5 ms·

> resumes are very nearly worthless Sorry for being incendiary, but this hits me as a recent trend that is nothing short of insane. I went to a top-ranked uni

by gyulai 5y ago

> resumes are very nearly worthless Sorry for being incendiary, but this hits me as a recent trend that is nothing short of insane. I went to a top-ranked university on the highest-paid scholarship I was eligible for, got a Ph. D. there, then got the job that all my peers wanted but only a handful actually got. Then I booked 10 years of industry experience. -- You wouldn't believe the life sacrifices I've made to be able to have all of that on my resume. If someone tells me that's all "worthless" and they'd rather ask some stupid puzzle questions and see some indication of how passionate I am about working for some no-name company, or whatever the latest hype is, then that's simply where the interview ends for me.

visarga 5y ago
Your PhD is only useful if you go for a job in your specific sub-field. If you have a PhD in physics it doesn't mean you can code your way out of a hat. In fact scientist types have very poor coding practices on average. I once had an interview with a scientist turned to industry who couldn't demonstrate how to load a text file after 30 minutes of trying. I mean, what should I have done with him? The position required lots of algorithms and data processing.
- gyulai 5y ago
  That's a prejudice that you're supporting with anecdata. Saying "PhDs make bad programmers" is not any different in that regard from saying "women make bad programmers". But at least you're agreeing with me that resumes are not worthless ;-) ...as, apparently, you find them useful for screening out people with PhDs who therefore make bad programmers. The fact is that there is such a thing as an "impressive resume". There seem to be people out there eager to dismiss the value of those. Frequently an explanation will be that they themselves don't have one and are engaging in cognitive dissonance reduction. In fact, one can say more generally that psychological forces will act powerfully in such a way as to make hiring managers want to hire people who are just like them, even when they themselves are worse than the best candidates they could hire. That's the reason why having an analytically well-reflected hiring process, instead of just hiring who you like, is important, and resumes have an important role to play in that.
TheCoelacanth 5y ago
It's "nearly" instead of "completely" because of cases like yours where there are verifiable facts that signal the candidate's capabilities. A typical resume has none of that and is more like: . BS from some un-ranked university . 2 years at some company you've never heard of .. Did things you have no way of verifying . 2 years at another company you've never heard of .. Did more things you have no way of verifying
- Spivak 5y ago
  You nailed it! I could copy/paste this over top every tech resume I get and it would be equally as valuable.

by gyulai 5y ago

visarga 5y ago

Your PhD is only useful if you go for a job in your specific sub-field. If you have a PhD in physics it doesn't mean you can code your way out of a hat. In fact scientist types have very poor coding practices on average. I once had an interview with a scientist turned to industry who couldn't demonstrate how to load a text file after 30 minutes of trying. I mean, what should I have done with him? The position required lots of algorithms and data processing.

gyulai 5y ago
That's a prejudice that you're supporting with anecdata. Saying "PhDs make bad programmers" is not any different in that regard from saying "women make bad programmers". But at least you're agreeing with me that resumes are not worthless ;-) ...as, apparently, you find them useful for screening out people with PhDs who therefore make bad programmers. The fact is that there is such a thing as an "impressive resume". There seem to be people out there eager to dismiss the value of those. Frequently an explanation will be that they themselves don't have one and are engaging in cognitive dissonance reduction. In fact, one can say more generally that psychological forces will act powerfully in such a way as to make hiring managers want to hire people who are just like them, even when they themselves are worse than the best candidates they could hire. That's the reason why having an analytically well-reflected hiring process, instead of just hiring who you like, is important, and resumes have an important role to play in that.

TheCoelacanth 5y ago

It's "nearly" instead of "completely" because of cases like yours where there are verifiable facts that signal the candidate's capabilities. A typical resume has none of that and is more like: . BS from some un-ranked university . 2 years at some company you've never heard of .. Did things you have no way of verifying . 2 years at another company you've never heard of .. Did more things you have no way of verifying

Spivak 5y ago
You nailed it! I could copy/paste this over top every tech resume I get and it would be equally as valuable.