Timeline for Me: "Wrote a program to merge the datasets." Friend: "Okay. So, did your program actually merge the datasets?" Petty or correct?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 26, 2021 at 5:22 | vote | accept | AIQ | ||
| Oct 25, 2021 at 21:43 | comment | added | AIQ | @AndyBonner That's a different take from the answer below. Maybe you should turn your comment into an answer. :) | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 21:40 | comment | added | Andy Bonner | "Petty OR correct"? ;) My problem with your friend's objection is that there's a certain level of trust without which the resume process breaks down. If you say "I wrote a program" that didn't work, you're misrepresenting yourself, and if I have such an intense skepticism that I start from the assumption that you're a fraudster, we won't get anywhere. So... linguistically correct, yes, but petty, in my opinion, yes. | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 20:18 | history | edited | AIQ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 222 characters in body
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| Oct 25, 2021 at 20:03 | comment | added | David Siegel | @ColleenV I would say that depends on the nature of the job applied for. if the job is similar in scope and skills to the previous one, so the hiring manager will likely know just what it took to write that program, task-oriented is best. If it is significantly different, skills-oriented may be better. And I am now far off-topic here | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 20:00 | answer | added | David Siegel | timeline score: 4 | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:52 | comment | added | ColleenV | The difference in terms of English is slight and only expert nit-pickers like myself (and apparently your friend) are likely to notice it. As someone who has reviewed a lot of resumes, I would suggest a less task-oriented approach that discusses your skills instead of exactly what you did. That program you wrote obviously means you have some familiarity with R, but what other things did you need to know to accomplish the task? This helps people who might be less familiar with the technologies that are screening resumes by looking for key terms that the technical people have requested. | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:51 | comment | added | Jeffrey Carney | To be clear: to + infinitive indicates your intention. that + simple past indicates your accomplishment. | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:49 | comment | added | FeliniusRex - gone | @Juhasz It depends on the field the person is working in. It's pretty common in the fields I know to pass around the resume` of an applicant, and we for sure would catch this -- and wonder. | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:46 | comment | added | FeliniusRex - gone | On a resume`, you have one chance to impress the person reading it. My advice is to state what you did so clearly that there's no possible way they could wonder if your program worked or not. Yes, use the past tense, not the infinitive. | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:44 | comment | added | Juhasz | To me, the chances that someone is going to read your resume this closely seem very very slim. Your friend is correct, strictly speaking. But the structure you've used is very common on resumes. When I encounter it, I never assume the applicant is trying to hide something. What would be the point? Why not just lie and say the program worked, even if it didn't? | |
| Oct 25, 2021 at 19:38 | history | asked | AIQ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |