Resume Advice for a Fresh Grad
 

Hi there!

I'll be graduating from my BA in Mathematics in May with a minor in Computer Science, continuing to grad school in Applied Statistics through an online program at Penn State. My question:

- Despite having completed a computer science minor and am comfortable in several languages, I want to make sure I'm not lying on my resume if I accept a job. So, how fluent is fluent in a language? Is there a list of things I should be able to easily do before listing one as part of my skill set? Are there programming challenges out there that would help inform me of my true facility in a given environment?

I just want to make sure that I am marketing myself honestly!

Thanks!

Can't speak for others but I wouldn't put the word "fluent" with any computer language on a resume. Assuming that's what you were intending to do, it just doesn't work with computer languages like it does with real-world languages. I'd put down years of experience instead as that will give any potential employer an idea of where you should be at. Besides programming is different because you are always learning and adapting, while with any real-world language you can just stop once you have a decent vocabulary of words to use.

As for a list of what you should be able to do, I'd say it depends on the job. If you're applying for a job at Facebook, for example, you should have experience working with social aspects of a website like (real-time) messaging.