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> For instance, if I'm applying for a Node.js role, I minimize my past Java and .NET experience (I may mention each just once to show a little bit of breadth) s

> For instance, if I'm applying for a Node.js role, I minimize my past Java and .NET experience (I may mention each just once to show a little bit of breadth) so that my JavaScript experience shows through more. What if you dont have any JS experience, but have say several years working on .NET and Java. Removing that experience makes it looks like you're an entry level candidate, when in reality theres actually a decent amount of transferable skill between the tech in question and if you have enough informal experience with Node (through personal projects, etc.) you should have little issue switching.

eel 6y ago
I agree with you that a lot of skill is transferable between technologies, but I suspect that some recruiters or hiring managers either don't realize that or they typecast you into a specific role. Resumes are a form of writing where being concise is better than being complete. Also, I should have been more clear. I don't erase everything about a past experience if it's a different technology. Here are a couple hypothetical examples to help clarify. In this first version of a resume snippet, the applicant should be applying for a Java position since it's filled with terms that make sense to the Java community: > Software Enginer at XXX Company > * I led the design and implementation of XXX Company's internal payment processing service which processes $YYY million USD in annual revenue. The project used Java, Spring, Hibernate, and MySQL. > * Introduced testing (JUnit and Mockito) into the engineering culture by leading brown bag talks. Increased unit test coverage on critical company projects from 0% to 73% over 2 years. > * Used JNI to integrate critical path code with XXX Company's proprietary hardware driver, increasing average performance by 8x. Here is a snippet representing the same experience, but catered toward a Node.js position. References to enterprise Java are removed, and the last bullet is replaced with a more relevant bullet: > Software Enginer at XXX Company > * I led the design and implementation of XXX Company's internal payment processing service which processes $YYY million USD in annual revenue. > * Introduced testing into the engineering culture by leading brown bag talks. Increased unit test coverage on critical company projects from 0% to 73% over 2 years. > * During XXX Company's annual hackathon, I implemented and presented a functional prototype service to present payment information in real-time using WebSockets. Now these changes alone are likely not sufficient to get a call back from the Node.js job position, but it changes the automatic typecast from "experienced Java developer" to "experienced developer" Hopefully this candidate has some other past experience in Node.js/web development/JavaScript to flush out the story.

eel 6y ago

I agree with you that a lot of skill is transferable between technologies, but I suspect that some recruiters or hiring managers either don't realize that or they typecast you into a specific role. Resumes are a form of writing where being concise is better than being complete. Also, I should have been more clear. I don't erase everything about a past experience if it's a different technology. Here are a couple hypothetical examples to help clarify. In this first version of a resume snippet, the applicant should be applying for a Java position since it's filled with terms that make sense to the Java community: > Software Enginer at XXX Company > * I led the design and implementation of XXX Company's internal payment processing service which processes $YYY million USD in annual revenue. The project used Java, Spring, Hibernate, and MySQL. > * Introduced testing (JUnit and Mockito) into the engineering culture by leading brown bag talks. Increased unit test coverage on critical company projects from 0% to 73% over 2 years. > * Used JNI to integrate critical path code with XXX Company's proprietary hardware driver, increasing average performance by 8x. Here is a snippet representing the same experience, but catered toward a Node.js position. References to enterprise Java are removed, and the last bullet is replaced with a more relevant bullet: > Software Enginer at XXX Company > * I led the design and implementation of XXX Company's internal payment processing service which processes $YYY million USD in annual revenue. > * Introduced testing into the engineering culture by leading brown bag talks. Increased unit test coverage on critical company projects from 0% to 73% over 2 years. > * During XXX Company's annual hackathon, I implemented and presented a functional prototype service to present payment information in real-time using WebSockets. Now these changes alone are likely not sufficient to get a call back from the Node.js job position, but it changes the automatic typecast from "experienced Java developer" to "experienced developer" Hopefully this candidate has some other past experience in Node.js/web development/JavaScript to flush out the story.