by Lisa McGrimmon
A technical resume uses almost the same strategies as any other kind of resume with one crucial exception. A technical resume must have a Technical Skills section included near the top of the first page of the resume.
I started my career as a career coach in 2000, just before a major bust in high tech industries, so I've written and reviewed my fair share of IT resumes. The most common mistake people make when writing this kind of resume lies in failing to include a Technical Skills section near the beginning of the resume.
Instead of listing their technical skills in a separate section that is easy to read at a glance, people often list those crucial skills within the descriptions of each job they held. This approach is not effective because your technical skills become buried within your job descriptions. Without a Technical Skills section, there is no place on your resume that allows the employer to quickly, at a glance, review your specific set of technical skills.
Employers typically spend about thirty seconds (at most) initially reviewing resumes. If you make people work too hard to find your technical skills, particularly if they are reviewing a lot of resumes, your resume will very likely end up in the 'no' pile even if you do have the skills to do the job.
Also, many technical resumes are reviewed by a human resource professional before they reach anyone in the company who has a real understanding of the technical language included in your resume. That human resource professional may be looking for a few very specific skills, and if those skills are not listed very clearly on your resume, it will not be obvious to a non-technical person that you do possess the skills required for the job.
Related: Technical Resume Template