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What a coincidence that I would run across this post while taking a break from struggling with exactly the problem this could solve. I'm in the process of tryi

What a coincidence that I would run across this post while taking a break from struggling with exactly the problem this could solve. I'm in the process of trying to summarize my real work and "value" to someone in reference to what could be a dream job. A job that my traditional resume doesn't quite fit. It would be wonderful to be able to provide a recruiter or similar with a link to a not necessarily public status chart to demonstrate myself.

patio11 14y ago
It would be wonderful to be able to provide a recruiter or similar with a link to a not necessarily public status chart to demonstrate myself. That is terribly against your interests, because your future employers do not burn with the need for more status charts. The contents of your existing work are not all that relevant to them. The results are much more interesting. How you are going to apply those experiences to their problems is most interesting of all. Figure out a way to credibly claim that you increased sales or decreased costs at a past employer and that, by consequence, you could do it at a new employer -- most employers perk up at that sort of thing. Show them your plan for doing it. It's so effective it is practically cheating.
- incision 14y ago
  I agree with essentially everything you're saying here, but I don't see how something like this couldn't be useful to show work behind my results progressed. Or at least easier to consume than a traditional resume or modern blog-as-resume for that purpose. I'm thinking of it as a simple tool for providing context and references to what I've done. The first step in making those claims of results credible. I'm not talking about shipping a link in lieu of a CV or proper introduction to a job I'm pursuing, rather when someone reaches out to me and would like to know what I'm up to - I can show them. Obviously, once you get to the point of sitting face to face with someone it's a totally different type conversation, but for the first exchange I see nothing wrong with this.
  - mechanical_fish 14y ago
    Your customer/employer not only doesn't care how the product is made, they don't want to know: They are hiring you to abstract away the detailed steps involved in making the product. [1] They don't want to babysit you, or live your life alongside you. They don't want to understand every little thing you do. That is the very opposite of what they want. They want you to deliver something valuable with as little fanfare as necessary, to the point that they might pay extra to be able to download your work product without even speaking to you. And they really don't want to hire someone who seems to be expecting to be micromanaged, and who is therefore more obsessed with presenting the process than presenting the results. Your todo list should not look more polished than your products. If someone asks to know what you're up to… you tell them? Using sentences? Probably as few of them as possible, unless you're having the conversation over beer? If they don't find your claims credible… you offer them references? --- [1] Okay, there is a (considerably smaller) market for artisanal products where part of the deliverable is a lovingly detailed description of how the product was made. But those who buy artisanal products won't settle for a mere checklist. They want personality. They want lovingly described blog-style updates with coffee-table-quality photos. Or they want a minute-by-minute first-person account on Twitter.
    - incision 14y ago
      I fully understand the thrust of what you're saying, but feel like it's reading a lot into my thoughts that I certainly don't intend. It's a bit smarmy too. Still, abstract from what I actually said or meant it's an educational perspective and I genuinely thank you for it.
      - mechanical_fish 14y ago
        It's a bit smarmy too. My apologies.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    Why is your work relevant if you've created the results? The mentality that carefully-documented work is a substitute for results is the bane of almost all professional managers. It's crazymaking when you set out to achieve a result and receive instead a detailed log of steps that failed to produce it. That happens often enough that I might not want to signal that particular "survival skill" to a prospective manager.
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  This sort of advice works well for small companies (where employees will wear lots of hats), or certain jobs in big companies. But for a lot of jobs, increasing sales or reducing costs is not the point--at least not directly. If I'm hiring a graphic designer, a resume full of monetary claims is going to look like vague fluff to me. Instead I want to see a portfolio, because the result I am looking for is really great graphic design. It is my job as a manager to understand how that might fit into our product cycle and business model. But it has to start with demonstrated talent at the skill I need to fill.
  - incision 14y ago
    Thanks. I'd been theorizing that some of the baffling responses here are the result of folks are seeing the world purely through the lens of a specific type of company.

patio11 14y ago

It would be wonderful to be able to provide a recruiter or similar with a link to a not necessarily public status chart to demonstrate myself. That is terribly against your interests, because your future employers do not burn with the need for more status charts. The contents of your existing work are not all that relevant to them. The results are much more interesting. How you are going to apply those experiences to their problems is most interesting of all. Figure out a way to credibly claim that you increased sales or decreased costs at a past employer and that, by consequence, you could do it at a new employer -- most employers perk up at that sort of thing. Show them your plan for doing it. It's so effective it is practically cheating.

incision 14y ago
I agree with essentially everything you're saying here, but I don't see how something like this couldn't be useful to show work behind my results progressed. Or at least easier to consume than a traditional resume or modern blog-as-resume for that purpose. I'm thinking of it as a simple tool for providing context and references to what I've done. The first step in making those claims of results credible. I'm not talking about shipping a link in lieu of a CV or proper introduction to a job I'm pursuing, rather when someone reaches out to me and would like to know what I'm up to - I can show them. Obviously, once you get to the point of sitting face to face with someone it's a totally different type conversation, but for the first exchange I see nothing wrong with this.
- mechanical_fish 14y ago
  Your customer/employer not only doesn't care how the product is made, they don't want to know: They are hiring you to abstract away the detailed steps involved in making the product. [1] They don't want to babysit you, or live your life alongside you. They don't want to understand every little thing you do. That is the very opposite of what they want. They want you to deliver something valuable with as little fanfare as necessary, to the point that they might pay extra to be able to download your work product without even speaking to you. And they really don't want to hire someone who seems to be expecting to be micromanaged, and who is therefore more obsessed with presenting the process than presenting the results. Your todo list should not look more polished than your products. If someone asks to know what you're up to… you tell them? Using sentences? Probably as few of them as possible, unless you're having the conversation over beer? If they don't find your claims credible… you offer them references? --- [1] Okay, there is a (considerably smaller) market for artisanal products where part of the deliverable is a lovingly detailed description of how the product was made. But those who buy artisanal products won't settle for a mere checklist. They want personality. They want lovingly described blog-style updates with coffee-table-quality photos. Or they want a minute-by-minute first-person account on Twitter.
  - incision 14y ago
    I fully understand the thrust of what you're saying, but feel like it's reading a lot into my thoughts that I certainly don't intend. It's a bit smarmy too. Still, abstract from what I actually said or meant it's an educational perspective and I genuinely thank you for it.
    - mechanical_fish 14y ago
      It's a bit smarmy too. My apologies.
- tptacek 14y ago
  Why is your work relevant if you've created the results? The mentality that carefully-documented work is a substitute for results is the bane of almost all professional managers. It's crazymaking when you set out to achieve a result and receive instead a detailed log of steps that failed to produce it. That happens often enough that I might not want to signal that particular "survival skill" to a prospective manager.
snowwrestler 14y ago
This sort of advice works well for small companies (where employees will wear lots of hats), or certain jobs in big companies. But for a lot of jobs, increasing sales or reducing costs is not the point--at least not directly. If I'm hiring a graphic designer, a resume full of monetary claims is going to look like vague fluff to me. Instead I want to see a portfolio, because the result I am looking for is really great graphic design. It is my job as a manager to understand how that might fit into our product cycle and business model. But it has to start with demonstrated talent at the skill I need to fill.
- incision 14y ago
  Thanks. I'd been theorizing that some of the baffling responses here are the result of folks are seeing the world purely through the lens of a specific type of company.