Skill Resume Achievements, What Good Goes Here?

[vbgunz]

I spent some time working on a skill resume, the kind of resume
college students put together and realized, I am not in college and
everything I learned was self-taught. Of course I would like some real
world achievements but don't consider throw-away code an achievement
and am failing to really see any. I don't even wish to entertain the
thought of lying about anything.

What are some achievements an employer may be looking for in someone
willing to start at ground level, entry level, intern, etc? What are
some real world achievements every n00b will need under his/her belt
in order to be taken seriously?

 

[kyosohma]

I spent some time working on a skill resume, the kind of resume
college students put together and realized, I am not in college and
everything I learned was self-taught. Of course I would like some real
world achievements but don't consider throw-away code an achievement
and am failing to really see any. I don't even wish to entertain the
thought of lying about anything.

What are some achievements an employer may be looking for in someone
willing to start at ground level, entry level, intern, etc? What are
some real world achievements every n00b will need under his/her belt
in order to be taken seriously?

Internships are always a good thing to have. If you've contributed to
open source projects, I'd put that on there. If you're applying for
some kind of programming job, they'll probably want to see some of
your code, know what home-brewed projects you've done and how long
they took to complete, issues you ran into, etc.

That might get you started anyway.

Mike

 

[apatheticagnostic]

Internships are always a good thing to have. If you've contributed to
open source projects, I'd put that on there. If you're applying for
some kind of programming job, they'll probably want to see some of
your code, know what home-brewed projects you've done and how long
they took to complete, issues you ran into, etc.

That might get you started anyway.

Mike

As someone else who's self-educated and curious about this, would
listing canonical comp-sci books that you've gone through on your own
and understood be a reasonable thing to mention? For example, SICP,
PLAI, etc?

 

[kyosohma]

As someone else who's self-educated and curious about this, would
listing canonical comp-sci books that you've gone through on your own
and understood be a reasonable thing to mention? For example, SICP,
PLAI, etc?

I'm not sure...I went through a ton of interviews and was never asked
about what books I'd read. I did get questions about group projects /
assignments and a couple companies wanted to know what I programs I
created on my own.

Mike

 

[kyosohma]

As someone else who's self-educated and curious about this, would
listing canonical comp-sci books that you've gone through on your own
and understood be a reasonable thing to mention? For example, SICP,
PLAI, etc?

I should mention that it's certainly not hopeless. My boss is self-
taught and so is our webmaster...you'll probably just have to start
somewhere low on the ladder. Such as small businesses like computer
repair shops or local ISPs where you can show your stuff.

Mike

 

[Paddy]

I spent some time working on a skill resume, the kind of resume
college students put together and realized, I am not in college and
everything I learned was self-taught. Of course I would like some real
world achievements but don't consider throw-away code an achievement
and am failing to really see any. I don't even wish to entertain the
thought of lying about anything.

What are some achievements an employer may be looking for in someone
willing to start at ground level, entry level, intern, etc? What are
some real world achievements every n00b will need under his/her belt
in order to be taken seriously?

You need to have written code that you expect others to either read or
use. Others have pointed out the benefits of contributing to an open
source project but code to be read might include code posted to
newsgroups in answer to questions, or your blog entries. If you have
no code fit to be read then what is a potential employer to do?

(Personally, a college student showing an appreciation of doctests
would impress).

- Paddy.