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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.)"

45 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Open source. by Gudeldar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why not just show them what you did?

    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:Open source. by Jurily · · Score: 4, Interesting

      elevate the resume line from 'releasing free code as a hobby' to "research" work

      And it's exactly this kind of thing that makes honest resumés look like shit.

      OTOH, if the software in question is good enough, you don't need to lie. "I have 14 lines of code in the Linux kernel" is more impressive than "coded an OS from scratch".

    3. Re:Open source. by AnotherUsername · · Score: 4, Funny

      And it's exactly this kind of thing that makes honest resumés look like shit.

      OTOH, if the software in question is good enough, you don't need to lie. "I have 14 lines of code in the Linux kernel" is more impressive than "coded an OS from scratch".

      Unfortunately, all 14 lines of code are simply comments...

      --
      I don't like Linux. This doesn't make me a troll.
    4. Re:Open source. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's nothing even close to dishonest here. If your code was so meaningless to you that you don't care to do the extra work to get it into a better category than "hobby" or "coding in spare time", then you deserve what you get.

      Yes, i'm suggesting that if you want optimal resume lines, you adjust the type of FOSS development you do, than you otherwise would, and do a little more work.

      14 lines in the Linux kernel is not an accomplishment that is the least bit indicative of a good developer; the hiring manager's unlikely to be impressed, even if they are a big Linux fan. Coded an OS from scratch is comparatively much more interesting, in fact, and much more likely to be an asset, the person who makes a huge, significant contribution to an unknown piece of software, than the person who gloats over a small insignificant addition to a popular piece of software...

      You want to be able to say something like Wrote the USB Driver for a major operating system, not "fixed a bug in the Linux coffee pot power control driver".

    5. Re:Open source. by Jurily · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Coded an OS from scratch is comparatively much more interesting,

      Not really. I think you're forgetting the level of quality required for any code to make it into the main branch, much less stay there. Being able to read and change other people's code is also a big plus.

      You want to be able to say something like Wrote the USB Driver for a major operating system, not "fixed a bug in the Linux coffee pot power control driver".

      14 lines of code that thousands of people use regularly is more valuable than something big noone ever heard of.

    6. Re:Open source. by CarpetShark · · Score: 3, Funny

      Unfortunately, all 14 lines of code are simply comments...

      And in the diff, they all begin with -

  2. profit ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    step 1: get your resume posted on /. front page
    step 2: ???
    step 3: PROFIT !!!

    1. Re:profit ! by John+Hasler · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > Please tell us so we know what we're getting.

      You are getting what you see. Are you incapable of judging it on its merits?

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  3. "Meetings"? by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Did you lead meetings?

    What are these "meetings" you speak of?

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:"Meetings"? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Did you lead meetings?

      What are these "meetings" you speak of?

      It like a mailing list flamewar but not as fun to watch.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    2. Re:"Meetings"? by Threni · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you're putting together a resume then you're looking for a job, and if you get a job, you're going to have to endure brain numbing meetings where your boss will ask you the same question you've answered at least 3 times that much, knowing full well that he won't understand and will ask you again in a few days. The meeting will waste your time, and not express any information you couldn't have committed to writing in an email. But it will pass an hour of your - and more importantly, your bosses - time, and given that bosses don't work but instead just attend meetings and try and make comments to suggest that they in some way add value to the company they work for, you'd better get used to it sooner rather than later.

    3. Re:"Meetings"? by sergiodj · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Some FOSS projects (especially those sponsored by a company, like Red Hat's Archer project) have regular meetings via phone calls in order to discuss the status of the activities, decide about new features, etc. As a positive side effect, it makes the developers interact more with each other and create a stronger connection between them.

    4. 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.

  4. His formatting article might be interesting, by adonoman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    except that that resume looks like crap. He spends all this time worrying about serifs and ligatures, when as a whole it's nearly illegible. It's all crowded into the page in what seems to the eye like one big chunk of prose. It hurts my eyes just trying to read the text. There are places for bullets - and lists of things is a good place for them. A separating space or line here or there isn't going to kill anyone. Also, it's not a sin to use two pages so that you don't have to pack everything in.

