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I don't know if you meant to imply this, but if you think having "Javascript" in one place, and "JavaScript" in another is a "glaring mistake," I think you migh
by pmiller2 6y ago
I don't know if you meant to imply this, but if you think having "Javascript" in one place, and "JavaScript" in another is a "glaring mistake," I think you might just be too damn picky.
- jedberg 6y agoIt shows a lack of attention to detail, and is a big red flag.
- pmiller2 6y agoNo, it doesn't. It shows a human wrote the text. If this were the one and only inconsistency in the entire resume, it doesn't even rate as one of those tiny flags they sometimes put in mixed drinks.
- rsrx 6y agoI disagree here. I think this is a valid way to distinct 10x engineers vs other ones.
- jimmaswell 6y agoYeah, because the 10x will probably have a sloppier resume and still go where they want while the average people who need to take every advantage will be more likely to meticulously fret over their resume like this.
- pmiller2 6y agoI'm interested to see your data showing this is the case.
- prewett 6y agoIn a profession where void f(const std::vector<std::string>& arg); and void f(const std::vector<std::string> arg); do very different things, I'd say that you should at least sell yourself as paying attention to detail. You could say that this is a poor design of C++, but pick your language, there's usually something like this somewhere. At least in any of the commonly used languages. (Although, C++ is particularly bad about it.)
- pmiller2 6y agoYour example likely wouldn't even compile. Get back to me when there's a compiler and testing framework for resumes. Nobody misunderstands when you write "Javascript" once and then "JavaScript" later on. And, even in code, where there are compilers and testing frameworks, bugs happen, even in code written by excellent engineers. I'm not saying a resume littered with typos is a good thing. But, a couple here and there? Whatever. Tell me you've never made a typo in a document you've written for work.
- colanderman 6y agoI am torn on this. I want to agree with the logic. But many of the best software engineers I know can't spell or format English consistently. Of course resumes are higher stakes than code comments. But I care #1 that your resume communicates clearly to me what I need to know to judge whether you would benefit my team. If you typoed something, or your formatting is a bit wonky, even if I notice, I am not likely to care. (Obviously, an excessive amount of errors can demonstrate a communication issue.) Another aspect to consider is that weighting English errors strongly can introduce bias against many demographics. Rather, I find it best to assume good faith, that the candidate prepared their resume to the best of their circumstance. Only evidence to the contrary should hold weight.
- david38 6y agoAgreed. People know the difference between hyper attention to detail for code and lax attention to detail in English. You can go pretty far down this rabbit hole and be a grammar Nazi. All it shows is that you’re a grammar Nazi.
- pixelbath 6y agoNot something I'd consider a glaring mistake, but it already shows me you didn't bother to look over your own resume in great detail. It wouldn't cause me to reject a candidate, but I can't not think about that.
- fsociety 6y agoGood engineers make mistakes consistently. It’s a hallmark I was taught when working on power substations. So no, it’s not the end all be all but it is valuable signal.