such as your role/designation at each job, the full name of the employer company/organization or client, and the employment period for which you worked with them.
The description of each experience should be thorough that include every single detail from the job description, any extra tasks that you dealt with, any recognitions and awards or rewards, acknowledgements, relevant skills that you used to perform well, any exceptional instances and case that you performed well with and resolved with your skills and expertise.
You should use maximum action verbs and keywords along with key skills to describe these details. You should also try to quantify as many details as possible with numbers to create the desired impact.
Education section
The education section of your cyber security analyst's resume may not seem as important however you should not skip it either. You can simply note your high school diploma, bachelor's degree and master's degree (if you have one) along with the name of education institution from where you acquired them.
You can also note any relevant online/offline certificate courses, programs that you may have completed. There are certain aspects of your job that will require you to be certified such as certified ethical hacker.
Skills section
You have mentioned your relevant skills in experience section as well as your resume summary section. You need to mention your top strengths that are the top most important skills for your role in the skills section because they need to be highlighted even more.
We have curated a list of relevant skills for you here, you can also add more skills or pick key skills for your role from the job description of your role on various platforms and in various job postings. Doing this will be helpful because those skills will exactly be the ones that the hiring manager is looking for.
In this section, the skills will be written in the list form because that is the most efficient way to highlight any detail-list format and bullet points. Because there are no lengthy sentences, one can simply glance at the list and comprehend the information quickly and also mentally note it efficiently.
Here in this section, you can include all the important and relevant skills that may be hard skills for your role, soft skills that help you be an efficient professional and technical skills that help you with your technical aspects of work responsibilities.
- network security
- intrusion detection systems
- cyber security
- security analyst skills
- security controls
- computer networks
- technical skills
- cyber threats management
- security events
- cloud security
- awareness of security clearance
- risk management framework
- security issues
- risk management
- access management
- technical expertise
- intrusion detection system
- system security
- information security
- cyber security field knowledge
- vulnerability assessment
- unauthorized access attempts handling
- working with homeland security
- working with cybersecurity team
- event management
- security alerts management
- computer science
- security risks
- comprehensive security policies
- security breaches
- security incidents
- malware analysis
- ethical hacking
- security protocols
- computer systems
- information systems security
- security controls
- security concepts
- security measures
- database security
- standard operating procedures
- incident response
- new security protocols
- interpersonal skills
- operating systems
- threat intelligence
- penetration testing
- working with functional system
- handling suspicious network activity
- handling cyber attacks
- risk assessments
- handling sensitive data
- programming languages
- technical advice
Extra sections
The extra sections on your resume can be something that essentially helps you stand out. Chances are that most of your fellow job applicants will have the same experience and skills along with knowledge and expertise. So why should the recruiter choose you?
Because you bring something extra to the table. What can it be? Your language proficiencies, your personal interests that may be relevant, any extra experience and exposure that may be relevant for your role. All of such information can be included in separate sections on your resume.
You can also include any events, seminars, programs, workshops that you may have been part of, that added to your exposure and increased your expertise and knowledge. These details are something that your fellow job applicants would not have and it will help you stand out as someone who is extra ordinary and above average, who also brings something extra to the table.
How can I increase my chances of getting hired?
Keywords
By using keywords on your resume, you can increase your chances of getting hired. Recruiters across the globe use the applicant tracking systems or AI software that scan and filter the resumes received on company's job portal. To beat these systems you need to include the relevant keywords on your resume so that your resume is scanned and filtered without getting rejected.
The relevant keywords are nothing but the keywords that are related to your role, your job description, your industry and perhaps the potential employers. We have curated a list of relevant keywords below for you. You can also use more keywords from job descriptions that you come across.
