[quote name='Ravyne' timestamp='1350621376' post='4991671']
Yeah, TStrimple's resume isn't even really out there as far as formatting.

I have tried to make it stand out from the typical resume, while still being easily consumable.

smr, you have as many years of experience as I do. Are you still sending your resume out to get jobs? You've got to go to networking events. Code camps, dev conferences, etc. Better yet, start speaking at those events! Plan on doing a talk on a subject you're not that familiar with. This will force you to learn it to the point where you're comfortable answering questions about it and you are conversant about it.

Also, talk to people! Communication skills are likely more important to landing your next programming job than actual programming ability. However if you combine your communication skills with a solid development core, you'll never have to look for a job.
[/quote]

Yeah, I definitely do need to network. I actually don't feel I'm deficient at all in my communication skills. That's typically one of the things people compliment me on. I was actually offered the position to manage our development team but I didn't accept it for various reasons. The team wanted me to take the job, even so far as one threatened to quit if I didn't accept it (and nearly did), and the rest of the organization seemed to want me as well. After about three weeks of mulling it over, I did not accept the promotion. One reason being is what I've listed on the resume, but there were other issues as well. There were some office political issues I didn't want to get involved in. Additionally the fact that our development team is in the middle of a year-long death march, and no one who can put a stop to it wants to listen to reason. I haven't been told this by the former manager, but I strongly suspect that's why he moved on. I really didn't see any good reason to put myself into his situation, because he was excellent and if he couldn't put a stop to it or improve the situation behind the scenes, I had no reason to believe I would be able to do it either.

Thing is that I've found though is that I don't typically fit in with developer types. Although I've been coding since around the time I got my first pube, I really don't come off as a "computer geek." I hardly touch a computer outside of work anymore. My interests are mostly physical: running, biking, martial arts, etc., or music. I don't encounter many developers outside of the workplace, so I haven't really networked organically. I suppose there are some things I could talk about. What's a good way to find these sorts of networking events?

I suppose there are some things I could talk about. What's a good way to find these sorts of networking events?

Meetup.com

Talks don't necessarily have to be technical. I could see a staying healthy as a software developer talk happening at our local code camp.

"as this is only a résumé I think I'd wander into CV territory if I did that."

Look, I know people keep telling you these sorts of things, I have no idea where this idea started that boring CVs are good, but it needs stopping very quickly. Seriously -- there have been days where I'd rather not hire ANYONE and do the work myself on the weekends than have to go through another pile of turgid lists-of-jobs-that-people-once-had.

It's not "a CV" or "a resume". It's a

SALES PITCH

. It's the only one you get. It's standing between you and the bin. You've got about 3 minutes before I'm interrupted by something to convince me to spend a whole couple of valuable hours talking to you. A list of jobs you once had doesn't make you stand out. Like I say, everyone has a CV like that.

Eventually someone will bully me into making a decision about who gets interview slots, and given a pile of CVs all of equal boritude I pick a couple off the stack of ones which at least feature the right skills and go "Oh, look, those ones, go away". Basically your chances of getting an interview are based on whether you're on the top or the bottom of the pile of junk on my desk. I love the rare occasion when I get a CV where I immediately say "we'll talk to this person" and the decision doesn't have to be a painful one. I mean, how else am I supposed to tell otherwise? I've got a dozen CVs of people who say they did 4 years C++ at XYZ Ltd (who I've not heard of) on a project I've not heard of and whose value or success or failure is unstated. And then all of those people followed it up with 2 years of C++ at ABC Enterprises (who I've not heard of) on a project I've not heard of and whose value or success or failure is unknown...

I don't know why you're listening to this rumour that's doing the rounds that boring is better when someone who hires software engineers is begging you to stand out from the crowd and sell yourself.

I don't know why you're listening to this rumour that's doing the rounds that boring is better when someone who hires software engineers is begging you to stand out from the crowd and sell yourself.

Oh, no. I get it. And I appreciate your opinions on the matter. Although I'm not formally a manager (thank god I turned down THAT promotion), I too am involved in hiring software engineers, though I typically rely on the actual conversation that I have with the interviewee and the results of the test we have each interviewee complete rather than the resume. Quite frankly a resume doesn't tell me much about a person beyond their work experience, regardless of how flashy it is. If the relevant skills are on the resume, and there is adequate work experience, we'll bring them in. Anyone can represent themselves to be anything they want on paper. I don't care how many industry buzzwords you can cram into your introduction, and I don't care how you leveraged synergy with your web 3.0 solution and legacy systems to achieve paradigm shift, enabling your company optimize your flex capacitors and achieve time travel at 86.5 MPH, 1.5 MPH better than the year before. I've seen these great looking resumes that, when the candidate actually comes in, can't write a smidgen of code. Yes, we force them to code on the interview. You might not be surprised by the number of people who come through our doors who actually can't code.

That being said, I realize that anyone looking for a job has to send out resumes, and people are going to toss them out for superficial reasons. And I understand that. When you've got ten resumes to look over and ten people asking you when their pet project will be completed, you do what you have to do. I don't know what other companies are looking for in resumes, and up until now I really haven't cared. That's why I started this thread. I'm going to work on creating a more sales pitch-ey resume. Sometime soon...

"'ve seen these great looking resumes that, when the candidate actually comes in, can't write a smidgen of code. Yes, we force them to code on the interview. You might not be surprised by the number of people who come through our doors who actually can't code."

Actually I still am. I can't quite understand how so many people manage to pass as software engineers for so stormingly long when their actual development skills mean I couldn't let them write code on their own unsupervised.

It's terrifying that I meet so few people who are competent and yet the entire world runs on software these days. It's going to kill us all one of these days.

It's terrifying that I meet so few people who are competent and yet the entire world runs on software these days. It's going to kill us all one of these days.

I know! I actually had a kid fresh out of university come in two weeks ago. He got decent marks, but didn't interview well. Fair enough. He was a little socially awkward, not terribly uncommon in our field. But the kid couldn't code. I made it clear to him that he could ask me any questions he wanted and use any resource he wanted in order to complete the code challenge (aside from copying someone else's code). After about three hours I told him that I was going to go get a bite to eat and he's welcome to do the same. He just gave up at that point. He hadn't accomplished anything at all. And I pitied him. Not enough to recommend he be hired, but still, I felt bad. His university and his professors failed him when they let him graduate with a degree qualifying him to be a computer programmer when he actually cannot program a computer.