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Resume Inflation 5

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jfpe

jfpe

Electrical
Jul 18, 2007
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I came across a former junior coworker's resume on a networking site. He had vastly overstated his achievements and job responsibilities. For example he said he "managed" one job where I recall he couldn't read any of the drawings or even talk intelligently to the electrician.

Has anyone else seen this? Do I just ignore it? I'm a little concerned about what will happen if we ever end up competing for the same job.

John
 
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Hmmmm, Thermal Night Vision software by Ontar... thanks to their demo, I could probably muddle my way through it if it was in front of me. Granted, my thesis work was on adding/removing noise from digital images and perceptibility of that noise (watermarks), so I already have the theoretical background.

Still, having never seen or heard of it until now, I could answer affirmatively to "Are you familiar with it?" and probably be able to fake it for a few days until I really learned the ins and outs of it. Is that a good thing? Yes, if you consider it means I'm a fast learner and/or I can make whatever logical leap is necessary to handle the problem... no, if you consider I knew what the intent of the question was and chose to lie about it. If there was a "notes" section on the computer interview, I would answer 'no' and point out my familiarity with similar software or the theory behind it. That's the sensible thing to do, but I would cringe selecting "no" if I was unable to explain myself... that could put me at a disadvantage to someone who answered "yes" for the above reason.

Dan - Owner
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When push comes to shove and they can't find an exact match for their job spec among the candidates (can they ever?) then they have to look for other abilities.

More important to them is to know which skills they value you ringing and which skills they can teach you or you can learn elsewhere or on the job.

I'd favour a candidate who said " I don't know much about it because it didn't feature in my previous jobs but I can learn." and who then shows how they had to learn new skills on their last job.

I'd put ability to learn and to think above some other "skills". Let's face it, no two jobs are the same and in our own jobs and in new jobs, our ability to think and learn and apply what we have learned ought to be key properties.

Of course, HR and management don't believe in indispensibility and nor do they believe that they should have to invest time or money training people.
They think (and depend on) recruiting pre-trained people and rely on other people doing the training, most usually, their competitors.

Of course, HR don't really think it through nor do management. I wonder how much time and thought they really give to defining the job spec and candidate profile. It's why we live in an imperfect world - imperfect people in management and HR.

So of course, people may feel inclined to lie on their resume's but the of the ones who lie you have to hope you choose the ones who can make good on their lie (St Elizabeth Of Hungary Syndrome) who are quick learners and not the ones who will spend the rest of their lives ducking any tasks calling for the skills they are supposed to have but don't.

JMW
 
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OK, so here are the interview questions, for someone claiming expert knowledge of the program:

> What sensors have you simulated with NVTherm?
> What do you usually put for atmospheric transmission?
> What do you usually do for simulating -40°C operations?

TTFN

FAQ731-376
 
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I should point out that, oddly, I've never gotten to interview an actual expert in NVTherm. I don't think those guys ever get laid off... If you actually were an NVThermIP expert, you'd understand just how secure your job is... ;-)

Brownie points if you can describe the difference between NVTherm and NVThermIP.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
 
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> What sensors have you simulated with NVTherm?
CLASSIFIED
> What do you usually put for atmospheric transmission?
WHICH PLANET?
> What do you usually do for simulating -40°C operations?
IT NEVER GOT THAT HOT.



Cheers

Greg Locock

SIG:please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
 
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"The replacement of the Johnson Metric with the Targeting Task Performance (TTP) Metric" Bzzzzzzz.

The TTP Metric predates actually NVTherm2002 altogether; being the curve that got you probability vs. range, since the Johnson criteria only gives you the 50% probability range.

What makes NVThermIP different, and a guarantee for job security is that prior to this version, range predictions were based on finding the intersection of the demand curve, which is the target contrast propagated through the atmospheric transmission, and the sensor performance curve, usually the Minimum Resolvable Temperature, which was the approach used since the early 80's. NVESD decided that this approach only emphasized the performance at one particular spatial frequency, while a target is composed of many spatial frequency components.

So, in NVThermIP, they use an integral of the target contrast as a function of spatial frequency to determine the range performance, which is then tweaked to roughly match what the Johnson criteria gave you. The tweak is that you use a V50 that's 2.7 times the Johnson criteria N50. The end result is that it's more difficult to determine, a priori, what a sensor's performance will be, before you run NVThermIP. Moreover, NVThermIP actually penalizes you for excess performance, because that results in aliasing, which they discount in the model.

There are other various and sundry modifications to the vision model, and how to account for clutter in the field of view of the sensor.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
 
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Little inflation is required if you respond properly to job ads. Just paste the ad into the second paragraph and edit so that you do everything that they are looking for.
 
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Hi all,

I'm based in the UK every job and for every job i've been offered i have had to fill out an application form. They invariably have a statement like " I hereby declare that the details shown are correct and complete to the best of my belief. I understand that enquiries may be made to verify these details. I also understand that any false statements or the withholding of any relevant information may provide grounds for rejection of my application or termination of employment".

I'm surprised that in the USA where, let's face it, they are far more litigious that it's not a standard practice.

Pat - i did some digging into Australian law because what you were saying about defences to defamation in Australia didn't stack up in my mind. You are correct that the plaintiff does not have to prove that any statement is false only that it caused them "harm", however truth IS a complete defence against libel / slander and it does not have to be qualified. There is even a defence of qualified privelege for things like employer's references and the defence can only fail if the plaintiff can prove it is motivated by malice. The defence of "honest opinion" must show that whatever was published WAS opinion, based on fact and in the public interest.

In any event - if someone gets a job based on falsehood and then wants to sue for someone telling the truth in a reference then good luck to them. The papers could have a field day!

Re the original post - i would NEVER hire someone without taking up at least two references. What goes around comes around and eventually people who lie get found out, then let's see them find work.

Regards all, HM

No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam
 
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As well as stated references, I seek opinion from people I know well who I think may have had dealings with them. The plastics industry in Aus is small enough for that to be viable.

I haven't read the law, I was only restating as I understood them, the reasons given to me by a laywer when I was considering answering questions about a dispute. Terminology was critical and I had to remember certain scripted quotes to answer certain questions.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &
for site rules
 
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Why are you worried about some one else, dont you have enough to worry about nowadays?

All liars and cheats are usually found out, some take longer than other. I think they make movies about the really good cheaters.

Hold your head high and all I know is I can go to sleep at night and have not fluffed up my resume to liar level. lol
 
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State regulations also indicate that an engineer shall not stand idly by while unethical behaviour on the part of another engineer takes place. What's your point?

Hg

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