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Don't write a cv/resume. This advice applies to any person that is effectively "unknown" in the tech scene - that's 99% of us. A cv is useless for conveying wh

by apsurd 15y ago

Don't write a cv/resume. This advice applies to any person that is effectively "unknown" in the tech scene - that's 99% of us. A cv is useless for conveying who you are and what value you bring relative to all the other thousands of people out there. A paper is a paper is a paper. Therefore the first crucial piece for us unknown developers is to have Open Source projects on GitHub. Companies don't want to see a GitHub profile because they love GitHub. GitHub profiles show _exactly_ what you can do, and provide proof that you've actually done it, as well as the how, why, when, and where. You have to understand how powerful and uncommon it is to have working software out in the wild that a) works, and b) is Open Source for everyone to see. a) is important because all employers need a person who can ship ; a doer. b) is important because it is proof of your knowledge and skillset. This includes design decisions, documentation, git commits, api documentation, design patterns, proper testing, and so on. You are doing yourself a disservice by not having projects on GitHub, not because it's trendy, but because it is the only credible, fool-proof, tangible way to measure someone's coding ability _at a glance_. By the time anyone invests time to have you answer programming questions or code on a white-board, they are already interested in you, so this is about getting them interested in the first place. "Hello I am Salvatore Sanfilippo, I created https://github.com/antirez/redis https://github.com/antirez/redis You see how completely badass that is? The next crucial piece for we unknown developers is honesty. I think a good software developer gets stuff done. If they don't know how to do something they can learn on their own. They are motivated to keep learning and keep doing a better job because they are passionate about their work. I think employers agree with me and they look for this kind of candidate. Therefore if you love programming, just be honest. If you don't know some things, just be honest. If you really want to work for _____, just be honest. If you think you are not good enough for a particular position but you really want that position, just be honest. I think having an honest conversation with a tech-lead at any company will go millions of miles beyond submitting some piece of paper to HR. Just be honest. Are you looking for a job doing javascript? Think you are good at jquery but want to get into more complex stuff like backbone? The problem is they don't know you and you don't know them. So offer to intern, offer to come on board for 2 months to prove yourself. Software is a great field to be in, because its largely merit based. So use that to your advantage. But you can't prove yourself through words. You have to show it and do it. best of luck.

endoftheropes 15y ago
Thanks a ton, I am setting up a github as we speak.
- apsurd 15y ago
  toss some contact information in your profile. I'd like to email you.
MatthewPhillips 15y ago
^^ Don't take this advice. For every startup that doesn't care about resumes there are 20 or 30 just regular companies that need someone to write line-of-business apps and their HR department -- the people who will be your first contact -- do care about them. What they don't give a shit about is your github commit log. Now once you make it past HR and are speaking to actually coders that you might be working with, having code samples is excellent. But if you need a job, you need a resume.
- apsurd 15y ago
  To each his own I guess. I disagree with the premise of "the resume". A resume is meant to distinguish you from other candidates. That line of thinking is very simply flawed. How can you distinguish yourself from other pieces of paper - it doesn't make sense. Secondly if everybody thinks "writing this resume is my best chance at getting this job" then you are willingly competing on the same level, in the same way, as everybody else. Why would you do that? It's similar to applying to a University. If everyone thinks they need to get top scores on the SAT as well as 4.x GPA to get in then everyone will do that and the final result will be, granted, a smaller lottery pool but a lottery nonetheless. It doesn't make sense. You have to agree that there is an upper bound on what you can do when you play by everyone else's rules. You can't score more than 1600 on the SAT so even if you do you are still competing against the 100's (thousands?) that did too. Same with GPA. Upper bounds are not your friend when it comes to saying "hey look at me". You are right though, some companies just require a resume. No argument there. FWIW those companies are very likely not where I personally want to work anyway. I got hired on to a YC startup with no college degree and just my github profile to show. Actually this company never physically met me in person, had no idea what I looked liked or how old I was at the time of hiring. I've moved on to advance my career and can guarantee you I'll get another job without the use of a resume. I'm currently looking for my ideal company match though. I'll email you in the next couple of months when I land one. To each his own.

by apsurd 15y ago

endoftheropes 15y ago

Thanks a ton, I am setting up a github as we speak.

apsurd 15y ago
toss some contact information in your profile. I'd like to email you.

MatthewPhillips 15y ago

^^ Don't take this advice. For every startup that doesn't care about resumes there are 20 or 30 just regular companies that need someone to write line-of-business apps and their HR department -- the people who will be your first contact -- do care about them. What they don't give a shit about is your github commit log. Now once you make it past HR and are speaking to actually coders that you might be working with, having code samples is excellent. But if you need a job, you need a resume.

apsurd 15y ago
To each his own I guess. I disagree with the premise of "the resume". A resume is meant to distinguish you from other candidates. That line of thinking is very simply flawed. How can you distinguish yourself from other pieces of paper - it doesn't make sense. Secondly if everybody thinks "writing this resume is my best chance at getting this job" then you are willingly competing on the same level, in the same way, as everybody else. Why would you do that? It's similar to applying to a University. If everyone thinks they need to get top scores on the SAT as well as 4.x GPA to get in then everyone will do that and the final result will be, granted, a smaller lottery pool but a lottery nonetheless. It doesn't make sense. You have to agree that there is an upper bound on what you can do when you play by everyone else's rules. You can't score more than 1600 on the SAT so even if you do you are still competing against the 100's (thousands?) that did too. Same with GPA. Upper bounds are not your friend when it comes to saying "hey look at me". You are right though, some companies just require a resume. No argument there. FWIW those companies are very likely not where I personally want to work anyway. I got hired on to a YC startup with no college degree and just my github profile to show. Actually this company never physically met me in person, had no idea what I looked liked or how old I was at the time of hiring. I've moved on to advance my career and can guarantee you I'll get another job without the use of a resume. I'm currently looking for my ideal company match though. I'll email you in the next couple of months when I land one. To each his own.