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The reverse job applicant

reversejobapplication.com

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Re: The reverse job applicant

#101

Post by JustinSeriously »

thirdstation wrote: post #42
scott_s wrote: post #31

It's one thing to not want to list buzzwords. It's something else entirely to make no mention at all of what kind of a job you're looking for, or even what kind of a job you'd be good at. I assumed he wasn't a developer of any kind until I got to his list of "I won't." (I followed his link at the bottom to his real page and confirmed there that he is a software developer.)

To me, it seems like he's looking more for personal fit than a specific job. On his personal site he says he wants to be a jack-of-all-trades. As one myself, I know he'll have a tough time finding a job using the traditional approach. It's rare to see a job posting for a generalist but, everywhere I've worked had one.

Generalists should go for smaller companies, like small web development shops. Those jobs are always, "Programming, plus some simple web design, which means a grasp of SEO, probably Photoshop, occasionally sysadmin work, knowledge of Apache, and you'll have to set up your own version control."

Re: The reverse job applicant

#102

Post by canterburry »

If you have been unemployed for 2 years, I would expect you to have an acronym list on your resume longer than anyone with an actual job.

Being unemployed can offer HUGE advantages in terms of being completely up to date on the latest and greatest, something most employed people simply don't have the time for.

You don't need a job to tech you the tools of the trade so make sure you walk in with those already in your back pocket.

There have been plenty of crafty people on HN who have built up a resume with experience by simply offering free services in order to prove they can do something. I would suggest you do the same at this point.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#103

Post by andreyf »

stealthdude wrote: post #40
brosephius wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wait, it's the employer's job to dig for your resume? this "reverse job app" gives me no substantive data on what this guy's skills are, so why would I even bother? if you want a job, it's your responsibility to make the case for why you're worth hiring.

Likewise most job ads provide very little actual information about the job, use vague descriptions for everything, do not explain what company or project the job is really for, cannot explain what actual skills are required to do the job, do not give any idea what pay-scale is being offered.

Bingo. If job positions advertised themselves with clear examples of projects I'd be expected to tackle within my first year on the job, I'd be a lot more likely to consider switching.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#104

Post by tlrobinson »

flipper wrote: post #92
run4yourlives wrote: post #72

If you really care which programming languages I already know or which applications I have used before, I can only assume that you're overlooking my ability to quickly pick up new technologies and adjust to new ways of thinking. I would encourage you to correct this, as it is a mistake. I know it's tongue in cheek, but my god does the current generation not have any humility at all? This is going to ruin your world v…

Yeah, if I was an employer (and I have been from time to time) I'd probably read this, smile wryly, and move on. But someone else might not. I don't have a problem with the guy asserting that he can pick up new technologies quickly, as long as he expects he will only be offered entry-level positions. You do not write Python the way Shakespeare wrote prose after six months. I do however have problem with him not provi…

This stunt is an attention catcher but he can't seriously expect to get a job without at least an interview. And not some bullshit where he interviews the company. There's no way in hell I'd hire him without first checking his competency.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#105

Post by jemfinch »

ramchip wrote: post #78
astrofinch wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm. 'Fraid I don't see what a sense of entitlement has to do with the difficulty of picking up new programming languages.

Programming languages can't all be picked up that quickly, since semantics may differ a lot. You can't say "Give me any programming task and I'll pick it up". What if you're a Web guy and the task is a C++ medical application? What if we're a finance company and the language is Haskell or ML? There's no way someone with no experience in a related language could become proficient without a fairly long training period…

> Programming languages can't all be picked up that quickly, since semantics may differ a lot.

The second day with my new employer I was tasked with writing an analysis project in a language I'd never even heard of before joining. Within two weeks, I was writing code in that language every bit as good as my coworkers'.

Your statement may hold true for people who know one or two languages (like most CS graduates these days), but once you know a wide array of languages (my list is Python, C and C++, OCaml and SML, Lisp and Scheme, Perl, and the semantics but not the libraries of Lua/Ruby/Java/Erlang/Haskell) picking up a new language really isn't a challenge at all: the semantics almost certainly fit somewhere in the space of the languages you know, and what small bits do not are easily learned.

(As a side note, that's why I still put OCaml, Erlang, and Lisp on my resume; not that I imagine very many employers would be interested in working in those languages, but because I want them to know that whatever they do their work in likely lies within the range of my existing semantic knowledge.)

Re: The reverse job applicant

#106

Post by jph98 »

I sympathize. It's horrible being in this position when you first graduate, rest assured - somebody will give you a break, I assure you that. Some advice

1. Clean up your CV, make it look more for professional and less arty.

2. Stress the open source project and dev blog in interviews along with any books/resources and interesting language features/features you're currently using at the moment.

3. Don't wait for somebody to come to you. A good approach is to approach employers directly rather than using recruitment agents or middlemen. You will find somebody who will give a break. Recruitment agents are the scum of the earth, but sometimes very useful - I didn't find them so useful when starting out.

4. You weren't unemployed for two years - I can't stress this enough. You worked on open source projects during that time and learned a whole bunch. Right?

Good luck with the job search : )

Re: The reverse job applicant

#107

Post by SkyMarshal »

run4yourlives wrote: post #72

If you really care which programming languages I already know or which applications I have used before, I can only assume that you're overlooking my ability to quickly pick up new technologies and adjust to new ways of thinking. I would encourage you to correct this, as it is a mistake. I know it's tongue in cheek, but my god does the current generation not have any humility at all? This is going to ruin your world v…

Be humble and gracious until you actually distinguish yourself.

And even moreso afterwards.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#108

Post by run4yourlives »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #107
run4yourlives wrote: post #72

If you really care which programming languages I already know or which applications I have used before, I can only assume that you're overlooking my ability to quickly pick up new technologies and adjust to new ways of thinking. I would encourage you to correct this, as it is a mistake. I know it's tongue in cheek, but my god does the current generation not have any humility at all? This is going to ruin your world v…

Be humble and gracious until you actually distinguish yourself. And even moreso afterwards.

Agreed. Although you have a little more room to be an ass if you can back it up.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#109

Post by jemfinch »

hop wrote: post #77

Your resume could be part of the problem - http://www.andrewhorner.com/documents/AndrewHorner.Resume.pd... Some constructive criticism: Thats a lot of ink to print that out, drop the black and grey banners. Try using a resume theme from Pages or Word for a start and just use black fonts on a white background. Use Myriad Pro or something more modern than Arial. Make it one page. Your first entry shouldn't be that you…

Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but I look at snazzified, graphical resumes like that I think, "This person wastes time on things that aren't important."

Go grab a LaTeX template, replace the filler with your own information, and get it down to one page.

Re: The reverse job applicant

#110

Post by masnick »

hop wrote: post #77

Your resume could be part of the problem - http://www.andrewhorner.com/documents/AndrewHorner.Resume.pd... Some constructive criticism: Thats a lot of ink to print that out, drop the black and grey banners. Try using a resume theme from Pages or Word for a start and just use black fonts on a white background. Use Myriad Pro or something more modern than Arial. Make it one page. Your first entry shouldn't be that you…

The rule of thumb that my university's career center used is that after your junior year of college no one cares about what you did in high school anymore.

And I second all the comments of the parent...resume definitely needs some work.

If you still want a non-cookie-cutter resume template, try making one in Latex. I personally use a heavily modified version of the template mentioned here: http://www.thelinuxdaily.com/2008/10/latex-resume-examples/

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