I clinched a new job in Europe and had some Neovim activity in my CV
For the past 3 years, I’ve been a graduate student in computer science. Through connections I made at a conference I published at as a masters student almost three years ago (at the beginning of my degree), I learned about an open position in Amsterdam in which I would both conduct research and architect software. Im now a PhD student and this is the direction I want to go in.
My friends (researchers, no engineering experience) helped guide the content on the CV, suggesting to me the content that would be most useful. The bulk of it was, of course, publications, software I’ve worked on, and other useful background like designing and teaching university courses and reviewing papers for conferences (typically what researchers call “professional service”). But, I also wanted to include activities in open source to strengthen my software experience. My friends didn’t know for sure if it would help or just appear like fluff. I went with it and listed some activity with Neovim, like a plugin I wrote that has received bug reports and feature requests. That part felt important: having a plugin is okay, but participation from users feels strong.
I was selected for an interview and called out this experience, which they seemed to like. I nailed a second interview and landed the job. I emigrate from the U.S. on the Fourth of July. For all those here living in Amsterdam, let’s grab a drink sometime.