Let me address the HR department’s concern first, this is not an ethnocentric policy. I do get these resumes from people for whom English is not a first language,  I also get these piles of verbal garbage from people who grew up near where I grew up, probably look like, probably talk like me.  I don’t really care, because there is no excuse for a problem so easily remedied.

The real reason is that by submitting a barely understandable resume to me, you’re showing me that you are not a detail-oriented person, and if there is one thing that all talented developers are, it’s that they sweat the details.  It also says that you aren’t willing to ask for help, another quality I require for someone wishing to join my team.

I do not expect perfection, a true grammarian could probably cover this blog post in squiggles of red ink.  I do not expect you to sound like a native English speaker.  It’s pretty well known that diversity of language leads to diversity of thought, an extremely valuable attribute of a team.   I only expect that you’ve proven that you can at least make an effort.

So, how easy is it to solve this problem?  This easy:

1. Show a friend who writes well.

2. Use an online editing service.  They are cheap, probably $50-100.  You’re applying for a job that will net you thousands of dollars for even a short freelance job, potentially millions for a career position.  Make the investment.

3. If you don’t have the money for an editing service or a credit card to pay them, go to your nearest college, put a  sign up at the library that says “Wanted: English major with excellent spelling and grammar skills to edit my resume.  $100″.  You’ll have a dozen responses by the next day.  Use craigslist and you’ll have a dozen responses in 15 minutes.

We’re a small, fun-loving team that works hard and gets things done without any bureaucracy.   StyleFeeder is based in Central Square in Cambridge, MA, mere steps away from the Red Line T stop.

Who We Are

StyleFeeder is trying to improve how people shop.  Online shopping is currently focused on impulse buying, price seeking, and moving inventory. We think it should be about connecting people to products that are the best choice for them, based entirely on individual preferences. This is a big, exciting challenge, and we’re addressing it.

Take a look at our site and ask two questions, “Could I have built this?” and “Can I make this better?”. If the answer to both questions is yes, we should talk.

Here’s what we are looking for:

You are a designer

Photoshop and the other standard tools are second nature to you.  We’re very interested in “flow” as part of the design process.  You should have good sensibilities in this regard.  Your toolkit includes wireframes, personas, prototyping techniques.  You are creative and can re-think your approach based on user feedback.  Form following function is fine, but you still see a place for delighting users with human-centric design.  You consider yourself to be a practical person and view things holistically.  You have experience doing iterative user testing.

You can implement all (or most of!) your designs

Specifically, you can handle HTML, CSS, Javascript and the client side stuff.  We think libraries like YUI and jQuery are great for several reasons.  If you are philosophically against re-using other people’s code, it’s probably best if you move along to the next job posting.

Talk To Us

Send us your resume and a brief writeup about a project that excited you, and why it did so. If you have an online portfolio or blog you can share with us, we’d love to see those too. Email us at jobs/at/stylefeeder/com.

Note: no recruiters or third parties, please.

Who We Are

We’re StyleFeeder, and we’re trying to improve how people shop. Online shopping is currently focused on impulse buying, price seeking, and moving inventory. We think it should be about connecting people to products that are the best choice for them, based entirely on individual preferences. This is a big, exciting challenge, and we want to meet it.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for a rockstar developer who wants to challenge themselves, us, and the status quo by pushing the boundaries of what users can do. We need someone full of ideas and talent that can create, refine, and execute concepts from beginning to end, prototype to production. Take a look at our site and ask two questions, “Could I have built this?” and “Can I make this better?”. If the answer to both questions is yes, we should talk.

What We Use

Java, Eclipse, Hibernate, MySQL, Linux, Apache for starters. We also use Subversion, Spring, Flex, Struts, Cocoon, JSP, JavaScript, CSS, XML, the list goes on. We look past the buzzwords like AJAX and Web 2.0 and find the good stuff hidden in the marketing wrapper. We move fast, so we need someone who has real experience and proficiency in most of those areas, and is capable of bringing themselves up to speed quickly on the rest.

Talk To Us

Send us your resume and a brief writeup about a project that excited you, and why it did so. If you have a blog or any whitepapers or articles you can share with us, we’d love to see those too. Email us at dev/at/stylefeeder/com