In general, I seem to be thinking about problems like solving the 8 queens problem or rubix cubes or somesuch, both of which are good problems, but don't really display a wide range of skills. Any problem ideas from/for my fellow monks?

No, but a better suggestion: find some open source project you are interested in, and start to contribute. This will be a much better indicator of real-life skills for a future employer than solving some more-or-less artificial mini problems.

There are many skills you need as a programmer, and solving problems like the 8 queens problem or rubix cubes is just one of them.

By participating in an open source effort, you demonstrate a broad range of skills, all directly relevant to real-life work. And of course, your effort will be much more useful for others.

Christian Lemburg
Brainbench MVP for Perl
http://www.brainbench.com

I have to whole-heartedly agree with contributing to OSS, and I would also include perlmonks in your list of professional organizations. I say this because I have just hired a monk mainly based on his/her contributions to perlmonks and OSS.

Postings on perlmonk not only reveal your talent, but also (to a small degree) how you work with others. So if you are proud of your posts - Use Them.



Sorry I can't tell you who

grep

grep> grep clue /home/users/*

"The social dynamics of the net are a direct consequence of the fact that nobody has yet developed a Remote Strangulation Protocol." -- Larry Wall

Typically a hr-type person will screen a resume for keywords/skills

And in fact if they have an automated process of scanning and OCR, they may be surprised at the "keywords" retrieved from your code: "kill", "warn", "die", ...

P.S. How would a HR person interpret the phrase use strict ?

buckaduck

Let me second this. Your resume is the wrong place to put code. It looks like noise to the hiring people and will be filtered out (and not just by HR, but engineering managers who have to go through dozens or hundreds of resumes too).
Your resume should state your accomplishments as well as your skill-set. You should also keep it to one page, two at most.

A resume is the time to boast (a little) about how great you are. As noted here and on that other site, real world experience counts for a lot. Even if it was not paid, ie. open source projects. Can you work w/ a team? Can you manage deadlines? Can you juggle multiple tasks? Can you handle intense pressure? Are you a self starter? These are the types of questions that seem to be coming up in my interviews. The better you can show the answer to these questions is "YES!", the easier it will be to find a job.

Don't be afraid to trumpet your abilities. The trick is finding the line between a good sell and being an arrogant jerk. If you think you did something cool or unusual, say so. In interviews, I always seem to get asked "What was your favorite/most interesting project?". Have a good answer ready. It shows if you make it up on the spot, although improvisation is essential to tailor it to the wants of your interviewer.

And NEVER turn down a chance for an interview, even if you don't think you'll get the job. You need the experience of interviewing. Each one can be a learning experience if you let it. You have an advantage over the guys who haven't had to interview in 10 years because they are so rusty. :-)

Best of luck in finding a job. Things seem to be picking up somewhat here in Boston. I hope it's true for the rest of the country as well.

As an alternative to that, I E-Mailed a thank you note to a guy who interviewed me last Friday and included a link to some OO Perl code I wrote recently and posted here. To my surprise, that mode was frontpaged and is now my highest rate node. Go figure.

Anyway, that piece of code nicely shows that I have a clue about OO, and also (I hope) have a dececnt coding style. Good things to show potential employers/clients.

--t. alex

"There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" --Marvin the Martian