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How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

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Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#101

Post by ep103 »

hi all. Could I ask a question about job advice?

I spent 2.5 years at my first job (effectively moved from junior dev to senior). I then took a job at a traveling consulting company (where I was officially promoted, and ran a huge project), but left after 1 year because I couldn't stand traveling that extensively. Then I moved to my current company, where I've been for 9-10 months, but will likely be fired by the new management team that came in, because I'm part of an overbudget project.

Am I fucked? My current plan is to just wait and see if I am let go or not (probably will be), and then go travel for a few months (I'm burned out). But the very first page of this slideshow is that hiring managers look for red flags about multiple short time roles and employment gaps, and I'll have a 1 year, and a < 1 year on my resume.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#102

Post by gedrap »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #99
gedrap wrote: post #91

At our university, University of Manchester, we had a careers service drone telling us to list your experience working as a waiter and highlight skills you learned there ('communicating in stressful environment' and what not). Dear young readers. Seriously, don't do that. Waste of space at best. Looks just stupid at worst. It doesn't tell me anything about your ability as a programmer at all. Description about a week…

You're being harsh - graduate CVs are tough because almost no-one has done anything useful. Yes it all looks rubbish but I'd rather someone who had made an effort to sell themselves and had shown they had the ability to pitch up to a job on a regular basis.

But in our industry, it's easy to stand out. Spend a weekend or two, make some web app, Android app, or whatever. Maybe make a commit to some open source project, if you are struggling with ideas (in that case, you are capable to work with code written by other people, amazing!). And you are ahead of majority because you demonstrated that you can make something practical, real world.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#104

Post by kasey_junk »

ep103 wrote: post #101

hi all. Could I ask a question about job advice? I spent 2.5 years at my first job (effectively moved from junior dev to senior). I then took a job at a traveling consulting company (where I was officially promoted, and ran a huge project), but left after 1 year because I couldn't stand traveling that extensively. Then I moved to my current company, where I've been for 9-10 months, but will likely be fired by the new…

"Am I fucked"

Probably not. Be honest (to yourself and who you are trying to get hired by) about your skill set and explain why you left those companies. Do NOT bad mouth previous employers.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#105

Post by Retric »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #98
couchand wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's one very simple reason that this strategy fails: good developers can and do learn new technologies quickly. It's far more important to find someone willing and able to learn than someone who can copy and paste a few keywords.

But it doesn't fail. I've been recruiting solid teams who deliver software for a decade now. The right current skills and the ability to learn future skills aren't incompatible. After all, how do you think those people got those current skills? I don't have to choose one or the other and I've rarely met anyone in IT who isn't willing to learn new skills. Generally I have two or three core skills I'm looking for for a…

You have little idea what your opportunity costs are.

However, it’s unlikely that the best fit is going to have your ideal background and be willing to spend much time jumping through your hoops.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#106

Post by kasey_junk »

tortos123 wrote: post #52

Sorry It was nice and made nice points but it seems like you just want to advertise your own business by offering to rewrite CV's and a link to your site.

"seems like you just want to advertise your own business by offering to rewrite CV's and a link to your site"

So? Just because the author has a business reason to present this great free content, doesn't make it any less great and free.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#107

Post by talmand »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #86
mercurial wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a developer, why do you feel it's reasonable to disregard side projects? If, say, I claim LLVM knowledge based on a publicly available language developed on my spare time, why shouldn't be taken into account in the recruiting process?

I don't disregard them completely and I think CVs can be written in such a way that recruiters (who actually get very excited about such stuff these days) and HR people will be fine with this sort of thing. What I would say is that there is a difference between hobby code where you get to do what you want and code where you didn't control requirements and had to deliver to unreasonable people in unreasonable timefram…

What I get out of that first statement is that you do tend to disregard unless the candidate knows exactly how to describe the related subjects on their CV in a way that makes you happy. And you don't see the problem that developers might have with that? Especially when they don't know the secret method of describing things to make recruiters happy?

As for the rest, I think it's reasonable to assume that a candidate with commercial experience will favor over hobby experience. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of where that doesn't hold true, but I suppose it's a decent rule.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#108

Post by logfromblammo »

bitwize wrote: post #94
philangist wrote: post #87

> If you can't be bothered to dress up a little bit for your interview, the hiring manager knows that you're going to be a pain in the ass to manage. I wonder how common this sentiment is in the UK. I know that most developers I've met/interviewed/been interviewed by in NYC don't care (at least outside of finance). Can anyone on the other side of the pond give me their thoughts or experiences?

It's true everywhere. Always, ALWAYS wear a suit to your interview, even if the hiring manager says he doesn't care. It presents a crisp, professional appearance and shows the hiring manager that you care.

No. This is horrible advice for software professionals in the US. In a lot of places, it will show the hiring manager that you are an alien to their culture. You should simply wear what you would ordinarily wear to work when clients are expected that day in the office.

If the software professionals there actually wear suits, you can also wear one to interview, but be mindful that you probably won't enjoy working there much.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#109

Post by kasey_junk »

UK-AL wrote: post #100
kasey_junk wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Most people jump when the company is not paying market price so they switch." I've seen no data that suggests this is true, and from my own anecdotes I've found it to be untrue as well. The people I see that switch a lot seem to be simply unable to deal with colleagues or challenges that aren't going their way. Lots and lots of prima donna's in this industry that do not have the skill set to change things that are p…

Being able to justify or not justify has little to do with rises. Any smart person can justify just about anything, including justifying no pay rises. Decent challenges, and decent colleagues are included in my definition of market price.

"Any smart person can justify just about anything"

This turns out to not be true of lots of people. Being able to understand your value to your employer and to outline it in a compelling way is a skill that is very under developed in software tech candidates. It's also a skill that I've found correlates well with good hires.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#110

Post by couchand »

Retric wrote: post #105
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it doesn't fail. I've been recruiting solid teams who deliver software for a decade now. The right current skills and the ability to learn future skills aren't incompatible. After all, how do you think those people got those current skills? I don't have to choose one or the other and I've rarely met anyone in IT who isn't willing to learn new skills. Generally I have two or three core skills I'm looking for for a…

You have little idea what your opportunity costs are. However, it’s unlikely that the best fit is going to have your ideal background and be willing to spend much time jumping through your hoops.

...probably because your best fit already has a job they're happy with.
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