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True hacker resume: CV as Python unit test
- bockris 16y agoIt's cute but it's probably not going to result in a job.
- agconway 16y agoWell, as is pointed out, it will only result in a job if all the tests pass
- abstractbill 16y agoThe tests passing is apparently necessary, but by no means sufficient.
- DanielStraight 16y agoMaybe I'm being a little picky, but I don't find this very compelling. There are plenty of spelling and consistency errors. "Colaboration" is misspelled. The names "can_use_editor" and "is_acceptable_workstation" are inconsistent. It would be better to use "is_acceptable_editor" (or "can_use_workstation") for consistency. Actually, since those are calls on a company object, a name like, "allows_editor" would make a lot more sense. Coding style doesn't follow Python conventions (spaces around equals sign and after commas). The test "DynamicLanguagesAreInUse" doesn't clearly test what it says it's going to test. Also, the line numbers and lines don't match up in my browser.
- unshift 16y agonot to mention his assertTrue's in testSystemsUpAndRunning are completely invalid. never in my life would i hire this person. this should be a lesson: if you're going to do a "hacker" resume, it should be perfect and actually parse/compile and run. otherwise it looks like some lame gag. and is putting things in "code" ever cute, clever, or funny? i submit it is not.
- enjo 16y agoMy big issue is that he comes across as an ideologue... I want flexibility from developers, not someone who makes very specific demands of our methodology.
- masklinn 16y agoWait, he comes across as an ideologue for asking for an internal bug tracker and a source control system? Or that code be reviewed? Wow...
- jarek 16y ago"Windows? shudders", on the other hand...
- digitallogic 16y agoDo you think you could elaborate? Coming off as inflexible or dictatorial was something I actually worried about. The point I am trying to make is that there are certain minimum requirements I have of any employer, just as almost every job ad I've seen has a list of expected minimum skills. Would you work on software for a company that doesn't use version control? Being on HN is enough to convince me that you're smart enough not to.
- astrec 16y agoOn the other hand I wouldn't hire anyone who wasn't inflexible about having source control, defect tracking, CI, or code reviews. What is important to me, however, is that you demonstrate a little pragmatism about us using Mercurial over Git, Hudson over CC, Jira over Bugzilla, <insert tool we use> vs. <your favourite tool this week>. Although it would reflect better on you if your unit test were valid given an appropriate companies module, I really don't think you should be to worried.
- studer 16y ago> this should be a lesson: if you're going to do a "hacker" resume, it should be perfect and actually parse/compile and run. It does parse/compile and run. Try it.
- famousactress 16y agoYeah, in general I find the code not all that readable, despite that being the point.. This is a pretty bold, maybe even snarky, bit to pull.. and if you're going to pull it off it better be Beautiful Code.
- ErrantX 16y agoThe linked resume is even worse. That would be straight in the rejected pile, sadly.
- digitallogic 16y agoYes, this is quite embarrassing, especially the typos. I sent this to my buddy without expressing that it was still a work in progress, and he overzealously posted it here. I've noticed the line number issue with certain browsers myself. I haven't determined if it is the css/html from pygments (the library I used to generate the html) or something I'm doing. Needless to say since I am still trying to flush out the idea, matching line numbers was low on my list, but if you can give me your browser/os I can see if it can test it out and possibly drop a patch to pygments.
- DanielStraight 16y agoI can appreciate that. I think we've all accidentally made something public at least once. I'm running Firefox 3.6.6 on Windows XP.
- mccutchen 16y agoShouldn't the company = YourCompany() boilerplate at the top of each test method be factored out into def setUp(): self.company = YourCompany()
- diN0bot 16y agomos def! it's a small thing, but maybe it says something about what he thinks about and values. seems like abstraction and code maintability and extensibility are not as high on the list as testing. tests are super important, of course, but anyway can write tests. quality, IMHO and in all code including tests, comes from good design.
- ndimopoulos 16y agoDespite the spelling errors I really think that this is a very creative idea and would definitely result in a job. Creativity is often the reason one is hired. I liked it!
- joeld42 16y agoThis isn't a resume or CV, it's a list of requirements for a potential employer. The actual 'resume' part was poorly formatted and overlong. It would be much better if the resume was in code, that would be a cute gimmick. (i.e. self.knowsLanguages( ['Python', 'C++', 'Ruby'] ) ) However, tricks like this are great if other programmers are reading it, but can confuse HR people and easily get the resume tossed out.
