Fluffing your CV with skills
I've recently been interviewing for low to mid level IT jobs.<p>To give a few examples of the things I've come across in the last month:
* SSH protocol
Several applicants have listed this. It always gets my attention because a) I don't believe simply being able to connect to a host via SSH is a noteworthy skill, b) if you're actually into the protocol itself I will probably love you.
It always turns out to be the former. I try to salvage that by asking some more pointy questions such as 'explain to roughly how I would tunnel with putty?' which get blank stares.
* Linux command line
This is touch and go in terms of relevance. I guess it depends just how junior you are, as well as the specifics of the role (yes I would tailor my CV to a role). When I ask you what 'cat' does I would expect an answer. Said person could not tell me what the default shell was under CentOS.
Again, a lot of people fall short under questioning. Being able to change directories does not qualify for a CV mention.
* PHP (Zend OO)
Very specific example but this applies to any scripting/programming language mentioned on the CV. If you claim something specific, be prepared to answer specific questions. If you put 'Zend OO' and it turns out you read the cover of a book about Zend (literally admitted) and 'did a course in OO PHP' whilst your real work is fully procedural, please be prepared for a frown.
Now, am I being too cynical with these juniors? Perhaps working in a city like London makes it hard to see the forest for the trees, but I am sorely disappointed with perfectly capable people ruining their own chances by senselessly fluffing their CVs.