SDN contributions as a reference in a CV

[Former Member]

Hi!

What do you think, are the SDN contributions looking good in a CV or not?

I mean if someone writes it into his CV, does he have a bigger chance to get a new job, or not?

Thank you in advance your comments

Tamá

[ChrisSolomon]

From the "job seeker" perspective, I bave not listed SDN/SCN at all on my resume/CV. However, I have recently added my SAP Mentor info on there (I do feel it is an honor and achievement to be in that group much as a "professional group" has it's place on any resume). I will say though that on more than one occassion while going through interviews for projects or even when showing up in my first days on one, I have gotten the "hey, you're that guy on SDN....I have read a lot of your posts/blogs". That's always kinda nice, but I think it is not any kind of "deciding factor" on getting me on a project.

From the "interviewer" perspective (yes, many clients ask me to help them do interviews or at least review resumes), like others said, I will first do extensive searches on here looking for any posts by the person. You would be amazed what you find some times! haha Past that, I also will do various Google searches. Lastly, I look at their work experience and if I recognize any of the company names and either know some one there or folks from that project, I will contact them and verify the applicant's claims (hey, you would not believe how many people CLAIM they were on "the Hershey's project"....hahaha). After all my "detective work", then I will ok them for an interview and go from there. Sounds like a lot of work maybe, but the internetz makes it all pretty easy. 😃

Just my $0.02.

[Former Member]

Hi Tamás,

I don't put my SDN contributions in my CV, but I do put in my CV that I'm an SDN contributor and what my account name is.

When I see a CV I also google and check if that person has an SDN account and also what the quality is of questions asked and questions answered.

I think the difference in getting a job or not is marginal if you mention SDN or not.

Kind Regards, Rob Dielemans

[Former Member]

Remember - the CV won't get you a job; at best it'll just get you in the door for an interview. I don't see how SDN contributions would help in this regard.

But once your at the interview, who knows? It might be an added bonus that helps make the final decision.

But I wouln't concentrate on forum points. Any interviewer familiar with SDN would know that they don't mean much (I was going to be rude but bit my tongue).

Mention articles, FAQs, whitepapers and weblogs.

Rob

PS - this probably belongs in the coffee corner rather than suggestions and comments.

[matt]

Conversely, too many points might indicate too much time spent on SDN rather than working!

[Former Member]

I guess things have changed quite a bit, back in 2004/2005 before I was working for SAP my use of SDN was actually sanctioned by my manager.

SDN was my documentation, most of my weblogs and articles back then were documenting certain unique aspects of my work as opposed to documenting them and stuffing them in a folder that got stuffed into a cabinet somewhere and were never seen again.

I also did several general tutorials that are surprisingly still referenced today and are still used in my old company to bring people up to speed as they ramp further up into NetWeaver. I was part of a small team who investigated various aspects of NetWeaver and new technology to find how it could mesh with existing landscapes and evaulate which areas could most benefit from the upgrade and which areas would not receive and immediate benefit with over 140 production systems around the world it was a matter of setting priority. SDN of course helped with that as it was and is the best place to learn about what is happening but again I look at the content and not the points.

SDN was a perfect solution, I was part of our US office and therefore not going to be there forever as I would eventually have to transfer back (so we all thought at the time). With SDN have the community available to also respond, update and enhance things I have done the solution was ideal. If the employee left their work and more obscure stuff was still available and so was a whole lot of other people able to answer questions as well. Plus considering that my reputation would be on the line and the credibility of my work I would also be compelled to answer any questions posed.

Now in terms of a CV I often linked to articles and specific blog posts as examples of work or "publications" but never did I link to points or anything in general but rather specific contributions. SDN was and is after all a publication platform as well as a community. The points were viewed back in 2004 when they were introduced as friendly competition between individuals Tom Jung and I used to bounce back and forth for first place and we had a blast searching hard for new and interesting things to share with the community but we were contribution driven not points driven. I think the last item before I joined SAP that drove me over him was a series on Accessibility and BSP, once I joined naturally my focus changed quite a bit and he quickly took back the lead. That was also when our friendly competition with other ended we no longer had the same focus so we just sat back and continued to have good times and enjoy the other contributions coming into the system there is a lot of amazing things in here - some you may never even have thought about and those are the things I think could be listed on a CV under "publications" but be specific.

I get CV's sent to me all the time with people wanting jobs and as soon as I see them listing "points" numbers they go to the bottom of the stack if not in the trash - points by themselves have little value but the contribution does and that is what needs to be highlighted not the points. The points can be seen as personal growth indicators and if you and your buddy what to challenge each other but remember Points come from good contributions, don't do something good don't get a lot of points if any at all. Do something really good, sure good points come BUT that could be something to list on CV as published material remember not every blog post should be listed though

[former_member110461]

I have to say that whenever I recieve a CV I do search for the name on SDN to see if they have asked / answered any questions. It did mean that one person (whose CV was a little suspect in any case) confirmed my suspicions when I saw all of the simple questions and no answers. With another I found that they had asked some questions but also given some good answers (and actually mentioned that they had used my weblogs in the interview!). To me it shows that they know what they are talking about.

As others have said though, a CV only gets you through the door. Depending on your employer, an active participation in SDN may count against you (not sure that I would want to work for someone like that myself). On the other hand if they have 5000 points in a year I may wonder what they've been doing all day

So possibly mention that you participate in sdn (but definately do not mention points). But certainly whenever I interview anyone I ask them what resources they would use to find the solution to the problem and I would expect SDN to be on that list.

Paul

[Former Member]

I don't have on my CV that I made it to Second Place on Scripting Languages last year....Or that I'm over 10K....But of course I have the fact that I'm an SCN Moderator, SAP Blogger and SAP Mentor...Also that I attended TechEd Vegas 2007...I think that counts....Not points -:)

I'm sure that a lot of people use their "points" as a way to get better jobs...But I think that's pointless...

Greetings,

Blag.

[pokrakam]

I think that's pretty random.

Some may like it because it show's you're 'connected'; and some may frown on it because it means you place too much emphasis on it and therefore "waste too much time on SDN".

My take on it? If it's random then leave it to chance: don't put it on your CV and if people are savvy enough to look they will find it on SDN.

Cheers,

Mike