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The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

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Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#51

Post by throwawayosiu1 »

sqeaky wrote: post #43
Dzugaru wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not every programmer likes to share his side-project code on public places like GitHub - for many reasons. Or pullrequest to some opensource mess. Code you write and problems you solve at work usually can't be shown on GitHub either. So, this "show me your GitHub" thing for me is no different from "show me your Facebook, wait what, no FB account??" experience with non-technical HRs ;) Conventional resume is totally O…

Resumes are extremely easy to exaggerate or fabricate. I haven't seen fake github profiles yet (and I suspect they would be more trouble than they are worth). I am often brought in on the hiring process to vet peoples technical skills. I used to just try to ask questions in the hour or two I got with the person, this seemed no better than flipping a coin. Even if the person was honest and we were both talking about t…

Very recently, a close friend was looking for a job (as a junior dev - focused on web). After applying and getting rejected, we decided to try a different approach - he basically gave up and decided to the following:

1) added buzz keywords in his resume

2) hosted an instance of gitlab and took various open source projects (stuff that was not popular, but had enough polish), modified them and uploaded them.

After a week, he was able to land multiple interviews. While he did get called out once, almost all engineers/non-tech hr didn't bother calling his bluff.

I am not suggesting that you should lie on your resume or steal open source projects, just that depending on one factor (like github, or resume, or white boards) is futile and that tech hiring in general is broken.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#52

Post by fecak »

As someone who reads and writes thousands of developer resumes a year, the major problem I see is that people have a difficult time separating what is important from what isn't, and separating day-to-day responsibilities (which are typically understood from a job title) from unique and novel achievements. I don't know if this kind of tool solves that problem.

Much of my work with resume clients is extracting what they do from them and then putting it into efficient words. Many people struggle with just explaining what they do.

The other problem is that you have to understand that your reader often isn't someone with a highly technical background (or even a recruiting background), so you have to define yourself quickly in order to prevent the reader from misinterpreting who you are. If a reader is looking for a "Python Developer", it's best to refer to yourself that way on the resume.

For senior level people length is often the issue - it's a highlight reel - not a biography. Anyone can get to 1-2 pages max.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#53

Post by sotojuan »

gamedna wrote: post #36

My recent job search lead me to the idea that the traditional resume is broken. Temporal view only gives recruiters and hiring managers the bullet points to qualify you in whatever bucket that they need. Instead of a traditional CV/Resume, I went with a single page narrative approach with a link to the temporal view on my LinkedIn profile. Initially there was some pushback as the recruiters were bellyaching over the…

I haven't sent a resume in a while. Usually I just give a "cover letter" of sorts that says a) why I'm interested in the job b) what I can offer/why they "need" me, c) why I think so (usually just talk about experience).

I have a website that lists my workplaces and my main projects and of course my GitHub, both of which I link. I guess that's my "resume".

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#54

Post by aalear »

omouse wrote: post #47

StackOverflow as a company may have grown a little too quickly; I wonder how much $$ they make from this and whether they should just focus on their core which is community and maintaining a decent community rather than these marketing-led stunts.

These aren't mutually exclusive goals. We have people dedicated to growing and maintaining the community (on Stack Overflow, as well as the other sites in the Stack Exchange network), people who work on large feature areas (e.g. Documentation), yet more people who are focused on the Jobs and hiring/recruiting experience for developers, etc.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#55

Post by gentleteblor »

fecak wrote: post #52

As someone who reads and writes thousands of developer resumes a year, the major problem I see is that people have a difficult time separating what is important from what isn't, and separating day-to-day responsibilities (which are typically understood from a job title) from unique and novel achievements. I don't know if this kind of tool solves that problem. Much of my work with resume clients is extracting what the…

This is why the resume endures despite it's many flaws (talked about this in some other comments). There needs to be a summarized, editorialized version of your "history" and that's what the resume does in a (semi) standardized format.

The big thing for me is that this summarized/editorialized version shouldn't be what you (the one with the career) manage on a regular basis. You should have a source of truth that is far more comprehensive (and manageable) and which allows you to create this summary version easily.

On another note...I've been writing a lot of web copy lately and I've started seeing a lot of similarities between good web copy and good resume copy. Resumes are marketing tools, and don't you forget it.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#56

Post by aalear »

eterm wrote: post #50

Does anyone have a security@ contact address for stackoverflow that they know is monitored? Unfortunately there is no way to opt out of this service right now. (edit: I don't want to email security to ask for an opt-out, it would just be nice to opt out until they fix the actual security issue.) Edit: Found a web form they use on security.stackexchange.

