This guide is useful for you if you are writing a:
- any system administrator resume
- Linux system administrator resume
- IT system administrator resume
- Windows system administrator resume
- Junior/ Senior system administrator resume
- Perfect system administrator resume
Whether you are an expert front end developer or data engineer or system administrator resume, you might need some help when it comes to writing your professional resume.
So let's dive in!
What does a job winning resume have?
A job winning system administrator resume should have:
- Past tense and third person language
- Maximum numbers and action verbs in the information
- No pronouns to maintain formal tone of language
- Simple document label: Your Name Resume
- Compatible document format: Microsoft word, PDF
Preparing for resume writing
Before you get to writing your system administrator resume, you need to do some research. You should explore a number of job descriptions, job titles, industry, potential employers and everything related.
This will help you figure out how to stand out and how to present your profile in the most efficient way possible. You will get the sense of job market and current scenario out there.
While doing the research, you should also note the relevant keywords as they will come in handy while writing your system administrator resume.
Trivia
(Source: https://history-computer.com/the-complete-history-of-linux-everything-you-need-to-know/)
Formats and templates
There are many formats and templates you can choose from for your system administrator resumes. Depending on your layout and theme needs, you can make the decision of which format and template you want.
Templates are ready layouts in various formats along with set margins and fonts style and other visual elements such as patterns and colors and designs and such.
The format is important for the layout or the outline of your system administrator resume. The right format helps you focus on the important aspects of your profile as a system admin. A good system admin resume should highlight your skills and experience and any other important details of your profile.
There are three most preferred resume format:
- Functional: functional resume format allows you to focus on your skills and education. This is helpful you do not have experience or have very little experience. This format, as you may have guessed, is suitable for people who are recent graduates or freshers.
- Reverse chronological: this format focuses on the experience and it is defined by the reverse chronological order of the experiences described. People with extensive work history or people who are seasoned professionals, choose this format.
- Combination: this format is the combination of the functional and reverse chronological resume formats. While you sit down for resume writing, if you are looking for a format that is suitable for your new career, this is your format. This format is suitable for those looking for career change because it helps you showcase your transferable skills and experience aspects.
Header
The header of your system administrator resumes will include your contact information.
- Your name in a slightly bigger fonts than the rest
- Your contact number with area code, one where you are easily reachable
- Your professional email ID that is formal, one that you check actively/regularly (ID should be simple and formal, do not use your personal informal ID)
- Your home address (if you want-not mandatory), you can mention it especially if you are applying for a job in another state or a country
- Your social media profile links such as LinkedIn profile link or any other where you are active in professional capacity, only mention the links if your profile is carefully curated and you are active on the platform
Make sure the information is accurate so that the recruiter can reach out to you easily. If the recruiter is not able to reach to you, you might miss good opportunities.
Resume summary
Your system administrator resume summary should include the highlights of your system administrator resume. A good system administrator resume summary includes below points:
- Your total years of experience and a little background along with the job title or role
- Your key skills and accomplishments, exceptional performances and recognitions
- What kind of opportunity you are looking for
- How you will leverage your in depth knowledge, experience and system administrator resume skills
The system administrator resume summary should be written in bullet points. Make sure the number of bullet points is 3 to 5, no more and no less. Do not make the information in the resume summary detailed, it should be just highlights, the details should be described in various sections later on in the system administrator resumes.
Your resume summary should be intriguing so that the recruiter gets interested and goes through the rest of your system administrator resume.
Professional experience
Your professional experience as system administrator resume is important because it reflects a lot about what kind of an employee you are:
- How much work load you can handle
- How many responsibilities you have handled before
- How is your time management
- How have you performed
- What level of expertise you have with the role specific tasks
While describing your experience you need to ensure the reverse chronological order. You need to describe the details using bullet points. You should also mention the name of the employer, your job title as well as your responsibilities.
You can also describe your key accomplishments and recognitions and any other achievements that may set you part and impress the recruiter.
You can also highlight your key skills and experiences by giving them bold effect for key words and terms. You should use the industry jargon and also avoid general jargon and keep it simple.
Your experience should reflect your in depth knowledge of the field. Your system administrator resume skills should be backed by your experience aspects and not mentioned in stand alone manner.
Education
Your education section should include your details of education as well as any theoretical knowledge. This means you can also include your online courses and programs.
