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My question is concerned with the idea of putting on your resume that you know a official language but have mostly experimented with its open-source counterpart (Example: putting down you know MATLAB but you know Octave which is almost similar to MATLAB). Also I plan to learn other languages like Mathematica and IDL and SPSS but I have found their open source free counterparts and I have been wondering if I can practice with the open-source software and then put down on my resume that I know the "offical" programming language.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

jonathan1987
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  • Perhaps more suited for [programmers.se]? – 11684 Jan 03 '13 at 14:22
  • General feedback: My education was in C++ with a small dose of Java and MySQL/Oracle. I've been working for almost 2 years, I'm on my fourth project, and none of them have been in either C++ or java. Moral of the story: put down what YOU think will get you the interview, and then tell them you are ready and eager to learn what is needed to do the job. My 2 cents.. –  Jan 03 '13 at 14:27
  • You're absolutely right. I will keep that in mind. Thanks for you feedback! – jonathan1987 Jan 03 '13 at 14:29

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Just be honest about the software you're skilled with, and let the potential employer decide if you fit the position.

Nothing is preventing you from applying to a visual studio .net developer position even though you're a mono power-user ; but don't lie about being already trained at using VS if you aren't, it's a sure of way of not getting hired IMO

bedane
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  • I agree. I mean the reason why I don't use the official licensed software is mainly because of financial reasons. I have read books on programming in MATLAB but have been coding the programming assignments in Octave without much difficulty. I also plan on learning SAGE which is a Mathematica equivalent and GNU GDL (IDL equivalent) and PSPP (SPSS Equivalent). – jonathan1987 Jan 03 '13 at 15:12