- cyber attacks
- sensitive data handling
- cybersecurity analyst
- cybersecurity analysts
- penetration testing
- operating systems
- interpersonal skills
- new security protocols
- incident response
- security measures
- information systems security officer
- information security
- information systems security
- security protocols
- ethical hacking
- malware analysis
- security incidents
- security breaches
- security risks
- computer networks
- computer science
- cybersecurity team
- unauthorized access attempts
- vulnerability assessment
- information security
- system security
- technical skills
- technical expertise
- access management
- risk management framework
- certified ethical hacker
- security issues
- chief information security officer
- security clearance
- cloud security
- security clearance
- risk management
- cyber security intern
- cyber threats
- cyber security jobs
- security controls
- junior cyber security analyst
- security analyst
- cyber security analyst
- cyber security analysts
- cyber security
- cyber security analysis
- senior cyber security analyst
- network security
References
References are the names of people that you have worked with and can vouch for you. Providing references on your resume, allows the recruiters to verify your skills and experience that you have mentioned on your resume. Being able to verify these details can serve as reassurance that your profile is authentic and your capabilities are real. Recruiters will always look for ways to scrutinize and verify such details because it is not easy to take such information at its face value because many professionals lie on their resume to get hired and then fail to perform well at the job, which causes a lot of loss to the employer.
When you are choosing the references, you can include the people that you have worked with in your past jobs, you can include your co-workers, your reporting managers, your supervisors, your superiors and even the colleagues that may have worked under your leadership-and can provide a positive feedback regarding your professional profile in terms of your skills, experience, expertise, knowledge and capabilities.
When mentioning the references, make sure you inform and take permission of these people before including them as references on your resume. After taking the permission, you should note their full name, their contact number and the email ID where they can be reached. In case you do not want to disclose these contact details, you can also note that you will provide the references upon being asked for it.
Conclusion
When you are sitting down to write your cyber security analyst's resume, you may have some idea of what you need to talk about such as your skills and experience, various areas and aspects of your job such as network security and cyber threats and so on. So why do you need the help of this article or any more knowledge at all? Because, there is a particular layout that you need to present your profile information in and you also need to know which information to include where and how. We have discussed everything in this article that you will need to know before you get down to writing your senior cyber security analyst resume.
So what next? Resume examples! You need to explore some cybersecurity analyst resume examples and templates to get more insight into how you can your resume can look like and how you can format your own cybersecurity analyst resume. We have an extensive collection of resume examples and resume templates along with in-depth resume writing guides that you can explore and figure out the best options for your own cybersecurity resume.
We also have a great option for you-the resume builder feature. It will help you formulate your cybersecurity resume within minutes! You will get AI prompts and suggestions for how to write your junior cyber security analyst resume or any other security analyst resume and you will save a lot of time and energy that you would need to invest in resume writing otherwise. It is similar to what you find with options such as ChatGPT, except this is specially designed for professional resume writing.
Now you are ready to write your own security analyst resume because you know everything that you need to know beforehand. Good luck with the job hunt!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need a master's degree on my cyber security analyst resume?
There are many levels at which a cyber security analysts may work in any company or organization such as cyber security analysis intern, senior cyber security analyst, junior cyber security analyst or information security analyst and so on. Depending on which level of role you are applying for, you may or may not need certain degrees. Another variable to consider is what the hiring managers are looking for, for the position that is open for them. You will need to make sure that you read the job description carefully and check the requirements and qualifications noted in there that the hiring managers and the company are looking for in their ideal candidate.
In case, any job description does not mention these details, you can attempt to contact the hiring managers and confirm with them what they are looking for in terms of qualifications in their candidate. In case, you are required to have certain degrees that you haven't acquired, you can also mention relevant courses and programs that you may have completed online/offline to add value and proof of your theoretical knowledge base.
How do I choose which skills to include on my cyber security analysts resume?
There are many soft skills, technical skills and cyber security analysts' skills that you can include on your senior cyber security analyst resume. We have listed many in the article above, you can also choose more of the cyber security analysts' skills from various relevant job description that you see in job postings. Here we have listed few of the key skills that you should definitely mention on your senior cyber security analyst resume:
- Network security
- Cyber security
- Security analyst skills
- Cyber threats
- Security controls
- Vulnerability assessment
- Security breaches
- Incident response
- Penetration testing
- Information security
Do I need a cover letter with my cyber security resume?
Cover letters are not mandatory for every job application, however if you include them in your job application along with your cyber security analysts resume, you will definitely increase your chances of getting hired and the hiring managers will be impressed by your extra efforts. Cover letters are an opportunity to reiterate your interest and competency. You can talk about your skills, experience and knowledge when you are attempting to impress the hiring managers, you may have done it already on your cyber security analysts resume however when you do the same on your cover letter, you should use a little bit of informal tone to personalize the cover letter.
