Crafting a resume with impact isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.
What should you include?
From my experience, a good resume should tell a story. A story about your experience and skills, professional development and growth, as well as showcasing your strengths. However, there is a lot of information which is conveyed implicitly, via the organisations you have chosen to work for and the industry sector/s.
Hence, including key details of the organisations you are or have worked for is important, especially if the company is not a major brand that almost everyone would recognise.
What do I mean by the details?
For example, is the company:
- Australian, State, National or Globally based?
- Stock exchange listed? Or a family-owned business or start-up?
- How many people are employed there? In total? Within IT (or your domain)?
- Do you liaise with offshore teams?
- What does the company do? i.e. what industry sector? Is it a SaaS / product company – but if so, what sector does it cater for?
Why are details important?
Context. By providing context for your experience, you enable employers to better understand the scope of your work and the challenges you faced. It also helps them better assess how your skills and experience might be applicable to their own organisation. Furthermore, it can help them determine if you are a good fit for their team and culture.
Example: Say you work for a company that is umbrella company for many well-known brands in the automotive sector. It may be a large, global company, but because it’s not a company that many people know of, assumptions could be made that it’s a start-up or a small company.
Working for a large, global company, typically demonstrates the ability to work with different cultures, possibly different markets and in a complex environment with systems & processes.
Similarly, if you work for a consulting firm and/or MSP, it helps if you outline at least the industry sectors that you worked in, if not the actual organisations. Again, for the same reason, it gives context to your experience. If it’s a small consulting firm, but you were working with large, complex, enterprise-level clients, then this changes the perspective.
Some of the information you include about the organisation, is typically available from the “About” section of the company’s website. For candidates coming from overseas, this is key. Especially when the company might not be known here in Australia.
Given clients often favour candidates with industry experience, highlighting relevant work history your resume quickly promotes you as a savvy choice. You’re saying you can ramp up in the role quickly and you already have knowledge of the sector.
Where should I include company information in my resume?
Include the company information just underneath the details of the company/role and dates of employment before you get into the specific responsibilities of the role itself.
COMPANY XYZ May 2020 – current
Senior Network Engineer
XYZ is an Australian business that was established in 1995. It has grown to over 1,000 employees and is listed on the ASX. A consulting firm which typically services mid-tier financial services organisations, I have been working for 2 clients concurrently, one is in a health care provider and the other a manufacturing business, providing on-site and remote assistance.
What if I work for a well-known bank or other brand name?
If you do happen to work for a well-known bank or other brand name, , rather than highlighting information about the company, which could be superfluous, provide more specifics on your department / area within the organisation. For example, “sitting within a business analysis competency / practice, I work on projects relating to the retail banking sector”.
I hope this information has been helpful. If it has, please drop me a note, or if you have any comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you.
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