    1. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Shados · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Aside for the formatting of skill lists and stuff, its pretty good, which means one thing, in my opinion: he is another victim of the "YOUR RESUME MUST BE ONE PAGE REGARDLESS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE!!!!!111!" school of thought.

      The one page resume rule: hurting professionals everywhere since....well, ever.

    2. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have not had a 1 page resume in 20 years. I seem to make all the automated HR filters too... I just wonder if that is connected? :)

      A friend and I were co-workers in a company that went bust. We had almost the same job and almost the same experience. We both applied at the same company, and I got a call back and a job. He never got a call back. My new boss asked if I knew anyone else. I said, "Uh, Yes?" and told him about my friend. He never saw the resume. I got it for him and he hired my friend as well. HR was pissed at him for at least 2 years. :) He is still there, and I have long since left. HR is worthless...

    3. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Z8 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's all crowded into the page in what seems to the eye like one big chunk of prose. It hurts my eyes just trying to read the text.

      I hope you never accidentally open a book, you might go blind.

    4. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by bangthegong · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Aside for the formatting of skill lists and stuff, its pretty good, which means one thing, in my opinion: he is another victim of the "YOUR RESUME MUST BE ONE PAGE REGARDLESS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE!!!!!111!" school of thought.

      The one page resume rule: hurting professionals everywhere since....well, ever.

      if i had mod points i'd mod this +1 Insightful also. I've had an increasingly-long resume as I have moved up in my career. It started out as one of those "fit it in one page" jobs which makes sense when you are starting your career. People who have no experience, should not have a long resume. But if you've had any sort of career (which this Grossbart fellow seems to have had) it's right and proper to give adequate space to explaining what you did in these jobs, and highlighting your successes over that time. Most importantly, don't assume anyone is going to actually "read" your resume. Bullet points let the reader skim quickly, which is what most people do. Grossbart's resume has a lot of words about his decade+ at Novell, but even reading it, it isn't clear what he actually accomplished as an individual.

    5. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Funny

      HR is worthless...

      Where I work, only HR is hiring...

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    6. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by jc42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Perhaps a better way to express it is: Your resume can be as long as you think is necessary to describe your experience. But you should be aware that very few hiring managers will read past the first page. So the first page should list the experiences that you would like managers to know about when they're deciding whether to hire you.

      The rest of your resume may be read (or skimmed) by lower-level managers (and your friends), and it may be searched for keywords by HR's software, but it usually won't contribute significantly to any hiring decisions.

      This may all be disregarded if you know that the company's hiring managers are intelligent and knowledgeable in the company's field. Such people do tend to read entire resumes, and even understand them. This mostly applies to the smallest companies, since in large companies hiring is done by professional managers, not by people knowledgeable in their subject area.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    7. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by kestasjk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This guy is so good at writing resumes that he tells the rest of us how to write them as a job; what more proof do you need that he must have an excellent resume?

      --
      // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
    8. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by MrCrassic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree that one page isn't enough for people with lots of experience, but his solution is not the best to address this either. --WAY-- too much to read.

      Note. I actually see the reason for keeping resumes under one page; most people that think they need two usually don't. I think it's only appropriate if the position is really important, since the pool for those positions are smaller and, thus, those who make the hiring decisions can (and will) spend more time on the person's merits and personality.

      The methodology my school uses for resume writing is that people should list three key responsibilites for each job listing, in list format. This can make keeping a resume within to a single page even more difficult because many people have had numerous interesting experiences at their previous workplaces that may or may not be able to get listed on there. Then again, if that person does claim to have many of those experiences, they should be able to list a few which will grab an employer's attention fairly quickly.

      After hearing of several interviews in my co-ops and speaking to a few managers about this, the logic behind this makes a lot of sense. Even though HR uses a bland filter to separate the "wheat" from the "chaff" (or, more appropriately, the ones who know the system and the ones who don't), those resumes still need to be passed down to management, as the decision is ultimately up to them. What this means is that they look at TONS of resumes, sometimes on a daily basis. Most of those resumes are ill-formatted, poorly written and are eyesores to look at. Additionally, they usually want to spend less than a minute looking at one before deciding whether to yay or nay a second interview (the nays don't get saved; they get binned).

