Your resume may be the first opportunity you have to present your skills, experience, and training to a prospective employer. These elements of your professional background can help you distinguish yourself from the competition and get hired for the technical support position you desire.
One of the easiest ways to figure out what to include on a resume for a job in the tech support field is to look at an example written for this industry. Our technical support job description for a resume can help you take the most professional approach to presenting your accomplishments. Check out our sample document and guidelines for writing a solid resume for a technical support job search.
Using a Technical Support Job Description for a Resume
Focus on the job you seek as you prepare your resume to apply for a technical support position. Consider how your unique skills and the responsibilities you fulfilled in previous positions prepare you to excel in this particular role as well as the training and certifications needed for anyone seeking employment in this competitive industry.
Technical Support Summary
The professional summary in your resume is a good opportunity to provide an overview of your abilities and experience. Frame your background in terms of the job description for the position that interests you to ensure you include relevant details and keywords. You might bring up the work environments in which you have provided technical support; the types of databases, systems, or networks you work with; and any distinctions you have earned along the way.
Technical Support Education & Certification
The amount of formal education required for a technical support position ranges, but the most competitive candidates have technical certificates or undergraduate degrees. Include the title of any credential along with the name of the institution you attended and the month and year in which you completed your course of study. Depending on how much formal work experience you have, you can also bring up any extracurricular activities that demonstrate your ability to provide technical assistance.
Technical Support Duties & Responsibilities
Hiring managers are likely to have a clear sense of the type of employee they need for a technical support position. The requirements for this role should be clearly laid out in a job description. Describe your past experience in terms of how it has allowed you to rise to the challenges of the new position. Look for metrics you can use to back up your claims, including server uptime, the number of service tickets you resolved, or the average amount of time it takes for you to resolve a ticket.
Technical Support Skills
Technical support positions require a variety of skills, from technical knowledge to problem-solving. It is a good idea to present yourself as a specialized and balanced candidate by including specific qualifications based on the description of a position as well as broader abilities.
The specific technical skills you should mention depend on the systems and networks a given position is responsible for maintaining, managing, or troubleshooting. Rely on the job description to determine which qualifications you should to prioritize. General skills helpful for technical support careers include active listening, critical thinking, communication, organization, planning, and time-management.
Technical Support Resume
Vanessa Lewis
Houston, TX 11111
E: [email protected] P: 555-123-4567
Houston, TX 11111
E: [email protected] P: 555-123-4567
Professional Summary
Technical support professional with a graduate degree in information systems security and more than five years of experience. Two current GIAC certifications, including training in incident handling. Experience working on all tiers and ability to communicate with coworkers and customers to quickly resolve issues.
Skills and Qualifications
Windows, MacOS, Unix, and Linux OSs
Shell scripting
System and network configuration
Setting up firewalls and security software
Customer service
Generating support documentation
Work Experience
Technical Support Security Specialist – HTX Technical Support
2016-Present
Provide top-tier technical support for a managed service provider with more than 100 local and regional customers
Offer specialized expertise and insight on security solutions for individual users and corporate customers
Deliver security assessments and present consultations while promoting sale of managed security packages
Increase revenue on customized security services by more than 30%
Offer feedback for first and second tier technical support providers and function as final stage in resolving complicated issues
Technical Support, Second Tier – HTX Technical Support
2014-2016
Worked on the second tier of technical support services for a service provider, addressing complex system and network problems and security issues
Updated documentation from first-tier calls and provided further details for calls that advanced to dedicated specialists
Resolved an average of eight service tickets per day and performed follow-ups for recently handled issues
Ran tests and generated data used in security assessments and consultations for 25 local businesses
Increased revenue on managed security packages by 15% through service recommendations
IT Security Assistant – University of Houston Information Technology
2012-2014
Helped students, faculty, and staff with security issues on personal systems and university networks
Recommended anti-virus and spyware solutions for members of the university community
Conducted more than 500 security consultations in-person and online
Recorded a video about creating strong passwords with more than 3,000 views as of May 2014
Developed zero-hour documentation for a virus that spread through university mail system
Education and Certifications
GIAC Certified Incident Handler – 2015
GIAC Security Essentials Certification – 2014
Master of Science in Information Systems Security – 2015
University of Houston
Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems – 2014
University of Houston
How To Get Your Technical Support Resume Past an ATS
When you write a resume, it is important to consider that an applicant tracking system will likely scan this document before a hiring manager or recruiter will lay eyes on it. This initial step helps to narrow down the number of applications a human has to review by weeding out resumes that do not mention critical keywords or include relevant information.
It is not difficult to have an ATS accept your manuscript. The most important factor is to make sure you use keywords and phrases from a technical support job description for creating a resume. You should also standardize your section headings to avoid confusions and the possibility of having your resume rejected because the system cannot process the structure.
Our sample resume demonstrates how to include words and phrases in each section that can increase your chance of earning a high ATS evaluation score. The candidate brings up her specific field of study and certifications in her professional summary. In the skills section, she mentions specific types of systems as well as her ability to configure networks and security settings, provide customer service, and produce documentation. These skills are relevant to almost any technical support position.
Be sure to clearly state your current and past job titles and responsibilities, particularly if these relate to the position you desire. The candidate in the sample resume describes her work experience in terms that are relevant to her next job and uses metrics to catch the eye of a human looking over her resume once it has passed the initial ATS scan.
As you complete your resume, make sure you have made the most of each section and included important terms that show you are perfectly suited for an advertised opening. Make sure to format this document in a conventional font that is easy for systems relying on optical character recognition to scan.
