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Here's the problem with skill bars: Bjarne Stroustrup rates himself at 7/10 for C++ knowledge. So if the language creator is at 7/10, where is anyone but the mo

Here's the problem with skill bars: Bjarne Stroustrup rates himself at 7/10 for C++ knowledge. So if the language creator is at 7/10, where is anyone but the most skilled programmers? Probably somewhere around the 3 to 4 range tops (and the scale might be logarithmic). But this is a problem because you won't get any jobs if you say your skill in the language they use is 3/10. And of course you have to compete against people even less skilled than yourself who rate themselves at 9/10. Maybe the way to solve this is to take the space used for skills and use it to show off your projects. If you're new to a language, your most interesting project will be something small and simple. But for the languages you're most comfortable in, you will likely have built something awesome.

biscarch 14y ago
Thanks for the perspective. Skill bars are clearly non-trivial. I think I will swap out the skill bars. Maybe some code/explanations would work better.
- danso 14y ago
  Just to be clear, I'm not trying to just be negative...just realizing you're obviously trying to set yourself apart from the crowd (and should be applauded for doing so), and so am trying to point out where you can avoid creating pitfalls in the process. I'm no YC-er so don't have much insight beyond what can be inferred in the discussions on HN...but the most interesting part of your resume to me was your D1 athletic achievements. To compete at that level almost automatically gives you cred as someone with drive. Where you should put that piece of info, I can't say. If not at the very top, well, definitely not at the bottom where you have it now. To put a more pessimistic spin on it, the fact that the athletic achievements were the first thing to catch my eye also implies that you haven't done enough to explain your other concrete achievements. I criticized the skill-bars because I think you can do a much better job describing yourself.
  - biscarch 14y ago
    I highly appreciate what you're doing for me. This is something that is very important to me, and every bit of advice and criticism is worth gold.

biscarch 14y ago

Thanks for the perspective. Skill bars are clearly non-trivial. I think I will swap out the skill bars. Maybe some code/explanations would work better.

danso 14y ago
Just to be clear, I'm not trying to just be negative...just realizing you're obviously trying to set yourself apart from the crowd (and should be applauded for doing so), and so am trying to point out where you can avoid creating pitfalls in the process. I'm no YC-er so don't have much insight beyond what can be inferred in the discussions on HN...but the most interesting part of your resume to me was your D1 athletic achievements. To compete at that level almost automatically gives you cred as someone with drive. Where you should put that piece of info, I can't say. If not at the very top, well, definitely not at the bottom where you have it now. To put a more pessimistic spin on it, the fact that the athletic achievements were the first thing to catch my eye also implies that you haven't done enough to explain your other concrete achievements. I criticized the skill-bars because I think you can do a much better job describing yourself.
- biscarch 14y ago
  I highly appreciate what you're doing for me. This is something that is very important to me, and every bit of advice and criticism is worth gold.