November 5, 2015 at 16:23Programmer's resume: how to make it convenient?
Our team is developing a product for finding remote developers. In terms of meaning, this is not an analogue of upWork (ex-oDesk), but rather, Uber: a service finds a programmer for a project that is suitable for location, language, competencies and cost.
Developers at the entrance to the system go through a very serious procedure of testing and confirming their professional experience: in this way, a community of top developers who prefer to work remotely and open to new projects is formed on the basis of the service. We are creating a product for programmers who can be entrusted with key projects, since there are enough sites for freelancers who perform small non-core tasks.
Having a lot of experience in “selecting” developers, we systematized our knowledge and faced with the task of an ideal programmer profile that was truly convenient not only for us, but also for a wide audience.
So ...
It should be:
a) Authentic and informative for the employer
b) Simple and easy to fill out for the developer
Unlike hiring offline, in our case, the customer decides to invite the developer to the project, in fact guided only by the information in his profile and our recommendation. Service, for its part, guarantees reliability.(checks data on workplaces, projects and tasks, conducts in-depth testing of all skills, communication skills in a team of other developers, and confirms knowledge of foreign languages). The information structure is responsible for the profile structure, on which we are working. At the same time, we in no way want to complicate and overload the profile: it should be such that it can be easily completed, quickly evaluated, and if interested, get the necessary additional information.
We have analyzed popular online forms. They were not written for programmers, therefore, of course, they are good for their versatility, but they do not correspond to our goals. We undertook to adapt the standard questionnaire to the specifics of the IT industry, and in particular, programmers working remotely.
Ultimately, we had to include the main entities in profile 4:
1. Formal data. There are usually two strict criteria that allow the customer and the contractor to work in the place: time (time zone) and language for working communication. Therefore, the profile must contain information about where the artist lives, what hours of work are suitable for him, what language is his native language, and what languages he can communicate without any problems.
2. Skills. This should not be an excessive list of languages, platforms and technologies with which the artist has ever worked or read / heard about. It is enough to choose those in which he considers himself an expert, and from them - those with which he wants to continue to work, and related skills. To display skills in a resume, we offer a structured form.
3. Work experience. The most important section, which is very easy to spoil with a lack or excess of information. We offer to list the projects in which the developer took part, to clarify the composition of the team and its role in it, as well as describe what specific tasks he directly performed. The most interesting projects can be described in more detail, ordinary ones can only be mentioned.
Thus, we are moving away from the standard enumeration of absolutely all technologies that the developer has touched or seen, and we shift the focus to his direct role in the project and the cases that seemed interesting to him (i.e., we ask you to answer questions asked by the interviewer in advance interview).
4. Sample code. Code is the product that the customer ultimately acquires from the programmer, so its quality and style are often the main criterion for choosing an artist. In this regard, we consider it necessary to add a link to GitHub or the ability to attach an archive with code that the developer is ready to show as his portfolio.
It is also possible to insert links to author's articles on professional resources, as well as share information about basic and additional education, courses, trainings, certificates received.
At the moment, we have managed to form such a structure that we continue to work on:
In order to create a truly high-quality product, we need your help.
What items need to be added / expanded / specified?
Maybe some points seemed redundant to you?
Developers at the entrance to the system go through a very serious procedure of testing and confirming their professional experience: in this way, a community of top developers who prefer to work remotely and open to new projects is formed on the basis of the service. We are creating a product for programmers who can be entrusted with key projects, since there are enough sites for freelancers who perform small non-core tasks.
Having a lot of experience in “selecting” developers, we systematized our knowledge and faced with the task of an ideal programmer profile that was truly convenient not only for us, but also for a wide audience.
So ...
It should be:
a) Authentic and informative for the employer
b) Simple and easy to fill out for the developer
Unlike hiring offline, in our case, the customer decides to invite the developer to the project, in fact guided only by the information in his profile and our recommendation. Service, for its part, guarantees reliability.(checks data on workplaces, projects and tasks, conducts in-depth testing of all skills, communication skills in a team of other developers, and confirms knowledge of foreign languages). The information structure is responsible for the profile structure, on which we are working. At the same time, we in no way want to complicate and overload the profile: it should be such that it can be easily completed, quickly evaluated, and if interested, get the necessary additional information.
We have analyzed popular online forms. They were not written for programmers, therefore, of course, they are good for their versatility, but they do not correspond to our goals. We undertook to adapt the standard questionnaire to the specifics of the IT industry, and in particular, programmers working remotely.
Ultimately, we had to include the main entities in profile 4:
1. Formal data. There are usually two strict criteria that allow the customer and the contractor to work in the place: time (time zone) and language for working communication. Therefore, the profile must contain information about where the artist lives, what hours of work are suitable for him, what language is his native language, and what languages he can communicate without any problems.
2. Skills. This should not be an excessive list of languages, platforms and technologies with which the artist has ever worked or read / heard about. It is enough to choose those in which he considers himself an expert, and from them - those with which he wants to continue to work, and related skills. To display skills in a resume, we offer a structured form.
3. Work experience. The most important section, which is very easy to spoil with a lack or excess of information. We offer to list the projects in which the developer took part, to clarify the composition of the team and its role in it, as well as describe what specific tasks he directly performed. The most interesting projects can be described in more detail, ordinary ones can only be mentioned.
Thus, we are moving away from the standard enumeration of absolutely all technologies that the developer has touched or seen, and we shift the focus to his direct role in the project and the cases that seemed interesting to him (i.e., we ask you to answer questions asked by the interviewer in advance interview).
4. Sample code. Code is the product that the customer ultimately acquires from the programmer, so its quality and style are often the main criterion for choosing an artist. In this regard, we consider it necessary to add a link to GitHub or the ability to attach an archive with code that the developer is ready to show as his portfolio.
It is also possible to insert links to author's articles on professional resources, as well as share information about basic and additional education, courses, trainings, certificates received.
At the moment, we have managed to form such a structure that we continue to work on:
In order to create a truly high-quality product, we need your help.
What items need to be added / expanded / specified?
Maybe some points seemed redundant to you?