The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

WebService Exam

Anyone also taking this free beta WebService exam from Sun between April 29-May 23? How do you prepare yourself?

I am also interested in knowing the "public opinion" of JoelOnsoftware regarding certification? Smart, Dumb, WasteOfTime, ForFun?

Recently Sun started their new certification track: BusinessComponent, J2ME (upcoming), WebService (upcoming), etc. Any comment regarding this move?

Thanks

Richard Sunarto Yu
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Standard advice regarding pieces of paper:

- As a manager using them as a metric: they may be of marginal use, but you should always verify the claimed knowledge.

- As a potential employee: so many employers hold them as "plus points" that they're generally worth getting, either to set yourself apart from the crowd or to at least keep up with the crowd.

Good luck!
Philo

Philo
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

"they may be of marginal use, but you should always verify the claimed knowledge"

Philo, your comment about "pieces of paper" is very interesting, balanced, and deep. I assume that you have the same opinion for a academic degree "paper" :-). Ooh, I remember to the previous thread regarding the value of a degree.

Richard Sunarto Yu
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

"I assume that you have the same opinion for a academic degree "paper""

It's somewhat more involved, since we're talking about four years of your life, but in general yes.

Philo

Philo
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Back to the issue, how to set apart from others when buzzwords and certificates "decorate" the resume? How to judge the quality rather than the quantity (including no of cert, buzzwords, years of experience,etc)? I know this is a hypothetical question and no straight answer exists.

Richard

Richard Sunarto Yu
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Gestalt.

Look at the whole resume - look at which technologies have been called out, how they're called out, and if they're amplified upon. Look at the work experience and see if it tracks with the technologies. Look at *how* the work experience is worded - does it indicate pride in accomplishment or merely a paycheck?

This won't provide you with "the one" - it may only cull 30-40%, but IMHO those will be 30-40% well culled resumes.

Thinking in these terms will also make you read the resumes more critically, which will get you out of the "whack-a-mole" mindset and more into the "find a good employee" mindset.

At some point you're going to have to start phone screening...

Philo

Philo
Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Thank you for the advice Philo.

I've just receive a job offer, but it is not a common one. As a background, I am still a student (going to graduate very soon) and has looked jobs since 3 months ago. I have sent about 50 resumes to companies seen on newspaper ads, school announcement, etc.

So far I have only got 3 interviews, but these can be considered extreme cases as they are not my target. They are: a software startup company (amazing that in this time, they are brave enough to do it), a large shipping line company (offering traineeship for 2 years), a US Investment Bank (analyst position in technology division). I receive an offer from the first one (for the position of sales, no salary, only commision). For the two, I have not heard any news from them for the last 1 week and not expecting them.

Wonder why? Something wrong with my resume as it does not attract "traditional" software jobs. I know the times are bad in US, also in my place.

Richard Sunarto Yu
Tuesday, April 27, 2004