Leonardo da Vinci's Resume

http://www.cenedella.com/job-search/leonardo-da-vincis-resume/

by peteforde • 15 years ago

96 25 15 years ago

hartror• 15 years ago

Original posting to hacker news [1] mentioned in the updates of the post, I had not seen this however so thanks for the repost.

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086391

boredguy8• 15 years ago

We read this in high school. I remember thinking, "Wow, you have to sell what the buyer wants to get to the point where you can do what you want."

nika• 15 years ago

Leo focusing on value offered!

Imagine a programmer resume. None of this "have you worked with ruby"... "I know how to construct complex system that are able to scale such that the cost per given unit of load declines as load is increased", etc.

spoon16• 15 years ago

This is my own resume... it is similar to the format you mention. I worked this up trying to maintain a single page resume. I have had good luck with getting interviews.

http://spoon16.github.com/

peteforde• 15 years ago

Assuming that you're open to feedback if you're posting it here.

- while subjective, paragraph justification is generally considered to decrease readability (and it's objectively ugly!)

- use bold/caps/emphasis less and it will stand out more

- it strikes me as odd to list so many references

- consider paring down the references and LinkedIn stuff and replacing that freed space with your non-coding hobbies and interests (my #1 hiring consideration)

- it's illegal in many places to discriminate based on appearance (stuff you can't change) so many employers will discard resumes that contain a photo of the applicant to mitigate future risk

antirez4• 15 years ago

the cut of the picture that makes you look like a vulcanian is invaluable.

wazoox• 15 years ago

I find this excellent. I'm going to unashamedly imitate your resume :)

antirez4• 15 years ago

the italian used in the resume is seriously fun by today's standards...

naz• 15 years ago

How so?

antirez4• 15 years ago

"Ho modi di ponti leggerissimi e forti ed atti a portare facilissimamente".

Today: "So costruire ponti leggerissimi e forti che si possono trasportare facilmente".

And so forth.

Completely understandable but funny.

sambeau2• 15 years ago

I imagine that "Q" from James Bond's resume would read similarly.

wybo2• 15 years ago

A thing to note here is that at that time probably almost everyone that mattered in Italy had heard of Leonardo da Vinci's past works. So yes of course he could leave out past achievements.

In short I don't think this is good advice to people that haven't made sufficient name for themselves yet, or that are coming from other fields... Though focusing conveying value offered, is of course a good idea.

(Disclaimer: I am no expert on resumes)

hasenj• 15 years ago

How do you know that? If he was already famous at the time, why bother list his abilities? He would need not more than say "Leonardo Da Vinci, at your service my Lord".

wybo2• 15 years ago

Because he received a reference from the Medici's (a very powerful family), and already had done some notable work by that time, if I remember correctly.

In any case upper class Italy was a small world at that time, and personal recommendations, as well as informal sources of information would have been much more important than resumes for conveying past achievements...

(but I'm no expert on da Vinci or his time, apart from an essay in my undergraduate years, common sense, and the general gist of a history undergrad...)

Anyway, the main point I wanted to make is that the information- flows that are not recorded are often more important, than those that are, especially in historic documents...

icegreentea• 15 years ago

Actually, when da Vinci wrote this resume, he wasn't well known. In fact, he'd done relatively little (did some commissions, worked in a workshop). The reason why every single one of those points is 'I could' or 'I know how' is because he hasn't -yet-.

Also, at the time da Vinci was applying (he was basically trying to get a gig as an engineer), it was expected that an engineer have a solid grasp of -all- of engineering at that time... which more or less was military engineering (seigecraft and defense), and civil (bridges and canals being the biggies).

tjmaxal• 15 years ago

Did anyone else notice how repetitive this was. He basically took an entire page to say, I can blow stuff up, build bridges, am a capable artist/architect. I guess even Da Vinci needed to add some fluff.

sp332• 15 years ago

In a lot of cultures, being concise is not a virtue. Eloquence is valued, and demonstrating a facility with words is a marker of status. Using a lot of words to describe something shows the amount of attention or value you give to it. So spending a long time and a lot of big words on his accomplishments is an indicator of how cool they are.

Jun8• 15 years ago

This always impresses me, but the important question is: did it work, i.e. did the Duke employ him? Wikipedia says "Leonardo continued work in Milan between 1482 and 1499" but otherwise is mum whether he was sponsored by the Duke or not.

da5e• 15 years ago

So Leonardo was a defense contractor. I think the lesson is that no matter how big a genius you think you are you still have to get out there and sell something.

Leonardo da Vinci's Resume

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