š” A few tips for job seekers (and more)
A few tips for job seekers
I am in the process of hiring for a couple of roles at Cloudflare, so Iāve been talking to a lot of candidates over the past few weeks. I noticed a few trends along the way, so I thought Iād share a quick list of tips for anyone who is currently in the job market. This is obviously just one hiring managerās opinion, but hopefully thereās something helpful for folks here!
- Fill out your LinkedIn profile. So many people have empty LinkedIn profiles that just show their roles with no other details. Even if there is detail in your resumĆ©, the LinkedIn profile is often the first thing I look at. Itās an opportunity to get to know you a little bit more than the formality of a resumĆ© usually requires. Make sure the details about your responsibilitiesāand some outcomes and achievementsāare listed within each position.
- Write a summary paragraph at the top of your resume. Possibly the most impactful resumĆ© post Iāve read in recent years is Austin Belcakās How To Write A Resume Summary That Works In 2024 . He explains in detail the importance of these 3ā4 bullet points (he calls it a āhighlight reelā) at the top of your resumeābefore you even get to the details of your previous roles.
- Send a note to the hiring manager if you know who it is. This works, if you do it right (see the next tipā¦). I have over 2,000 applications across roles right now, so there is no way to look at every single resumĆ©. If people reach out with a message about their interest itās a good signal that itās someone who is excited about the role, which is one of the big things Iām looking for.
- Do not, under any circumstances, use ChatGPT to write your outreach or cover letter for you. This should go without saying by now, but so many letters and notes are clearly written by ChatGPT. If you read as many of these as some of us do itās really easy to spot. Itās about the cadence and the wordsāso much āutilizingā and āenhancingā!āand the particular style of grammar. We want to get to know you. Use your own words.
- Learn about the company and the hiring manager before your first chat. I want to work with people who are excited about the job. I want to know if this is one of a thousand applications, or something they are truly interested in. I know itās not possible to spend hours on research for every single call. But a little bit goes a long way.
- Answer questions succinctly, and then stop. I know interviewing is stressful, and sometimes itās hard to come up with answers on the spot. But the strongest candidates are able to distill their thoughts into a few short sentences, clarify some things if they need to, and then let the answer rest. Donāt keep saying words just to fill the space. Rather ask a question back, or wait for the interviewer to finish their notes and ask the next question.
I also feel like itās important to point out that I truly believe the hiring manager / candidate relationship should not be an adversarial one. Hiring managers want someone who will be great for the role just as much as candidates want a role they love. No one wants a mismatch thatās not going to work out. So we have to help each other out. As hiring manager I have to be transparent about the role, the team, and the process. And candidates can help by providing enough relevant information to help us figure out who would be good to explore that fit with.
Do we need to be honest about Fridays?
Iāve been very interested in the rise of the 4-day workweek (4DWW) ever since we adopted it in a previous company and saw the benefits and value it brought to our business. In Do we need to be honest about Fridays? Bruce Daisley makes an interesting observation about how the 4DWW might eventually sneak up on most businesses:
Iāve met several organizations who use Friday as a meeting-free day (to allow team members to chow down on emails and admin). Others tell me that their Fridays are a much slower pace, where meetings peter out mid-morning. [ā¦] So, letās be real, is this how the reality of a four day week will take hold for most of us? That Friday will be kind of a catch-up day for those who need it but that many of us will work at half speed, casually ākeeping an eye on thingsā.
Generative AI Is Totally Shameless. I Want to Be It.
Yes, Iām a relentless fanboy of whatever Paul Ford writes, but this is a truly wonderful post about what makes AI so addictive and impossible to look away from. He frames AI as a technology that truly has no shame because āit possesses an absolute willingness to spout foolishness, balanced only by its carefree attitude toward plagiarism.ā And so:
By aggregating the worldās knowledge, chomping it into bits with GPUs, and emitting it as multi-gigabyte software that somehow knows what to say next, weāve made the funniest parody of humanity ever. These models have all of our qualities, bad and good. Helpful, smart, know-it-alls with tendencies to prejudice, spewing statistics and bragging like salesmen at the bar. They mirror the arrogant, repetitive ramblings of our betters, the horrific confidence that keeps driving us over the same cliffs. That arrogance will be sculpted down and smoothed over, but it will have been the most accurate representation of who we truly are to exist so far, a real mirror of our folly, and I will miss it when it goes.
We Need To Rewild The Internet
I finally read this very long essay about Rewilding the Internet thatās been making the rounds. Itās about 30 mins of your time and in my opinion itās time well spent.
Itās about what internet-builders can learn from the field of ecology, where the word ārewildingā has a very specific meaning. Itās essentially about systems thinking, which I know a lot of us care about deeply.
Rewilding the internet is not a nostalgia project for middle-aged nerds who miss IRC and Usenet. For many people across the generations today, platforms like Facebook or TikTok are the internet. Theyāve long dwelled in walled gardens they think are the world. Concentrated digital power produces the same symptoms that command and control produces in biological ecosystems; acute distress punctuated by sudden collapses once tipping points are reached. Rewilding is a way to collectively see the counterintuitive truth; todayās internet isnāt too wild, even if it feels like that. Itās simply not wild enough.
In the end, I canāt help but think that though I love these ideas, itās justā¦ too late. I hope Iām wrong though.
Thanks for reading Elezea! If you find these resources useful, Iād be grateful if you could share the blog with someone you like.
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PS. You look nice todayĀ š