Good Programmer Resumes (or: Jake Marsh Is A Douche. OMFG.)
Answer: yes, it does matter. Most of those acronyms and phrases aren’t even languages, and you’re trying to come off as a programmer, and a professional one no less? Let’s see you whip something up in “Ajax frameworks” big guy. Using buzzwords on your resumé to make yourself sound more learned is an immediate and epic FAIL.
I agree, although with a little less spite (maybe I should take up this smoking thing everyone is talking about.) However, it’s good to list some programming languages or technologies on your resume.
The assumption is that you can be hired, sat down in front of a computer and you’re writing code using those technologies within 30 minutes. If you need to spend a significant amount of time re-learning anything listed on your resume, it shouldn’t have been listed in the first place.
Anything you list on your resume can and will be used against you in an interview. If you listed C++, expect to get questions about templates and reference counted strings. If C is on your resume you’d better be a whiz with pointers. If you list something like SQL you should be able to explain more than just a SELECT statement.
Getting a general programming question wrong in an interview is one thing, but not being able to answer a question about a technology you listed counts against you in a huge way.
Now for my big gripe? The “summary” section of resumes. They usually end up reading like personal ads and they add absolutely nothing to the resume:
“I’m a motivated, self-starting professional with great interpersonal skills that enjoys puppies and long walks on the beach.”
