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Unpopular opinion, but as an old person, I am starting to look down on having too many technologies / frameworks on a CV these days. Some developers need to try

by collyw 6y ago

Unpopular opinion, but as an old person, I am starting to look down on having too many technologies / frameworks on a CV these days. Some developers need to try something new every project and never learn anything with style or get deep into a tech, they are busy jumping on the next trend and learning things at a very shallow level. It's not a definite "no", but it's a red flag for me as to why you would need Flask for one project when you have used Django for another and PHP for something else. If you can convince me that you that you had a good reason for changing that doesn't appear to be resume driven development, then I'll listen. Also I am starting to value team players over technical skills. Provided you are of a reasonable level of ability it's more useful to have a team player than a diva genius. Most of us are doing a variation on CRUD that doesn't require superior levels of algorithmic ability. My 2 cents having done this for 20 years and getting a bit bored of the bullshit .

ownagefool 6y ago
For me it's really simple. Have as many tech on your CV as you want, but you'll need to back it up when you're asked questions on them.
stu2b50 6y ago
I think you're not being fair to assume people who try out different technologies are looking to catch more buzzwords for their resume. Using cutting edge technology can be fun and interesting. It may not be optimal, but these are personal projects--they're not intended to be optimal, but rather something more hobbyist.
- collyw 6y ago
  How many web frameworks is it useful to know? Is it more useful to know one in depth or many at surface level? I don't have a problem with people trying out things, but I have worked with developers that appear to need a new tech for every project. These people are doing it on work time. It's like when you see a tutorial learn python in 8 hours. That means you have 8 hours of experience in Python, you don't know it in the same way as someone who has used it for 4 years.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    You're punishing people for intellectual curiosity. You can value it at 0, or at some large value, but it shouldn't be negative. This is like people who penalize people with 4.0 GPAs because "that meant you focused too much on academics". If you really think it's fruitless, then at worst just ignore it.
  - schwartzworld 6y ago
    > How many web frameworks is it useful to know You're almost there. It's probably not useful to know every framework inside out, but there is a lot of value in being familiar with trends, which often means trying out a small project in a new tech to get a feel for it and then moving on. What sort of value? Every programming tool (not just framework) requires you to learn different concepts to use it. Each requires you to think differently, which strengthens your toolbox in all frameworks, and learning new things often makes it easier to learn. There is the potential for professional value. You never know where the community will go or what job listings you will see. For emerging tech, a little side project could mean the difference between getting or not getting a job that uses that tech.
tutfbhuf 6y ago
> Unpopular opinion, but... HN tends to upvote those, because they are often controversial and interesting.
1123581321 6y ago
Consider stepping away from reading resumes, or developing a rubric to help you process them more dispassionately, or a workflow to edit them before passing them to a review team. It's natural to get tired of seeing the same thing, but it's unfair to candidates to use your overfamiliarity with the resume format against them. Additionally consider there is no good way on a resume to distinguish between considering but declining to use a technology, and never evaluating technology in the first place. Additionally, consider that many people pick up expertise with overlapping tools due to circumstances they cannot control (legacy codebases, client insistence, freelance.) I say this as a fellow resume reader who experienced some of what you describe. It feels like gaining wisdom but it's not quite.

by collyw 6y ago

ownagefool 6y ago

For me it's really simple. Have as many tech on your CV as you want, but you'll need to back it up when you're asked questions on them.

stu2b50 6y ago

I think you're not being fair to assume people who try out different technologies are looking to catch more buzzwords for their resume. Using cutting edge technology can be fun and interesting. It may not be optimal, but these are personal projects--they're not intended to be optimal, but rather something more hobbyist.

collyw 6y ago
How many web frameworks is it useful to know? Is it more useful to know one in depth or many at surface level? I don't have a problem with people trying out things, but I have worked with developers that appear to need a new tech for every project. These people are doing it on work time. It's like when you see a tutorial learn python in 8 hours. That means you have 8 hours of experience in Python, you don't know it in the same way as someone who has used it for 4 years.
- stu2b50 6y ago
  You're punishing people for intellectual curiosity. You can value it at 0, or at some large value, but it shouldn't be negative. This is like people who penalize people with 4.0 GPAs because "that meant you focused too much on academics". If you really think it's fruitless, then at worst just ignore it.
- schwartzworld 6y ago
  > How many web frameworks is it useful to know You're almost there. It's probably not useful to know every framework inside out, but there is a lot of value in being familiar with trends, which often means trying out a small project in a new tech to get a feel for it and then moving on. What sort of value? Every programming tool (not just framework) requires you to learn different concepts to use it. Each requires you to think differently, which strengthens your toolbox in all frameworks, and learning new things often makes it easier to learn. There is the potential for professional value. You never know where the community will go or what job listings you will see. For emerging tech, a little side project could mean the difference between getting or not getting a job that uses that tech.

tutfbhuf 6y ago

> Unpopular opinion, but... HN tends to upvote those, because they are often controversial and interesting.

1123581321 6y ago

Consider stepping away from reading resumes, or developing a rubric to help you process them more dispassionately, or a workflow to edit them before passing them to a review team. It's natural to get tired of seeing the same thing, but it's unfair to candidates to use your overfamiliarity with the resume format against them. Additionally consider there is no good way on a resume to distinguish between considering but declining to use a technology, and never evaluating technology in the first place. Additionally, consider that many people pick up expertise with overlapping tools due to circumstances they cannot control (legacy codebases, client insistence, freelance.) I say this as a fellow resume reader who experienced some of what you describe. It feels like gaining wisdom but it's not quite.