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Comment by Osmium | Hacker News Reader

I often agonise of this, especially on a CV. e.g. I know how to use (say) a certain programming language a lot better than people I know actually being paid to use said programming language as their full-time job. On the other hand, I know my knowledge is really quite limited and no where approaching an experienced developer--certainly at present I could code up a smaller project or a prototype, but probably no more than that. So what could I say on a CV/resume without being misleading, but also without underselling myself in a job market where the people you're competing against are quite happy to exaggerate or outright fabricate?

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I personally don't put years of experience in technologies on my résumé. Just add a section for projects and list those smallish projects and what languages you used.

As you do more independent projects with given language it becomes more impressive even if it were only 6 months of experience. If you get an interview and anyone asks how long you've been using the language be honest, but don't offer that until they ask. They may not care.

Neither metric really captures proficiency accurately. Not sure if that's possible.

Years of experience is difficult to measure. If I have a node.js build script that I update occasionally, do I have one year of node.js experience after working on the project for a year?

A pure front-end developer will know Javascript much better than a back-end dev who started using it at the same time.

I also spent 3 years working with MySQL before actually learning to use joins or grouping.

Doing several independent project instead of a large one only makes it more impressive, but doesn't indicate greater skill.

Sometimes I wonder if I should add small half-baked projects to my portfolio. I may only have worked on them for two days, but they would make me look super prolific. Do you think that's a good idea?

I'm not saying it does capture proficiency accurately, I'm saying it's better marketing.

Marketing isn't about painting an objective picture, your interviewers will be critical enough to balance it out. Don't do their job for them.

One thing that you can truthfully write (and that I have seen many others write) is "Have completed projects using ..."

It is accurate and conveys a certain flexibility and curiosity to the reader, assuming they are putting any thought into reading it.

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