Subj : Re: Resume questions, how convey? (was: How much should I charge fo...)
To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.lisp
From : Shiro Kawai
Date : Sun Aug 28 2005 06:02 am

Robert Maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t wrote:

> I did it all manually, using a text editor to build the text and
> assemble the FTP data. Most of the raw data was posted to PACS-L, where
> every few weeks somebody would announce they had found such-and-such
> list or index and tell where to find it. I merely collected all these
> pointers into my master index so that there'd be a single place
> everyone could go to find all the important lists/indexes and
> documents.
[...]
> my only active option was automating the process of
> collecting CTW (Complain To Whom) data and validating it, and using it
> to automatically complain about each new incoming spam just a few
> seconds after it was noticed by my program that checked my inbox once
> per minute.
[...]
> Lots of people used my computerized pseudo-typesetting (precursor to
> desktop publishing) software before Knuth did his TeX. This was
> a real-world task for people who had no other practical way to
> edit their manuscripts that had complicated mathematical formulas.
> (Even after TeX, some people preferred my software because with
> Gosper's macros it automatically converted MacSyma output to nicely
> formatted output, something TeX can't do.)
>
> Do you want more examples of my software solving real-world problems
> (college payroll, college class assignments, for example), or have I
> made my point with those first two?

Actually, these are far more interesting than a resume filled with
buzzwords, at least for me.  These are too detailed to be in resume,
but you may be able to make a link from each item under
'MAJOR PROGRAMMING PROJECTS' in your online resume to a document
that fully explains what you did.

> > I said I could not tell what job type/class/catagory they were
> > "customized" for. If I couldn't determine that, its unlikely any
> > employer would see anthing which would get their attention.
>
> An employer looking to fill a particular job, and getting resumes
> labeled for that particular job, already knows which job the resume is
> for, and merely has to check whether it is or is not suitable. He
> doesn't have to guess, from the thousands of jobs offered by hundreds
> of companies, what job each resume might be for. So your failure to do
> a very difficult guessing task is no proof the employer wouldn't be
> able to do that much easier task of noticing that I have a lot of
> different qualifications including the ones needed for the job.

Being an all-around player actually put you in a difficult position.
Job market is not for such person.  It may seem unreasonable that,
if one candidate can do everything so well, and another can do
just one thing so-so, and the company tends to hire the latter
when the one thing fits the job description.  That's the reailty.

Jobs that require high skills are often filled by personal
referrals.  I have been asked to find a good Lisp programmer,
or even I myself have looked for one to subcontract my own
project.  Those jobs are not posted publicly.
Like it or not, once you got many years of experience, you're
expected to have enough personal connections.  If you haven't
got them, probably you should start from making them...

.