Is a picture so much a no-no? I think there are still other companies that would reject if you don't attach a photo, simply because that's the police. CV with a photo. But I guess that varies from country to country. I'll ask around the recruiters here.
On the "Don’t undersell yourself" that's very interesting and while I partially agree with it, it reminds me of a story, a colleague told me. There was a C++ conference and people were chatting and evaluated themselves on a scale of 10. Many young programmers graded themselves as like 8-9 or even 10. Then a very experienced guy said he is somewhere around 6.
People were shocked.
Why? - they asked.
Well, you know. There is that guy over there. He was working on this compiler and part of that workgroup in the ISO committee. He thinks he is somewhere about 8, and I know less than him...
What I want to tell here is that being humble is also important. If I see that someone's self-grade is the maximum, I'll try to show that he/she still has things to learn. Whereas a 9 out of 10 shows a certain humility that I know that I know a lot, but I still have things to learn.
Probably a way out of this dilemma is not to use grades/points. I just put there some proficient and intermediate skills.
Ryan is an engineer in the Sacramento Area with a focus in Python, Ruby, and Rust. Bash/Python Exercism mentor. Coding, physics, calculus, music, woodworking. Looking for work!
Yeah, I get what you are saying and it’s definitely note in line with my personality to undersell. That way, people will be happily surprised when I do a good job 😁 but there’s a certain amount of privilege associated with that decision too. If you’ve got 10 years of software development under your belt and your name is semi-well-known in some circles, you can afford to be humble. If you’re just coming into the industry and all anybody knows about you is on your resume, you cannot afford to be humble and have people dismiss you. I’d prefer to get into a phone conversation or interview and explain my rating system rather than having my resume thrown in the trash because they don’t want to take a chance on a mechanical engineer who considers themselves just “OK”
Indeed, some others say that you should position yourself as an expert even if you are not one yet. The only problem happens when as an only-positioned expert we meet a real one. But I guess, that's not so frequent.
Totally agree about the picture : in my country (France) it's something very common to have a photo of you on your resume. If you don't do it, you won't necessarily be rejected but you need to be prepared to be asked why you didn't...
It's even been a huge subject of debate to put, or not, your name on your resume to avoid racial prejudice...
Being selected or rejected because of your picture or your name is obviously wrong, but is the avoidance of them a good answer ?
Yeah, if they want to reject you because of your skin color, ethnicity. Well, you might not put a picture or even a name, but at one point they will meet you and see you, won't they?
And if they would reject you because of those things, would you really want to work there?
Ryan is an engineer in the Sacramento Area with a focus in Python, Ruby, and Rust. Bash/Python Exercism mentor. Coding, physics, calculus, music, woodworking. Looking for work!
Again, in some places, during the initial resume phase it’s just policy to reject any resumes with pictures to avoid even the possibility or appearance of prejudice.
Ryan is an engineer in the Sacramento Area with a focus in Python, Ruby, and Rust. Bash/Python Exercism mentor. Coding, physics, calculus, music, woodworking. Looking for work!
Yeah I think it’s a good idea to go with what is standard in the industry or area you’re applying to. I don’t know the rules out of the US. Apparently it’s also semi-common to have a picture if it’s an academic resume. But I’m just going based on what people told me
You're most likely to pass through an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) which parses your resume for keywords first. While they've gotten much better over the years, certain formatting can still make (some of) them choke - likely rejecting you in the process, long before your resume ever reaches human eyes. This is why it's also commonly advised not to use a header, footer, or tables; just headings, body text, and bullet points is the safest way to get through any ATS.
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Thanks, those are very interesting points!
Is a picture so much a no-no? I think there are still other companies that would reject if you don't attach a photo, simply because that's the police. CV with a photo. But I guess that varies from country to country. I'll ask around the recruiters here.
On the "Don’t undersell yourself" that's very interesting and while I partially agree with it, it reminds me of a story, a colleague told me. There was a C++ conference and people were chatting and evaluated themselves on a scale of 10. Many young programmers graded themselves as like 8-9 or even 10. Then a very experienced guy said he is somewhere around 6.
People were shocked.
Why? - they asked.
Well, you know. There is that guy over there. He was working on this compiler and part of that workgroup in the ISO committee. He thinks he is somewhere about 8, and I know less than him...
What I want to tell here is that being humble is also important. If I see that someone's self-grade is the maximum, I'll try to show that he/she still has things to learn. Whereas a 9 out of 10 shows a certain humility that I know that I know a lot, but I still have things to learn.
Probably a way out of this dilemma is not to use grades/points. I just put there some proficient and intermediate skills.
Yeah, I get what you are saying and it’s definitely note in line with my personality to undersell. That way, people will be happily surprised when I do a good job 😁 but there’s a certain amount of privilege associated with that decision too. If you’ve got 10 years of software development under your belt and your name is semi-well-known in some circles, you can afford to be humble. If you’re just coming into the industry and all anybody knows about you is on your resume, you cannot afford to be humble and have people dismiss you. I’d prefer to get into a phone conversation or interview and explain my rating system rather than having my resume thrown in the trash because they don’t want to take a chance on a mechanical engineer who considers themselves just “OK”
Indeed, some others say that you should position yourself as an expert even if you are not one yet. The only problem happens when as an only-positioned expert we meet a real one. But I guess, that's not so frequent.
Totally agree about the picture : in my country (France) it's something very common to have a photo of you on your resume. If you don't do it, you won't necessarily be rejected but you need to be prepared to be asked why you didn't...
It's even been a huge subject of debate to put, or not, your name on your resume to avoid racial prejudice...
Being selected or rejected because of your picture or your name is obviously wrong, but is the avoidance of them a good answer ?
Yeah, if they want to reject you because of your skin color, ethnicity. Well, you might not put a picture or even a name, but at one point they will meet you and see you, won't they?
And if they would reject you because of those things, would you really want to work there?
Again, in some places, during the initial resume phase it’s just policy to reject any resumes with pictures to avoid even the possibility or appearance of prejudice.
Yeah I think it’s a good idea to go with what is standard in the industry or area you’re applying to. I don’t know the rules out of the US. Apparently it’s also semi-common to have a picture if it’s an academic resume. But I’m just going based on what people told me
You're most likely to pass through an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) which parses your resume for keywords first. While they've gotten much better over the years, certain formatting can still make (some of) them choke - likely rejecting you in the process, long before your resume ever reaches human eyes. This is why it's also commonly advised not to use a header, footer, or tables; just headings, body text, and bullet points is the safest way to get through any ATS.