      It's for this reason that having a resume in list format helps so much; hiring managers or others with decision power don't have to think as much when looking at one. They can sift through the list and see if they make the cut (for an interview, that is).

    9. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Matrix14 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is why you should have a separate resume (which, as word, means "summary", i.e., of your CV) and CV. Your CV can be multiple pages or one one long HTML page or whatever. Make your resume one page and put a URL for where your CV can be found on the web.

    10. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Eskarel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      He's actually a pretty good example of everything you shouldn't do with your Resume.

      There's a lot to be said for being concise in your resume, and the first page is the one which gets the most attention. The problem is that this doesn't mean you should cram everything you have onto one page, since one unreadable page is worse than 20 you can actually parse properly.

      The reason for a one page resume is that your resume will appear in a gigantic stack of other resumes. If you're really lucky it might be being looked at by someone who actually understands the field, but that person is likely to be busy. They're not going to spend an hour carefully reading each resume, they're going to try to cull that gigantic pile down to a short list as quickly as possible. I can honestly say that, as someone who has been asked for a technical opinion on resumes for the area this guy works in, I'd have binned it because there would almost certainly have been someone(possibly someone with far less experience) whose resume showed me that experience in a more meaningful manner.

      This is all a bit sad since I happen to have worked with a lot of the stuff he's apparently actually written, and they're not my favorite examples of the product line, they were well coded and not particularly buggy or difficult to work with. The guy has a lot of years of very solid experience, but he has no idea how to actually apply for a job. This isn't all that surprising since from the looks of his resume, he started off as a consultant, got hired onto one of the firms he was consulting with, which then got bought by Novell, and he hasn't actually gone job hunting in more than a decade. Depending on his age(and whether there's any additional experience he's left off), he may have only ever actually gone job hunting once in his entire life

    11. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Kjella · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And some people have become millionaires on selling "How to become a millionaire" books.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    12. Re:His formatting article might be interesting, by Shados · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This talk of school and co-op make me think you're mostly talking about early career resume. Thats different. IT is a volatile job market, and aside for a few people who like to settle down early, many IT professional and software engineers will frequently bounce from job to job. By mid career, having 3, 5, or 10+ -significant- jobs on your resume isn't uncommon. Add additional -relevant- trainings and certifications, and relevent publications, and a consultant will need 3-5 pages even if they keep it to a minimum.

      I worked for HR departments, head hunter agencies, consulting firms, you name it... and the recurring theme is this: If you have significant career experience (read: you're not straight out of college, and the part time job at BestBuy isn't career experience), 1 page won't cut it. Or any kind of "rule" for that matter. Those are just guides for people who don't know how to judge for themselves what is important (which is fine: not everyone has experience in the matter).

      The first half of the first page should have everything that an hiring manager with ADHD would need. Beyond that, you should have everything important, but in a format that is easy to skim through. Different companies have a COMPLETLY different opinion on what should be in a resume, and you need to catter to all (well, most) of them in one document, since you don't know them in advance. You just have to make sure its in a format where the noise of what they don't care about doesn't prevent them from finding what they want.

      But if you made your resume too short, or in a draconian format following arbitrary "rules", the company that may have hired you for your dream job may skip on your resume.

      While mine is nowhere near that long, one of the most successful IT guy I know has a 15 page resume, and he never had issues with it. I know a heck of a lot of great people who had problems with their silly 1-2 pagers. I even spend a lot of my time rewriting the resume of some of my friends, after they bitch they can't find a job after 3 months. Rewrite the resume to put everything relevant on it, not worrying about page count, format things correctly, bang, the week after they have a job they like. Happened douzens of times!

  5. How to format? Is not it about CONTENT? by mi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is not "worry about the content, not the presentation" the mantra around here? If we are supposed to follow that for the web-pages we produce, why should the resumes be different?

    One's resume should be in XML, from which various other formats can be produced automatically (and consistently)...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:How to format? Is not it about CONTENT? by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > Is not "worry about the content, not the presentation" the mantra around
      > here? If we are supposed to follow that for the web-pages we produce, why
      > should the resumes be different?

