u/dak78 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Really Michael? Please explain why the fellows from formation I happened to come across on Linkedin the other day -- who are still jobless and looking for work --- why almost every one of them have work experience that are dubious contract roles that have clearly ended, but 1.5
u/michaelnovati replied · · edited ★ FEATURED
I appreciate your challenges and it gives me a chance to explain how things work instead of one offs and generalizations.
1. Just like Codesmith we give guidance on Formation and you can see that below, copy pasted from our notes (I think it can be improved but that's as of 12/7/2023) and I don't think this is misrepresenting in any way what Formation is or tricking anyone into thinking it is something else.
2. Adults are adults, we are not responsible for anyone's LinkedIns just like Codesmith isn't responsible for them. The reason I did my post was because it was a pattern of 92% of recent Codesmith placements.
3. If someone said that 92% of Formation placements were listing Formation as a fake job and people were all not following our advice and going rogue by presenting Formation some kind of full time software engineer job experience, and that was the reason they were getting jobs I would call an emergency and shut down Formation until that behavior was resolved and we figure out how that happened.
4. You have no idea who goes to Formation and most people don't list their information publicly because the vast majority of people currently have jobs and are working and it's not something that shows up on resumes. I would say 10% of people are public about doing Formation and they tend to be the people with the least experience.
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Recommended if you have no relevant work experience, optional but not recommend, if you have SWE experience.
\* Add Formation as the most recent experience block or where you feel comfortable putting it
\* Add title at Formation as “Software Engineering Fellow”
\* Specify Formation location as remote
\* Add Formation date as start date to current or last month
\* e.g. Oct 2020 – Present
\* For the bullets, aim for 3-4
\* Below are some example bullet points you can use:
\* Selected for highly-competitive Fellowship for personalized mentorship from top-tier software engineers.
\* Completed intensive practice over X months to master computer science fundamentals through coding exercises through independent study, pair programming, and small mentor-led groups.
\* Fixed bugs and implemented new production-ready features in a large code base including \[example a, example b, example c IF WORKED ON RECUR\]
\* Studied system design fundamentals in small groups led by senior engineers from top companies, comparing and contrasting concepts in modern web-based applications.
\* Awarded the weekly Rising Tide distinction X times as a result of peers nominating the Fellow who has been most helpful in their technical learning journey.
\* Hosted weekly working sessions for a 5-person peer group to ensure accountability and improve sense of community.
\* Established a reputation for being an effective mentor to peer learners to solidify and improve understanding of challenging technical concepts.
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