You can also mention any job training you may have received. You need to mention the degree and course title along with the name of your educational institute or the platform from which you acquired the courses and degrees.
Avoid mentioning the year of degree or courses because that may lead to bias. Even if you have skills and experience that allows you to perform really well, you may judged based on 'years since graduation' or such.
Skills
Your system administrator skills may be mentioned and discussed in the system administrator resume summary, system administrator experience however in the section of skills, you need to list your key strengths and keys.
They should be conclusive and most important ones because you will be describing them in bullet points. You need to include your soft skills as well as technical skills.
- Networking skills
- Wrote scripts
- Computer systems
- Computer network
- Leadership capabilities
- Cloud computing
- Strategic hardware location
- System administration
- System monitoring
- Scheduled system patching
- Computer information systems
- Optimized system availability
- Project management
- Windows server
- Computer science
- Technical support
You need to pick skills from the system administrator job description as well. Those skills are exactly what the hiring managers are looking for in their potential job candidate who will fill the system administrator position.
Certifications
You might have certifications. There are many relevant certifications that may be mandatory or something extra that adds more value to your system administrator resume.
You should mention any and every relevant certifications along with details such as what you learned or which skill it represents along with the details of the platform or medium you acquired it from.
You can also mention a few details regarding the certifications in the bullet points.
Extra
If you have any more relevant information that could add more value to your system administrator resume, you should mention it in extra sections.
For example, you can include your language proficiencies, personal interests, online course and programs you may have completed, workshops and events you may have attended or any seminars you may have attended or hosted or any other such information that could help you stand out in the pool of job applicants.
Keywords
You may have heard of the ATS or the applicant tracking system or AI software that hiring managers use. Hiring managers often receive thousands and hundreds of resume and job applications. Manually going through them and shortlisting can be very tiring and time consuming.
This is why they use the applicant tracking software which runs on set parameters. These parameters are nothing else but the relevant keywords. Keywords related to your systems administrator position or role, your job responsibilities, system administrator job description, industry and everything related.
You need to use the keywords throughout the system administrator resume and make sure you are include them in meaningful manner.
If you stuff the keywords anywhere or use them way too many times, the hiring managers will figure it out. It might help you beat the ATS but the hiring manager will not be impressed at all.
- System administrator
- Systems administrator
- System administrators
- Technical support
- Computer systems
- Maintain computer systems
- Computer science
- Systems administration
- IT system administrator
- Operating systems
- Professional experience system administrator
- Network management software
- Automate scheduled system patching
- Windows server
- Automated system monitoring
- System admin
- Project management
- Scalable systems
- Optimized system availability
- Windows system admin
- Computer information systems
- System administration
- Active directory
- Strategic hardware location
- Unused hardware resources
- Cloud computing
- Information technology
- Security testing
- Network operations
- Computer network
- Windows systems
You can pick up more keywords related to your particular roles from the job description. Various roles may have different keywords that are more specific.
Cover letter
Cover letter may not always be demanded in the job description or job application. You might think why bother if they are not asking for it. However, many job seekers do not realize the importance of the cover letter.
Cover letters can add great value because you talk about your experiences, skills and profile summary at a bit more length. You can also talk about your inspiration, your journey and your passion for the field and the role. All of this can set you apart and help you convince the hiring manager that you are the right canddate.
Cover letters are important especially for the entry level system administrator resume or junior system administrator resume because the resume may not have much data and you can use the cover letter to convince the hiring managers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your system administrator resume should include all the important information and more importantly:
- Reflect professionalism and passion
- Showcase your key skills and experience
- Include relevant keywords to beat the ATS
- Highlight your strengths throughout the resume
- Have a intriguing resume summary
- Be in sync with the job description
After reading this article, you must be well familiarized with system administrator resume writing. You should also check out some system administrator resume examples and resume template. You can also go through our collection of resume examples, templates and resume writing guides. Good luck with the job search!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does a cover letter add value to my system administrator resume?
A cover letter allows you to add more keywords and also describe your journey and inspiration which reflect your passion and dedication. These aspects add great value to your resume.
What would a hiring manager look for in my system administrator resume?
A hiring manager will look for the relevant skills, work history and the resume summary. In addition your contact info and any profile information to set you apart will also be something the hiring manager looks for.
For an entry level system administrator resume, is one page length okay?
Yes, any professional system administrator resume should be 1 to 2 pages long and not more than that.