      Resumes have to get past HR drones and PHBs in order to reach anyone who can comprehend the content.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    2. Re:How to format? Is not it about CONTENT? by khallow · · Score: 2, Insightful

      One's resume should be in XML, from which various other formats can be produced automatically (and consistently)...

      It's an interesting gimmick, but not sure what purpose it'd have for anyone other than XML monkeys. The problem is that a resume is about presentation as much as it is about content.

  6. Make a portfolio by wrook · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Make a portfolio of open source work you've done. Go in and extract code that you've written. Annotate it explaining what problem you were solving and why you chose the design you did, etc. Keep each section fairly short (a few hundred lines of code) and write an overall document linking up the various code excerpts, creating a narrative for them to follow. If you have planning/design documentation, etc feel free to show excerpts of that too. Even emails from mailing lists where you defused a potentially difficult situation is good. Finally, provide links to all the original projects that you've contributed to so they can see your contribution first hand.

    After you have organized all that, put it up on a web page somewhere and put a link on your resume. Burn a few business card sized CDs and hand them out at interviews. Make sure to bring a few to each interview. I've found they are popular.

    This has gotten me more than one job. I used to maintain my portfolio continuously on my web page, but I'm teaching now and have let it lapse. However, it's sometimes useful even outside the job searching venue.

    1. Re:Make a portfolio by zgrossbart · · Score: 3, Informative

      Keeping a portfolio of your open source contributions is a wonderful idea. Creating a narrative really shows that you can speak well about your projects. This is what hiring managers are looking for, strong coders who can speak English and communicate well.

  7. Uh easy... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Press "enter" after one of your job bulletpoints to make a new list items. Type in your role on the project, the name of the project, then the dates during which you worked on it. Provide a short description of the work you did, and how it impacted the success of the project.

    Done.

    --
    Comment of the year
  8. Why should I care about this douchebag's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    opinion? Blah blah blah, try 30 different fonts. Blah blah blah, try 20 different text editors. And HR will still want a copy in word format or plain text format, ignore any formatting, and keyword scan.

    My resume is done in latex. Better font, better justification, better appearance.

  9. Stretching it by dirkdodgers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Listing FOSS contributions outside of Other Experience can look like stretching, and is stretching unless it's either something you're spending, say, 20+ hours/week on, or you're applying for your first position out of school. If you're not, it's not really the kind of professional experience you want to showcase, is it?

    Even if you're spending substantial time on a FOSS project, you still may not want to list it outside of Other Experience other than to explain what you have been doing in the time since your most recent employment.

    What you don't want to do is give the impression that you're trying to cover up for being under-qualified, for lacking in professional experience, or that you're not employable in a traditional position.

    1. Re:Stretching it by cenc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You obviously do not have sufficient experience as either an employee or and employer.

      --
      Living in Chile
  10. It's easy, but by Korbeau · · Score: 2, Funny

    You are forced to put the GNU notice in your resume and provide a blood sample in a test tube so they can sequence your ADN.

    1. Re:It's easy, but by Korbeau · · Score: 2, Funny

      Acide (Deoxyribonucleic) Acid ...
      ADN, DNA ...
      Chemistry!!! Why aren't you language agnostic!!!!

  11. 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.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  12. Why make this dificult? K.I.S.S. by upuv · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why would FOSS or volunteer work be any different than work you did for a pay check?

    It goes on the Resume same as any other job. I treat them with the exactly the same.

    I read about data miners and other such rubbish filtering out FOSS and such type work. Well that is complete and total non-sense. Your resume is a record of your experience and accomplishments plain and simple.

    Hear is some advice.

    DO NOT MAKE YOUR RESUME OVERLY COMPLICATED. You do not need 20 headings highlighting the different views of your career. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid is the rule to follow. Spend your effort on making sure that each piece of experience is effectively presented through a well written resume.

