Technology CV's and Me

I've a small gripe with technology recruiters, if any of you out there are reading this (which since I just cast my CV around, you should be).

And this is their penchant for skills lists... I have a very minimalist CV, one page of A4, it covers the primary software languages I like (C++, C, C#) makes mention of my favourite working styles (Agile/Scrum) and it has my history and pertinent academic background.

That's all... Minimal, just me, my page one shot done.

Anymore and it never, ever, gets me anywhere.  It apparently comes across as "hey look at me" attempts to garner and keep attention with the right buzz words, which I myself despise.  Or it comes over as not having a lot to talk about in the interview, as everything you want to know might very well be in this tome of a CV, and I myself reading them find that I want to ask every question I can in the interview stage, so having it all there you disengage, hurting both your interest in the candidate and their chance to explain themselves to you.

So a long CV, in someways, is counter intuitive.

But then the skills list raises it's head, no my CV does not have a specific skills list, at the top is says Software Engineer.  That tells you everything you need know.

You don't got for brain surgery and stop the surgeon to ask whether they've the right skills to use a bone saw, did they spend two years in orthopedics first, did they complete their GCSE's.  No they're a brain surgeon.

So why when I present I'm a software engineer do you get these niggly folks asking "Do you know Java?"... "Hows your skills in C#"... or "You don't have enough experience on XboxOne"....

I literally laugh, I'm a software engineer, a good one, I live for tech, I can, have and will pick up any new language, machine or skill-set desired and very quickly.  I set out in the mid 90's to train for this, I was sitting up all night long tinkering on my computers and programming long before that official water-shed moment.

Therefore I have to ask,why do you need to put down these skill sets?  Why do you need to use the right buzz words?  Well, I think there's a two fold reply to that very question, first of all you may not be speaking to the most tech savvy of individual, they might just have a check-list of the right words, or the right fit to get you over the threshold and passing that initial interview.  Phone interviews are a bit of a blessing in this way, as you get to lay down your own proof of worth quickly.

The second reply being that the folks doing the hiring don't actually know what they are hiring, either because they remain the non-tech-savvy, or more commonly (more sadly) they've never met or worked with an engineer who has a genuine passion for their topic.  Yeah sure you can program, but are you interested in it?  Quite often the answer is no.

Many programmers I meet today are below that level of going in their own time to hack around with things, they're too busy life having grown out of what they see as the adolescent pass-time of tinkering.

I however value my tinkerers, they're the soul of the literally machine, driving innovation, improvement and even just evangelizing about new-ways and approaches to enhance their colleagues.

Such individuals are rare, I consider myself to be one, and hate when I'm asked to pour my soul into soulless lines on a page, get to know me, you never know... You might learn as much from me, as I might learn from you.