I had a similar experience. I was being interviewed for a friend / fellow software developer to get a high-level security clearance. Most of the questions were pretty mundane until they got to one: "Is X a hacker?"

Working in startups I'm completely desensitized to people using "hacker" synonymous with effective software engineer in this context, so I said, yes, of course, he's a great hacker. They started writing very quickly and the disconnect was confirmed when the next question was, "Would X ever compromise national security?"

Ohhhh no, no, no, we have very different definitions of "hacker"... I explained how the word evolved to have several different distinct meanings nowadays in tech, and how we commonly use it in startups specifically, which was new to them. They definitely had a radically different image in mind.

Anyway, he got his job, so all was fine in the long run.

The word paints a different picture depending on the audience [1] Hacker was also military slang some time ago. You could borrow a saying of the U.S. Marines to put a better light on it. Adapt, improvise and overcome.

"I have authored and adapted code to overcome challenging obstacles and improvise as required according to business needs."

[1] - https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/309252/has-hacke...

Guess it's a lot easier to go with "I started programming since 12"...

In other less educated context you might even have gone to jail. Consider yourself lucky!

The sad polysemic ambiguity (hacker == cracker) of the word is still a problem nowadays and will remain so for a long time I fear…

> I was kicked out of a restaurant for not following the dress code

I guess you eventually found a job elsewhere?

Unless working in security I don't think hacker is always term with positive connotation. With more traditional and process oriented field it might even seen as negative term to describe ones activities.

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