Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ErnestedCode 4110 days ago
"that and $3 would buy [you] a cup of coffee."

That really sounds like a dick thing to say. Even if it were true (which I don't believe it is), It sucks to have someone who is in charge of writing your performance reviews say something like that about one of your accomplishments. What if you took a Coursera online course on Python and he said the same thing? What if you got a Python Programming Certificate from O'Reilly and he said, "Well, any monkey who pays for the training software could do that"?

The truth is, you will most certainly benefit financially if you put it on your resume and your LinkedIn profile. I think recruiters and tech-savvy employers would gobble that up. It definitely shows that you are extremely knowledgeable about the language and can answer almost any question without hesitation. It also shows that you are articulate and that you are the kind of person who would take the time to teach others and share your knowledge. These are very valuable traits that are extremely valuable in software companies.

People who are saying, "It shows you have a lot of free time" are nuts. Free time for what? Thinking about software? Who wouldn't love that from a potential job candidate? I guess it also shows that you have a lot of free time if you're going to tech conferences, take online courses, or go to night school.

Not all people will value your badge, but I'm pretty sure you could leverage it to find a new, higher-paying job with an open-minded boss who isn't going to discredit your accomplishments.

Congratulations on your badge!

2 comments

> That really sounds like a dick thing to say.

Yeah, it sounds like your current employer doesn't appreciate you.

> People who are saying, "It shows you have a lot of free time" are nuts. Free time for what? Thinking about software? Who wouldn't love that from a potential job candidate?

I really love this part of your comment.

OP: Congratulations, I only know a few people with gold badges and they're all pretty far in their field.

It's ok, he speaks in hyperbole sometimes, I do feel appreciated, and I feel like he appreciates my extracurriculars.

But I think we've demonstrated I can probably at least get free coffee with it, at this point. :) Cheers!

> People who are saying, "It shows you have a lot of free time" are nuts.

Just a boss clearly incentivized to keep down his underlings. I think it's unreasonable to expect anything else from people with that sort of incentives.