Solutions architects assess an organization’s IT needs to develop effective solutions. Organizations’ operations change over time as the business grows. This comes with challenges and the demand for new technology, such as integrating a CRM system, adding a chatbot to a website, or migrating to a cloud database.
This is where the solutions architect comes in. Their role is to help organizations meet their needs by providing them with technical solutions. They facilitate scalability and offer highly technical consultation to stakeholders. Some solutions architects are generalized, while others work on a specific field, such as cloud solutions. If this is your case, you should specify that in your resume.
These professionals implement architectural planning for IT solutions, including blueprints and roadmaps. Therefore, you must be highly knowledgeable about networking and computer systems. It is important to highlight your educational background in your resume. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer network architects should have post-secondary education. Ideally, a solutions architect has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field.
In this guide, we’ll explore eight solutions architect roles and show you how to develop your resume with industry-relevant standards. You’ll also get a resume template for each role and customized tips to get your resume to the next level.
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A solutions architect is an IT professional whose responsibility is to develop solutions for an organization. They provide recommendations to stakeholders on what type of solutions would maximize their productivity or reduce issues in their operations. Solutions architects collect relevant documentation to develop technical roadmaps and propose solutions. Your resume should reflect your ability to conduct research and evaluate an organization’s needs.
To become a solutions architect, you must have highly technical training, such as a bachelor’s degree in computer science or IT. However, there are also non-conventional career paths for solutions architects, such as online courses in cloud computing, technical schools, and internships.
You must also get professional experience in network administration and cloud solutions. Ideally, you can also get some certifications to validate your skills and expertise. Since this is a managerial role, some employers might require you to have several years of experience in the IT field.
Considering this is such a technical professional, your potential employer might expect you to have relevant training, so it is important to highlight your educational background. You can include your college degree, internships, certifications, and anything that demonstrates your knowledge of IT solutions.
An AWS solutions architect is focused on cloud computing solutions. It’s what’s considered a specialized solutions architect. They help stakeholders create and manage scalable cloud solutions. Your resume should be tailored to AWS, so it’s important to include related keywords. An AWS solutions architect helps companies with cloud migration, workload architectures, and technical assistance.
There are multiple levels of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification that help you validate your competencies with cloud computing. These certifications demonstrate your proficiency in data security, workload techniques, and knowledge of the AWS platform.
As an AWS solutions architect, you must be proficient in multiple programming languages like Python, C#, and Java. Therefore, it is crucial to mention those coding languages you are familiar with in your resume.
As a Cloud Architect, you'll be responsible for designing and implementing cloud-based solutions for businesses. Recently, there's been a rising demand for skilled Cloud Architects, making it essential to craft an impressive resume. When writing your resume, pay attention to showcasing your expertise in cloud platforms, like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, as well as emphasizing your understanding of cloud security and cost optimization. It's also important to stay updated on industry trends so that you can demonstrate your knowledge of emerging technologies and best practices.
In terms of resume structure, focus on your professional experience and highlight specific projects that showcase your skills and achievements in cloud architecture. Be sure to quantify your impact whenever possible and mention any relevant certifications or skills that set you apart from the competition. Your resume should be concise, well-organized, and tailored to the specific Cloud Architect role you're applying for.
Earning respected certifications, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, demonstrates your expertise in cloud platforms. Include them in your education or certifications section to show your commitment to staying current in the field.
Many companies today utilize a multi-cloud strategy, so showcasing your experience with multiple cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud can make you a more attractive candidate. Detail your work on such projects, emphasizing your adaptability and ability to create integrated cloud solutions.
A cloud architect designs and implements an organization’s cloud integration plan. This includes evaluating the company’s needs for storage and scalability. Then, they will craft cloud solutions for them, such as developing cloud applications. As a cloud architect, you will oversee the entire cloud integration operation, so you must have excellent organizational skills. This is something you want to highlight on your resume.
As a cloud architect, you must ensure data security on the cloud services you create or integrate. You must implement data authorization and authentication protocols to protect the system from unwanted entries. This way, only authorized people will have access to the cloud. You could also implement hierarchy authorization access so that each member has access to the correct data.
Cloud architects collaborate with several team members, so it’s important to have excellent interpersonal skills. Sometimes you will have to communicate with non-technical stakeholders, so you must translate highly technical language into a digestible message.
Enterprise architects work alongside solutions architects to reduce the gap between an organization and its IT goals. They identify weaknesses in computer systems, including hardware and software, and propose new strategies to implement. This is why your enterprise architect resume should highlight your problem-solving skills.
As an enterprise architect, you must have excellent project management skills. You will develop an IT roadmap, propose new structural plans, and coordinate with the technical team to integrate new technologies. That’s why it is vital to reflect your project management skills in your resume. You can also talk about previous jobs in which you completed projects and describe your experience.
A data architect is a computer science professional responsible for designing and implementing policies for data storage. However, their job goes beyond that. They also determine the technologies and models used for data management. In your resume, you should highlight your ability to integrate data management solutions.
