One of the many things that I learn in my study of Wing Chun Kung Fu is balance. Without balance, it's impossible to react rapidly, move nimbly, and respond effectively to rapidly changing situations.

IT Resume Writers are a rare breed in the resume writing industry.

Most resume writers are generalists; they write a very wide range of projects, from entry level to executive, and from sales or marketing to administrative. Many of those resume writers are very skilled, and produce strong resumes, cover letters. Many of the those resume writers, quite frankly, are less skillful, and tend to produce look alike, read alike documents.

As a Professional IT Executive Resume Writer, I see a lot resumes that don't even begin to do my clients - or their careers - justice.

Too often, the CIO resumes that I see look like an IT manager resume that's been slightly repurposed for a higher level position.

I recently read this excellent article, "CIOs Must Innovate Or Go Home" by Rob Preston. He argues compellingly against the "trendy pessimism" on macroeconomic levels in the media and general culture.

Rob also discusses the microeconomic challenges to innovation, and sees one primary issue

I recently came upon an interesting article detailing many of the challenges that keep top corporate CIOs up at night. Gery Menegaz makes some great points on the many, rapidly changing pressures that CIOs face in a constantly evolving and unpredictable technology and business landscape. I'd highly recommend the article; he presents many great, solid insights from some leading CIOs on big data, cloud, BYOD, security, and the myriad other challenges that CIOs face as technology continues to rapidly transform.

Calvin Coolidge may be an odd character to appear in this technology resume blog. I doubt that the man dubbed "Silent Cal" would understand our word driven culture. Hard to see him having an active twitter account, eh? Let alone blogging.

We now live in a sea of words. Silent Cal may have said little. But his comment that "The business of America is business" resonated strongly with me as I was considering the rapidly evolving role of the CIO.

In my previous blog, I discussed 4 effective strategies to present—and leverage—technical competencies individual contributors seeking a hands-on technical role. In this follow-up article, I'd like to address strategies to communicate your technical competencies in you IT leadership resume or IT executive resume.

Technical Core Competencies are an absolutely critical element in a solid, interview winning IT or Engineering resume. But - as with all elements of a strong resume - it's important to have a clear, definite strategy in the approach you choose to highlight these technical strengths.

It is critical to ensure that you demonstrate the necessary technical depth. But it's equally important to present technical skills in a way that doesn't overwhelm the reader.

When I was recruiting, I was frankly shocked by the prevalence - and openness - of age discrimination. Needless to say, I "fired" clients for insisting on an illegal - and wrong-headed - insistence of recruiting within a given age range. So, when I write a resume for job seekers in their forties, fifties, and beyond, I'm very conscious of mitigating these risks. Here are several strategies that I - and my clients - have found useful.