- pbjorklund 16y agoTotally agree. Having seen a fair share of CV's that would put a flair to it, but also make the HR lady who's screening the CV's at BigCo go huh?. Im all for redoing the whole CV as commenter suggests here and targeting the right people with it whilst making the "real" CV shorter and easier to read. Point here is that both CV's should stand out from the stack, but in different ways based on the recipient
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- doki_pen 16y agoIt's to bad that there is a glaring typo in the first sentence. If you are reading this, fix the spelling! Or maybe it's a clever filter for people who focus on the wrong thing. ;-)
- pgbovine 16y agoIt's to bad that there is a glaring typo in the first sentence. If you are reading this, fix the spelling! (sorry, cheap shot!)
- gabrielroth 16y agoRecursion!
- isamuel 16y agoRecursion!
- acangiano 16y agoMuphry's law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphrys_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphrys_law).
- doki_pen 16y agoI have horrible grammar, so I was trying to help out my brethren! I hate that word. Its biggest problem is that it's a conjunction without an apostrophe. ;-)
- j_baker 16y agoI actually used to write my resume in Python. It got me in the door easily, but I think I ended up giving the impression that I was a one-trick pony who could only do Python. I have a "regular" resume now.
- pgbovine 16y agoperhaps you could create a polyglot resume: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyglot_%28computing%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyglot_%28computing%29
- clistctrl 16y agoDo programmers need gimmicks? Last time I looked for a job, it took 1 week. Certainly I'm no one special either.
- iron_ball 16y agoUgh, he uses Yoda conditions. If two, the value is less than, Jedi you will become.
- subwindow 16y agoOh, I didn't realize that had a name! My boss does that, and it is incredibly irritating.
- leftnode 16y agoUntil you're system is crippled by a bug as a result of not using them.
- masklinn 16y agoThis is something that cannot happen in Python. Yoda conditions are entirely pointless in that language.
- acangiano 16y agoNot in this case, but Yoda conditions can be useful. The most common case is preventing accidental assignment when you are trying to check for the equality of values. Say that you mean to do: if (something == 2) If you forget an equal sign, the resulting code can lead to subtile bugs: if (something = 2) // Not what we meant If you are using a Yoda condition and forget an equal sign, you'll get an error right away (so that you can correct it): if (2 = something) // Error There are other use cases, particularly related to nil values, but this should show you the gist of it.
- afhof 16y agoI would be more impressed by a CV submitted in Brainfuck.
- cag_ii 16y agoClearly, Whitespace* would be a better choice. * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_%28programming_language%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_%28programming_langu...
- run4yourlives 16y agoIt's rather presumptuous and obnoxious though isn't it? A CV is a listing of your accomplishments and achievement, really. It's your platform to sell yourself to others. This page comes of to me more as "Are you good enough for me"? which to be very honest sets the wrong tone to me when I wear my employer hat. I'm not suggesting that shouldn't be a part of the process, but as an opening line it's a little off-putting even if we do meet the standard.
- arthurdent 16y agonon PEP8 for mixedCase instead of CapWords for classes.
- j_baker 16y agoThe class is CapWords. Of course the method names aren't PEP 8 compliant, but neither are the method names in the built in unittest library.
- Shorel 16y agoHe also has a very standard resume here: http://dibon.homelinux.org/~mark/test/MarkRoddyResume.pdf http://dibon.homelinux.org/~mark/test/MarkRoddyResume.pdf
- city41 16y agoUgh. I hate to criticize this guy some more, but that's one wordy resume. In my experience it'll at best get a quick glance. To the point resumes are much more effective.
- zackattack 16y agoI recommend http://www.jobspice.com http://www.jobspice.com - a YCombinator company.
- cldwalker 16y agoIn a similar vein, here's my executable cover letter in ruby, http://tagaholic.me/resume.html http://tagaholic.me/resume.html. Running it opens my resume in your browser (on a Mac). Got the idea from http://macournoyer.com/blog/2010/02/23/how-to-apply-to-a-job/ http://macournoyer.com/blog/2010/02/23/how-to-apply-to-a-job...
- joshklein 16y agoOP is right that this is a true hacker resume, in the sense that it's both technically interesting and ignorant of the social realities of applying for a job. Also: the downloadable CV is more incomprehensible than the code. Bullets, people. Good employers are looking at hundreds of resumes for good jobs. If that one landed on their pile, they would not read it.
- butterfi 16y agopoor guy... having a little fun with his CV only to get mauled by the HN crowd. :-) On a more serious note, not sure this resume would have made it past our HR person, who is not a programmer and wouldn't have understood this at all.