Not sure what issue you're referring to, but you can reach us through the contact form linked at the bottom of every page on our Q&A sites (like the one you found) or by email to team@. Mentioning something like "security vulnerability" in the subject or the body will help get it looked at faster.

Edit: checked internally, and this specific issue is being fixed as we speak.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#57

Post by eterm »

aalear wrote: post #56
eterm wrote: post #50

Does anyone have a security@ contact address for stackoverflow that they know is monitored? Unfortunately there is no way to opt out of this service right now. (edit: I don't want to email security to ask for an opt-out, it would just be nice to opt out until they fix the actual security issue.) Edit: Found a web form they use on security.stackexchange.

Not sure what issue you're referring to, but you can reach us through the contact form linked at the bottom of every page on our Q&A sites (like the one you found) or by email to team@. Mentioning something like "security vulnerability" in the subject or the body will help get it looked at faster. Edit: checked internally, and this specific issue is being fixed as we speak.

Thanks, I've done that now, hopefully you can find my submission I did put 'security vulnerability' as the top line in the body. If that doesn't narrow it down search for 1635976 also in the body.

It's an either an information disclosure issue or an authorization issue (depending on your point of view), I won't say more on here.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#58

Post by fecak »

gentleteblor wrote: post #55
fecak wrote: post #52

As someone who reads and writes thousands of developer resumes a year, the major problem I see is that people have a difficult time separating what is important from what isn't, and separating day-to-day responsibilities (which are typically understood from a job title) from unique and novel achievements. I don't know if this kind of tool solves that problem. Much of my work with resume clients is extracting what the…

This is why the resume endures despite it's many flaws (talked about this in some other comments). There needs to be a summarized, editorialized version of your "history" and that's what the resume does in a (semi) standardized format. The big thing for me is that this summarized/editorialized version shouldn't be what you (the one with the career) manage on a regular basis. You should have a source of truth that is…

It's all marketing really. Many of the devs who struggle the most have some difficulty giving themselves credit for things they've done - they're modest perhaps. I think when I write some of these resumes they are more accepting of them because it's me bragging about their accomplishments.

Unfortunately in the resume writing game, there are lots of failed writers that were never involved in hiring. They are good writers but don't know the audience, so people end up paying substantial amounts for a nicely worded resume that doesn't result in interviews.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#59

Post by 3pt14159 »

fecak wrote: post #52

As someone who reads and writes thousands of developer resumes a year, the major problem I see is that people have a difficult time separating what is important from what isn't, and separating day-to-day responsibilities (which are typically understood from a job title) from unique and novel achievements. I don't know if this kind of tool solves that problem. Much of my work with resume clients is extracting what the…

As I've gotten older my resumes have gotten shorter. The shortest resume is just your last name "Zuckerberg" or "Snowden". If you've achieved something impressive (sold a company, started a well known web framework, fixed some large horrible government or organizational process) it speaks for itself and the rest of it is just making sure you aren't a conartist, which an interview can easily handle.

Re: The Stack Overflow Developer Story: A New Technical Resume

#60

Post by fecak »

3pt14159 wrote: post #59
fecak wrote: post #52

As someone who reads and writes thousands of developer resumes a year, the major problem I see is that people have a difficult time separating what is important from what isn't, and separating day-to-day responsibilities (which are typically understood from a job title) from unique and novel achievements. I don't know if this kind of tool solves that problem. Much of my work with resume clients is extracting what the…

As I've gotten older my resumes have gotten shorter. The shortest resume is just your last name "Zuckerberg" or "Snowden". If you've achieved something impressive (sold a company, started a well known web framework, fixed some large horrible government or organizational process) it speaks for itself and the rest of it is just making sure you aren't a conartist, which an interview can easily handle.

>As I've gotten older my resumes have gotten shorter.

That's refreshing to hear. I hear too many people claiming "I have so much experience and accomplishments that I simply can't fit them all in under four pages". The problem there is just an inability to assess what is the most impressive or relevant experience.

Many people do get emotionally attached to the work they've done. I've worked with people transitioning into tech from other fields, and it is hard for them to swallow the thought of distilling their 10 years as a litigator and law school into maybe 2 lines on a resume. If you can detach yourself from the work, are efficient with words, and you know what employers are looking for, it's not difficult to create a one or two page resume even with lots of experience.

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