Stop Resume Mistakes From Blocking Your IT Support Career
Identify and correct the most common errors that keep hiring managers from noticing your technical expertise.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Chances
Each mistake includes why it hurts, how to fix it, and before/after examples
- Provides no value to recruiters
- Lacks industry keywords
- Fails to showcase measurable impact
- Replace with a 3‑sentence professional summary
- Include key IT support terms (e.g., ticket resolution, SLA)
- Add a quantifiable achievement
Objective: Seeking a position where I can use my skills.
Professional Summary: IT Support Specialist with 3 years experience delivering fast, reliable technical assistance to 200+ end‑users, reducing ticket resolution time by 15% and maintaining a 95% satisfaction rating.
- Dilutes focus on core tools
- Exceeds one‑page limit
- ATS may flag irrelevant keywords
- Identify the 5 tools most mentioned in the job ad
- List them in a concise 'Technical Skills' section
- Remove legacy or unrelated applications
Software: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, macOS, Linux, Solaris, Oracle DB, MySQL, SAP, Salesforce, Jira, Confluence, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Freshdesk, TeamViewer, RemotePC, VPN, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, RFID, Active Directory, LDAP, DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, SSH, PowerShell, Bash, Python, Java, C#, Visual Studio, Git, SVN, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, Office 365, Google Workspace, Outlook, Teams, Slack, Zoom, Skype, Webex, Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Samsung, LG, Philips, Sharp, Panasonic, Canon, Epson, Brother, Xerox, Ricoh, Kyocera, HP, Epson, Canon, etc.
Technical Skills: Windows 10, Active Directory, ServiceNow, PowerShell, VPN (Cisco AnyConnect)
- Makes impact vague
- Hard for recruiters to gauge performance
- ATS often scores higher on numbers
- Add metrics such as tickets resolved, SLA compliance, uptime percentages
- Start bullet points with strong action verbs
- Show before‑and‑after results
- Handled user tickets and provided technical support.
- Resolved 120 tickets per month with a 95% first‑call resolution rate, improving SLA compliance from 88% to 96% over 12 months.
- ATS may not parse employment dates
- Creates visual inconsistency
- Confuses recruiters
- Use the format 'MMM YYYY – MMM YYYY'
- Include month for both start and end dates
- If still employed, use 'Present'
2019-2021
Jan 2019 – Dec 2021
- Most ATS cannot read visual elements
- Important text may be omitted
- Increases file size unnecessarily
- Replace tables with simple bullet lists
- Remove icons, images, and charts
- Keep layout clean with standard headings
<table><tr><td>Issue</td><td>Resolution</td></tr><tr><td>Printer jam</td><td>Cleared and tested</td></tr></table>
- Resolved printer jam issues by clearing and testing devices, reducing downtime by 20%.
- Use a professional summary with keywords
- List core competencies as a bullet list
- Show achievements with numbers
- Keep dates in MMM YYYY format
- Save as PDF with a clear file name
- Avoid graphics, tables, and images
- Tailor each resume to the job description
- Convert objective to summary
- Add quantifiable metrics
- Standardize date format
- Trim software list to top 5
- Remove tables/graphics
