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How To List FOSS Experience On Your Resume

Posted by kdawson on from the one-page-and-make-it-good dept.

maximus1 writes "If you're selling skills gained in an open source project, you have additional opportunities to shine, say experts in this ITWorld article. But what is the best way to explain your FOSS experience? 'Someone stands out because of how they talk about the project, says Zack Grossbart, author of The One Minute Commute. His advice is to describe the project and discuss your contributions in detail: 'If you were a committer, what did you do to earn that status? What features did you work on? Did you design new areas, or just implement predefined functions? Did you lead meetings? Define new architecture? Set the project direction?' If the FOSS experience is part of your background but not a shining beacon or job equivalent, it's common to list it under 'other experience.' Andy Lester, author of Land The Tech Job You Love, says: 'Think of each project as a freelance job that you've worked on. Just as different freelance gigs have varying sizes and scopes, so too does each project to which you contribute. The key is to not lump all your projects under one "open source work" heading.' Good examples are worth a thousand words. Grossbart offers up his resume as a sound but not perfect example (PDF) that includes open source experience. (His article on how to format your resume might also be of interest.)"

3 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Open source. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Big problem is that the resume is filtered by data mining software and HR types. Anything outside of standard keywords and job description might not make the cut to an interview. At interview is where you show them what you have done unless they have a specific style of Q&A.

  2. Re:"Meetings"? by Ixitar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oh, I spent many hours in meetings (I even "led" some). But that was long ago and far away, and definitely had nothing to do with Free Software.

    I am currently working on a open source project and do have conference calls from time to time. Please try to not make such overreaching statements.

  3. as someone who does hiring... by timmarhy · · Score: 5, Informative
    ... let me give you 3 rules.

    1. only list relevant experience, if your applying for a DBA position i don't want to waste time reading about how you enjoy cake decorating.

    2. put the good stuff first, i need to skim 100's of these resumes so having to read till page 10 isn't helping your chances that'll see your skills.

    3. keep the format clean and easy to read, don't make my eye's bleed because your going in the bin after page one with pink curly fonts.

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