juglviv
It turns that I had read about Lviv already (I had read it was in Poland, but that’s the history of the city). It is the place where Kerosene was ‘invented’, -which, by many estimates, marks the beginning of the oil age.
I was fortunate to be able to meet the local Java User’s Group. We talked about programming and life in Ukraine, USA and Europe.
Realizing that the bright-eyed young engineers are very knowledgeable about the latest and greatest in the software industry, I focused on the fun side of the life of a software developer, while giving some highlights of the different projects I have worked on, mostly in Java front end.
As we talked about work experience in different continents, it became obvious that, other than management roles, which are probably better defined in the US, the daily life of an engineer is pretty much the same. The US workplace is also more sterile, which becomes significant to someone if he/she has ever been subject to any sort of harassment in the work place.
We talked about CVs and resumes and the idea that a resume is usually more like a marketing document, while a CV is the record of person’s work life. Hence it is ok to omit things that are not relevant in a resume. The following article is one I have found to be very useful. It gives you the ‘reader’s perspective.
http://208.144.115.170/jobhunting/resumes/20010730-richardson.html
(or google for “Skeptical Resume Reader tells how he really thinks”) I also recommend using ‘Monster.com’ and ‘Dice.com’ to post your resumes, since these two are popular in the US.
Companies from the west have started to take advantage of the highly educated people in Ukraine. The potential of Lviv to be a software/outsourcing hub is great, -due to the proximity of Ukraine to both the west and east. However, many other companies are still holding back.
Lviv has a rich, and sometimes tortuous history. It was a bit humbling to realized that not everyone in the world speaks English, … but then, that is probably just as well, -Asia is fast loosing its own in the rush to westernize, both in culture and language.
I had a great time visiting Lviv and will have to come back in summer!
alamgir.farouk@hotmail.com
–Al
