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OS Projects and Your Resume?
DavonZ asks: "Being that many readers of Slashdot may have contributed to Open Source projects, I thought this the best place to ask this question: What is the best way to outline our side projects into our resumes? I did the conversion of the C700 from Japanese to English, review hardware for nvmax.com, run MaxProjects which ports applications to the Sharp Zaurus, founded the Embedded Linux Developers Group and still maintain a full-time job with a semiconductor. How to I add these into my resume? I have been told not to; to only enter them into my cover letter. Others have told me to add a projects section. I have even been told that I shouldn't mention my projects at all. Which is the best approach? What are other Slashdot readers doing?"
Since OS projects are like free beer, why not give some to your potential employer? That is a sure-fire way to get employed.
Instead of having a "Jobs" section, I would prefer to have a "Work Experience" section, then you could include goal-related experience. Say if you were a programmer/developer for an OSS project, and you are trying to get a developer position. However, for this same position, listing your translating duties might fall into the Hobbies-n-Interest category.
"More organs means more human." - Zim
I added a "Community" section to my resume and put things like that there. Similar to a 'hobbies' section, but community expresses it better. Would running the local Unix security SIG be a hobby? Not really.
My resume
What better way to underline your passion for technology than to mention your extracurricular involvement w/ it?
If your resume is strong as-is, and nets you the important first interview, you could manage by just mentioning your volunteer activities in a cover letter. With resumes, size does matter and the shorter, "the better."
Otherwise, like some readers have already suggested, paste the information into a broadened "Experience" category or, if you prefer, an aptly named "Community" or "Projects" category.
HTH.
Here's what I do, and I've had a fair bit of success with my resume:
Put a "Special Skills" section at the top of your resume. In this section, list a few software/hardware/personal skills that stand out. Here, you can also list one or two of your open source contributions, but don't go into too much detail and make sure that you choose only your best contributions. (You want to be succint, but still get the message across.)
Other alternative: you can list one or two of your contributions in your "Activities and Interests" section, near the end of your resume.
-kris
I recently got hired for a new job. While I was interviewing for the spot, I was asked more than once about more than one of the projects I've done. They seemed genuinely interested in what I'd done.
I think having a projects section as part of your resume is a good idea because it indicates that you take developing your skills outside of work seriously.
This is work experience just like any other job. The fact that you didn't get paid for it or that it was volunteer doesn't make any difference to someone looking at your resume. The point of the resume is to show what *related* work you have done in the past. So if you are applying for a software related position, your OS work is definately relevent work experience and should be listed with all your other work experience.
One thing I've learned is that no two people on the planet will give the same advice regarding resumes. Their effectiveness is so dependent on the personality of the person reading them that all you have on your side is hope and luck. The most important thing you can do is to express your projects somewhere on the resume or cover letter and hope that it catches an eye or scanning machine or two.
If you have lot's of time, create a slightly different resume for each company based on your research and your estimate of their "atmosphere" or "corporate culture" or "Feng Shui energy displacement patterns" (that's as good as anything else, I guess).
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
One thing I try to keep in mind is that the main purpose of my resume is to get me an interview.
Bearing that in mind, one tactic would be to put on the resume something general about contributing to FOSS. Then, they have to actually contact you to find out the specifics. This also helps keep the resume brief, which is a good thing.
Your average response here is going to be from an unemployed technozealot of some sort telling you what to do with your resume to get a job, that they don't have.
Your best bet is to make a resume that is the best representation of the work you are capable of. If you read it, and it looks like it describes you and you'd give yourself a job then get it out there and see what happens. You'll find out pretty quickly whether it's working or not, and if not make some adjustments and go at it again.
IMHO, people spend WAY too much time worrying about how to write the perfect resume when they'd already have a job if they'd put that energy directly into finding jobs and applying for them.
No Comment.
One advice is be honst on your resume. It doesn't matter if you put your opensource experiences under Voluteering or Community sections.
From my experience as a project admin in two projects at sourceforge.net, I know there are a lot of people who join opensource projects just to get the names on their resume. So, what the project does is not that important. (For example, people can submit just one Linux kernel hack and claim themselves kernel developers on their resumes. Unethical, but possible.) The important thing is to be honst and state clearly what you have contributed (learned) to (from) the project(s). And if you have a very good relationship with the project admin, why not ask him/her to be your reference on your resume.
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Mathematics will always come back to hunt you down, in so many ways