So little actual software development in software engineering roles

[Jerry Feldman]

On 01/12/2011 02:52 AM, jc-8FIgwK2HfyJMuWfdjsoA/w at public.gmane.org wrote:
> Derek Martin wrote:
> | On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 05:58:24PM -0500, Rob Hasselbaum wrote:
> | > On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 1:40 PM, David Rosenstrauch <darose at darose.=
net>wrote:
> | > > I think this depends a lot on the company.  IMO, you find this a =
lot at
> | > > large, established companies.  (e.g., I used to find this a lot a=
t Wall
> | > > St. banks.)
> | [...]
> | > I second that assessment.
> |
> | I basically agree, but...
> |
> | > As someone who looks at a lot of resumes, I sometimes get frustrate=
d
> | > if a candidate with a lot of experience buries me in 5 pages of
> | > details about work that is only loosely related to the position I'm=

> | > trying to fill.
> |
> | This makes me cringe.  I agree in principle that tailoring your resum=
e
> | is a good idea, but...  Have you actually read any significant number=

> | of job postings on the internet?  A lot of them are sufficiently vagu=
e
> | that even if you wanted to tailor your resume, it's not exactly easy,=

> | especially when you do have many years of varied experience, a lot of=

> | which is very likely to be unrelated to the job you're applying for.
> | ...
>
> Something I learned a couple of decades ago is that when you see  the
> common  set  of  job requirements that's a list of specific thing you
> must be an expert with, it usually means  that  the  hiring  managers
> have  already  decided  who  they'll  hire,  but are required to do a
> credible search for  the  best  candidate.   So  they  write  up  the
> requirements  to  match  the  exact  background of the already-chosen
> hiree, hoping that no  applicants  will  match  ALL  of  the  precise
> "requirements".  It's an old game.
>
> I've gone to a number of interviews in the past few  years  for  jobs
> like  this,  knowing  that I didn't match their requirements exactly,
> but could probably learn the rest in a few days.  In every case,  the
> made  it clear that I wasn't qualified, and shouldn't have replied to
> their job posting.
>
> OTOH, one of the standard arguments for tailoring your  resume  to  a
> job  description  is  the old problem of being "overqualified".  That
> really means that they won't hire someone who has ever  worked  on  a
> job  different than the one they've advertised.  Again, this is often
> because they've decided who they want to hire, are willing  to  do  a
> bit  of  training,  and  want  someone with little experience so they
> won't cost too much.  In this case, tailoring your resume is a way of
> hiding your "overqualification" so they'll hire you.
>
> I wonder if the Game Theory people have tackled this topic ...
>
I've been fortunate enough over the past few years to have a job. In the
past I would tailor my resume to emphasize some of the skills for
specific jobs, but I have never stated anything falsely. There were a
few jobs I got that I was not qualified for, but I learned on the job
and that was ok. When I was between contracts a few years ago I attended
a few WIND meetings.  Some of the things they did at WIND were useful,
such as elevator speeches. But, the main way a lot of people get jobs
today is networking. But, the main thing you need to be able to do is to
sell yourself, and your resume is important, and the most important part
is the top 3rd of the first page. I've been a hiring manager, and
reading resumes is a chore for a techie. One good guy I hired actually
called us to interview us and I thought he was a headhunter initially.
We hired him and IMHO it was a good hire. More recently I worked for him
for about a year at Polaroid. And what Chambers says is true too, where
sometimes they interview people but have 1 person in mind.

--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



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