    I use this rule of thumb. I treat my resume/CV as a full time job for 1 week. I spend no less than 40 hours working on it before any potential employer will see it. That's nto for every employer. That's for each time I'm on the job market. In North America no more than 4 pages EVER. In other parts of the world they like to see as much as a page per year experience ( I know ridiculous ). So what if the agency filters it and puts into their format. Let them. You're bring fresh copies on PLAIN WHITE PAPER in B/W to the interview? Cause you should be slapped if you don't. Oh gee all of a sudden your resume stands out in the pile of identical resumes in the stack. Why? Because it is well formatted on quality WHITE paper.

    I read a lot of resumes. A LOT. I toss almost all of the resumes that have pictures / fancy paper / more heft than a phone book into the bin before turning the first page.

    ------
    Do NOT's
    - Put your picture on the resume. You are not that good looking.
    - Use colored paper. What are you 12?
    - Use textured paper. Again are you 12?
    - Use multiple fonts. Only use Helvetica. Why all printers have it and it looks clean and is easy to read.
    - Leave half empty pages. All pages should have a solid balance of text. Half pages are tossed pages.
    - Only use one recruiter. Where is there a law that states you can only use one recruiter?
    - Forget to shave. Guys Gals, it applies to both of you. Clean looks get the jobs and more money. Don't care if it's racist / prejudice or what ever complaint you have. Clean looks always win. Grow the pRon mustache after you get the job OK.

  13. Re:Why make this dificult? K.I.S.S. by Hymer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You are so right... except for the font. Humans read a serif font about 20% faster and with less errors than a sans serif font so use Times instead of Helvetica (which btw. is not available on a std.Windows PC... Arial, Tahoma or Verdana are not good substitutes for Helvetica).

  14. On that note... by puroresu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...if you have what would be termed an "unconventional" appearance by more narrow minded employers, consider the kind of companies which are more likely to hire you.

    I have long hair, facial hair and tattoos. I recently took a temp contract with a publishing company. They didn't have a "dress code" as such and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. A few weeks later they asked if I'd run the department. Plenty of businesses operate under similar conditions, and unlike places which mandate a particular look, they tend not to treat employees like shit.

    Will you alienate some employers by not having a short back and sides and a clean shave? Yes.
    Are they worth working for? Not in my opinion.

    1. Re:On that note... by upuv · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Clean just improves the odds no matter the company. My self personally I like someone not afraid to self express. So I tend to take a liking to the ab-normal. Hell I drive a H.D. to work and sport the odd tat myself.

      I was just speaking of the average. As you have probably experienced in your own life there is a degree of higher resistance to you and your chosen appearance. Are these people that give you the "slanted" look narrow minded and a bit backwards? You bet yah.

      "Worth working for" is a lot different than "working". When it comes to food in the childs mouth you go the safe route.

  15. Mistake in his resume by MobyDisk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think he didn't list his FOSS experience very well. It says:

    Sole engineer for the GoTD program (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mgatdirector), an open source program for directing Go tournaments. GoTD integrates registration, player pairing, handicapping,
    conict resolution, and results reporting into one easy-to-use interface. GoTD is the rst and only open source program available for managing Go tournaments.

    It sounds like he is selling the project, not himself. In my experience, you don't say what the project did, you say the technologies it uses and what YOU did. I might write:

    Sole engineer for the GoTD program (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mgatdirector), an open source program for directing Go tournaments written in C++/Qt. Ran on Linux, Windows, and Commodore 64. Maintained project in source control via sourceforge. Prioritized bug reports, applied fixes, and determined new features. A forum was established to solicit feedback from customers.

  16. Hiring managers & HR pros are different audien by Esther+Schindler · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think most hiring managers will read past the first page... assuming that they didn't get 100 resumes in response to a single job ad. But in a lot of companies, HR people exist to eliminate candidates more than they work to find the right ones. So they perform a kind of triage, looking for the reasons to dump your resume immediately (which I wrote about at Javaworld in How to Make HR Dump A Programmer's Resume and they are attracted by some strangely shiny things like keywords What HR Professionals Look For in a Programmer's Resume).

    Mostly, the idea is to get past the HR department and get to the hiring manager -- the person to whom you'd report, ideally. But if she has a stack of 100 resumes to fill an open position, you need to capture her attention immediately and shout I have the background you need. That's among the reasons that it's a good idea to include FOSS experience, which is what I wrote in the first part of that blog post.