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TL;DR: My company hired a tech solutions group to connect legacy technologies as part of a large project. I gave them a small code snippet that was integrated into the final product. Can / should I use it in my resume? How?

Foreword: I'm an amateur developer so please excuse my odd phrasing as I attempt to formulate my question.

I work at a company which is currently in the process of adding a new office building which features technologies which interface with legacy technologies. We hired a tech solutions company to facilitate the code writing for one of 5 or more interfacing needs on this rather large $100 million project. Prior to this project, I had written a small 60 line script in Python to accomplish a repetitive task which just so happened to be part of this interfacing workflow the contractor was working on (FYI I work in the IT field, but coding is a hobby). I shared my source code with them and, to my knowledge, my script is being used in their production code.

I would like to use this on my resume when applying to software development jobs in the future, but have been unable to determine if it's worth a mention and how I would phrase it, or if it's even appropriate to mention at all. Has anyone here been in a similar or parallel situation that would like to provide some much appreciated feedback?

I feel like an analogous situation would be an office employee who contributed to a mural that was commissioned at their workplace. As I'm writing this it sounds kind of funny so let me know if I can explain further.

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  • What do you want to obtain by adding this to your resume? A developer job? Proof of a side skill? Proof of initiative?
    – Matthew Gaiser
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 15:49
  • Personally I wouldn't add just a code snippet to my resume.. First it belongs most-likely to the company you previously worked for, second it's just unrelevant if you don't explain the project as a whole and the part your snippet plays in the whole orchestra. Solid projects on GitHub might look better than just a snippet containing a couple of lines (even 60)..
    – iLuvLogix
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 15:51
  • @iLuvLogix I completely agree. I definitely meant to say "brag about" my code rather than use it explicity (which the accepted answer provided clarity to my question and set me straight on). Your suggestion to link GitHub in my resume is something I've done in the past and that may better accomplish the end I was looking for rather than using a bullet point. Thank you for your time.
    – Matt Webber
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 16:46
  • @MatthewGaiser Definitely for a developer / IT engineer gig. Something where technical creativity / resourcefulness would be a valued asset.
    – Matt Webber
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 16:47

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When you say "use your code in your resume" you probably mean "brag about your (small) part in integrating the new building's tech." Don't include the actual code in your resume, duh.

You probably have a section of your resume that mentions individual accomplishments. Say something like this:

I created a Python module to help interface the company-wide Framis system with Honeywell building automation technology. Deploying it saved some time bringing a new $100mill building into service.

See how it goes?

  1. What you did (without exaggerating, but with mentioning the brand of tech)
  2. Why it was helpful.

This sort of thing helps emphasize that you care about your employer's success and have the creativity and initiative to help out. A person reading your resume is asking herself, "Will Matt be a good addition to our team?" This kind of thing helps them answer "yes."

And, if the prospective employer doesn't like creativity and initiative, it may save you time: the company's a bad fit for your skills and personality.

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