What is the appropriate way to present a StackExchange profile on a paper resume?

Question

I'm interviewing for technical roles and think that my contributions to StackExchange sites deserve mention on my paper resume. This could be particularly helpful in situations where I'm not working through a recruiter who can provide a true introduction to an employer. What's the most effective way to present this information on the actual resume?

Reference URL? Separate section?

Answer 1

I totally agree on an "additional info" - I usually treat it as a published paper or journal article that way - since I'm not an academic, it's not a major part of the "what I've done" section, it's more of a minor highlight.

I've also put in a little blurb, as often my reviewer is not likely to be a Stack Exchange user - I generally hover in the space between geek and management, so I have to assume my hiring manager may be quite far away from current sites with day to day answers. So I often put a blurb that explains why one should click the link:

Ranked within the top 20% of contributors in the IT Security Stack Exchange, a Q&A site for IT Security professionals. Profile found here: <insert URL>

Because I always update my resume to send to a specific opportunity, I generally trim and tweak. For example, my personal contributions to Programmers are quite managerial, as are my contributions here... so I only put them on for management jobs, I may strip it for high level independant contributor IT Security work. And I keep an eye on my ratings to find a good way to highlight my engagement with the community. Regardless of ranking, I can usually find something cool to call out.

On my most recent job change, after talking with the hiring manager for a phone screen, I got the sense that he was particularly interested in my management style and my take on how teams should be run and what the manager/team member relationship should be. (It turns out the team had experienced quite a bit of heartache the previous year and it was a major priority to get a solid collaborative manager on the team) Having gotten the sense of that, I sent a followup thank you email with a link to my profile that highlights my major answers. I voiced it as:

It was great speaking with you yesterday, I liked X and Y and Z about your organization. As we were talking, I got the sense that having strong managerial skills is a priority for this role. If you are interested, here is a link to my writing on topics of team and management communication <insert link to my profile>.

I have no idea if my future boss clicked on it (I'll have to ask him) but it did the trick. I was the only candidate who got a callback and I got the job. It's been great! :)

Answer 2

Include this information in an 'additional information' section at the bottom of your resume along with your SE username and a link to your profile.

Most reviewers will want to look at a current electronic copy of your resume, so the link will often be helpful to them.