How programmers should write their resumes • Hacker News Board

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#31

Post by mh_yam » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:34 PM UTC

MetaCosm wrote: post #26

mh_yam wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. My (LaTeX) resume that I spend many hours refining has caught the attention of many hiring managers, and I often get compliments on it. Curse those recruiters who reformat my resume into their shitty Word templates. I've had times where a hiring manager would have the recruiter's version of the resume, and when I handed them my pretty resume they were pleasantly surprised.

The recruiters do that because lots of HR departments are explicit: docx or deleted. Once you get through the screen, you can show them your fancy resume, but at that point, no one cares about your resume -- you already caught their attention and it is interview / references time.

Haha. If a company doesn't want to hire me because my resume is not in .docx format, I probably don't want to be working there anyway!

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#32

Post by alttab » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:35 PM UTC

luch wrote: post #2

I rarely agree with the author of this blog post : - "Don't bother mentioning your G.P.A." : I know firms are only interested in your diploma's name, but it can be an advantage to mention you passed summa cum laude whereas another barely made it by coasting and offloading his share of works on others students (which is unfortunately a useful skill in the workplace). - "Don't bother using verbs other than "made" for p…

As a hiring manager, I actually care about your GPA. There is some self-selection with those that have a 3.9+. It means they cared about the topic, they went to class consistently, and they performed well during tests (under pressure).

I'd much rather have the motivated, driven guy who wants to dot his I's and cross his T's than a programmer who thinks that learning big-O notation isn't worth it, that learning software engineering methodology is a waste of time, and operating systems is dumb because all hiring positions want Java programmers.

High GPAs come with certain attitudes built in. It is not the only indicator of success, but when I see anything less than a 3.5 it makes me question the candidate's grit. Is that how you are going to behave when you are given work you don't like, or do not deem is important? We are paying you "A+" salaries, we want A+ work. Not night-before C- "I turned it in" software.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#33

Post by JazCE » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:36 PM UTC

bicx wrote: post #10

boobsbr wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Answer this: where can I look at some stuff you built? You can't, it's closed source proprietary internal stuff. And I'm not allowed to talk too much about it because I had to sign a NDA.

This. And while learning is important, I really am getting tired of the bullshit line about everyone needing open-source side projects (and this is coming from a guy who enjoys side projects). How many other professionals need side projects for legitimization? My mechanical engineering friends build stuff too, but no one's expecting them to bring in a home-made contraption for their interviews.

Fully agree. I wouldn't discount anyone for not having a github project. I have a life outside of work, i enjoy going out and being with friends and family. I spend most of my waking hours during the week at my machine coding, it's not something I want to do at the weekend, and that doesn't make me a bad coder.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#34

Post by JazCE » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:38 PM UTC

chadwickthebold wrote: post #13

ToastyMallows wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is having a portfolio website necessary now-a-days? What does HN think?

Having a portfolio website is necessary to get a job at the place most HN entrepreneurs are interested in running. For better or worse, a portfolio or an active github are almost necessary to land a position at a top-tier company or a startup. If you want to work for a generic business that has grown a software division out of necessity then your basic resume will do just fine.

Would you/they discount people who have >5 years experience working for mainstream organisations that might have "grown a software division out of necessity", but no github activity?

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#35

Post by doesnt_know » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:38 PM UTC

Programmers shouldn't write their resumes at all.

Get it done by a professional service. It's pretty much one of the most important documents you will ever have created. It's your ticket to employment, which is quite likely determining your quality of life.

Shop around. Find a quality, professional resume writing service with plenty of positive testimonials that will provide a custom service, not some "paste your text into a template" crock job.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#36

Post by sergiotapia » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:41 PM UTC

luch wrote: post #2

I rarely agree with the author of this blog post : - "Don't bother mentioning your G.P.A." : I know firms are only interested in your diploma's name, but it can be an advantage to mention you passed summa cum laude whereas another barely made it by coasting and offloading his share of works on others students (which is unfortunately a useful skill in the workplace). - "Don't bother using verbs other than "made" for p…

I think GPA is actually important as well - but only if you're straight out of school. If you have work experience and have proven to be an asset to the company you work for, who cares about a silly school number?

C's get degrees my friend.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#37

Post by MetaCosm » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:41 PM UTC

mh_yam wrote: post #31

MetaCosm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recruiters do that because lots of HR departments are explicit: docx or deleted. Once you get through the screen, you can show them your fancy resume, but at that point, no one cares about your resume -- you already caught their attention and it is interview / references time.

Haha. If a company doesn't want to hire me because my resume is not in .docx format, I probably don't want to be working there anyway!

That is one way to look at it -- a rather unproductive one, but you are welcome to it. Lots of great teams work at large companies and have no control over the first pass of resumes.

The reasons are often somewhat complex. Their application tracking software only supports word. Their IT department has sent word from atop the mountain to only accept .docx because it works with their AV and a bad virus got into the company via PDF last year.

It isn't the people you are going to be working with that are the problem, it is the people who defend the outer ring of large companies -- IT and HR departments.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#38

Post by mrsteveman1 » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:41 PM UTC

NKCSS wrote: post #17

boobsbr wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Answer this: where can I look at some stuff you built? You can't, it's closed source proprietary internal stuff. And I'm not allowed to talk too much about it because I had to sign a NDA.

There's always something to tell. Even when under NDA, you can link to the company/product you worked on, can't you? I did on my 'about' page ( http://nickkusters.com/About ) for stuff that was under NDA and I haven't had any comments.

Did you know some of the links at the bottom are spitting out 500's?

But hey that's a lot of interesting stuff you've worked on :)

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#39

Post by danielweber » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:41 PM UTC

This is yet another "I wish the world would work a certain way, so I am going to tell everyone that they should adapt to my worldview" job-market post.

The author may even be hiring and saying "these are the only kinds of resumes I read" but there are a thousand other companies out there with their own criteria for what makes a resume work.

Re: How programmers should write their resumes

#40

Post by sergiotapia » Wed, Apr 02, 2014, 1:42 PM UTC

ToastyMallows wrote: post #5

vezzy-fnord wrote: post #3

Not into GitHub? Register a memorable domain and throw together a to-the-point portfolio page instead. Or use another goddamned software hosting service? I'll never understand this sense of GitHub supremacy amongst trendies. Otherwise, the advice in general is subpar.

Is having a portfolio website necessary now-a-days? What does HN think?

There are 20 people applying for a job, and 19 of them don't have source code on the web. 1 does.

Who do you think has a higher chance of getting the job? It's a definite plus.