Data management should be one of your core competencies as a data architect. It is important to emphasize your proficiency in data migration, relational database management systems, cloud computing, data lakes, and programming languages like SQL.
This is an occupation that requires logical thinking and problem-solving skills, so it’s important to highlight these traits on your resume. Each organization is different, so you may encounter diverse challenges, but your potential employer might want to know that you are resilient and a problem solver.
An Azure architect is a cloud computing professional whose expertise is to develop scalable cloud solutions using Microsoft Azure. You can work on cloud or hybrid solutions, so you can mention your familiarity with both approaches on your resume. Azure architects transform their stakeholders’ requirements into secure and fault-tolerant Azure solutions.
Microsoft offers a certification called Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. This certification validates your ability to build, monitor, and troubleshoot secure and highly scalable cloud solutions using Microsoft Azure. If you have this certification or a related one, it would be a good idea to add it to your resume.
A technical architect evaluates the organization’s goals and current IT infrastructure to propose computer network solutions. They focus on designing, testing, and modeling network infrastructure. In addition, they are responsible for maintaining network security. This is a great skill to add to your technical architect resume. As a technical architect, you must also monitor and maintain IT infrastructure.
A great way to elevate your resume is by adding metrics to quantify your achievements. This gives recruiters a better idea of what you can accomplish for their organization. You can talk about improving operations productivity or enhancing data security.
Technical architects collaborate with a large technical team and this role often requires managerial skills. Your resume should reflect these leadership and teamwork skills if you want to make a good impression. You can talk about previous projects and how you guided the team to complete them.
This is another specialized solutions architect that focuses on developing and implementing cloud solutions. They design, implement and monitor cloud architecture. They also manage authentication processes and implement security protocols to protect the system. Most cloud solutions architects specialize in a particular system like AWS or Azure, so you can specify that in your resume.
Cloud solutions architects also manage cloud migrations and guide employees, stakeholders, and customers on using the platform. Their role is to make a seamless transition that helps the company improve operations.
A good way to seem more specialized is by tailoring your resume to the cloud computing field. You can talk about previous projects in which you proposed innovative cloud ideas and add cloud-related skills such as Hadoop, AWS, or Microsft Azure. This is also a good technique because it helps you get past ATS systems. These are applications that scan resumes to filter candidates. Some prospects won’t even make it past the ATS because their resume is not optimized, so you don’t want that to be your case.
Soft skills such as communication, team work, and resilience are relevant for a solutions architect role. However, this is a highly technical profession, so your employer is looking for very specific hard competencies. That’s why you want to use the skills section to shine. Include highly relevant competencies such as data storage management, security protocols, and networking.
We spoke to recruiters and hiring managers at top companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to understand what they look for in Solutions Architect resumes. They emphasized the importance of showcasing your technical skills, experience with cloud platforms, and ability to design and implement complex systems. The following tips will help you create a strong resume that catches the attention of hiring managers in this field.
Hiring managers want to see that you have hands-on experience with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. They look for specific details about the projects you worked on and the results you achieved.
Instead of simply listing the cloud platforms you've used, provide concrete examples:
Avoid vague or generic statements like:
A resume summary for a Solutions Architect is an optional section that provides a brief overview of your professional background, key skills, and career highlights. While not required, it can be an effective way to grab the hiring manager's attention and provide context for the rest of your resume, especially if you're a career changer or have extensive experience. However, avoid using an objective statement, as it's outdated and focuses on your goals rather than what you can offer the employer.
When crafting your summary, be objective and use metrics to showcase your achievements. Incorporate relevant keywords from the job description to optimize for applicant tracking systems (ATS). Keep it concise, ideally no more than a paragraph or a few bullet points. Avoid directly mentioning soft skills; instead, demonstrate them through your accomplishments.
The work experience section is the heart of your resume as a solutions architect. It's where you highlight your most relevant and impactful professional experiences. Hiring managers and recruiters will spend the most time reviewing this section, so it's important to get it right.
In this section, we'll cover the key steps to writing a strong work experience section that will help you stand out and land your next solutions architect role.
Solutions architects often work as the bridge between non-technical stakeholders and the engineering team. Therefore, they must have excellent communication skills and reliability. If you want to showcase this in your resume, you should use practical language that illustrates your achievements and competencies.
A good way to do this is by using strong action verbs relevant to your profession. Action verbs make you seem accountable for previous projects’ outcomes and improve your readability. Below, we have selected some action verbs that are perfect for your solutions architect resume.
For more related action verbs, visit Computer Science Action Verbs.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
Solutions architects have a very technical profession, so their skills are oriented toward information technology infrastructure, network administration, data security, database management, etc. You must also reflect on your resume your DevOps engineering skills, since you’ll be working with the engineering and operations team, and you need to promote a dynamic work environment.
Even though solutions architects don’t replace the role of project managers, they must have project management skills. This is something you want to mention in your resume. If you need more skills ideas to include in your resume, please check our selection of solutions architect competencies below.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Solutions Architect job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
