Anything that makes you stand above the crowd of job seekers and get noticed is (almost) always a smart move. Do you think Instagram is thinking "no, this girl is clearly an idiot?"
No, they're clearly going to notice her and give her consideration that she wouldn't otherwise get. They're probably thinking "nice initiative" even if they've seen this type of application before.
I think a few of you are being too cynical about this being overdone. Getting a new career is a highly competitive race and doing anything that gets you noticed (and on the top of Hacker News) is always going to be a win for your career.
Because as many here would probably not like to accept, HNers are just as prone to social engineering as the guy on Facebook who signs up for the app that can supposedly revert his Facebook page back to the old design.
HN can be gamed quite easily, for this and other reasons.
Since you're near the top of this thread, which itself is sitting at the top of the HN front page, why not link to your site here? I wouldn't mind.
I've been interviewing technology interns at a finance company and every single one has said "I'm very quantitative and want to learn more about high frequency trading." I haven't been able to figure out what they mean by that. I think they just heard that's where the money is.
Seems to characterize that labour market. Lots of math, stats & CS people have heard that they can turn brains into $ through the magical zero-sum game of the markets. Thank ederman.
Then again, how do most people choose their careers.
- I like video games, so I'll be a programmer.
- I want to be a ballerina / baseball player / rock star / etc.
- Read a sci fi book and now want to do genetic engineering.
- Read My Life As A Quant and want to be a quant.
A friend of mine is a life sciences lawyer at a firm that bills upwards of $800/hr ... his reason for choosing that path was watching the movie Gattaca. Not joking.
You can't predict every variable. Sometimes one vote helps bring it to the front page and it picks up steam. I suspect the Instagram brand gave this website extra attention.
Yeah the down vote response was funny. It's as if cute girls in tech(replace with almost anything that is male dominated) aren't praised by males. Aside from her being an outlier, I think that the site is well designed and witty and makes a good case for her to be hired by instagram or anyone else.
Are websites with vanity urls the new cover letters?
I agree with Mystalic and I commend the effort and the really cool site she built. I hope she gets the job -
As a side, I hope hiring companies realize that many of their applicants are die-hard fans and advocates...
I have applied to two companies before that I was fiercely loyal to going into the process. After the process I was completely turned off to both of them. One offered me a job and one did not - I didn't take the job from the one that did.
The application and interview process was so bad with both of them it left me completely disenchanted. I have not used products from either company since those experiences - I completely lost my taste for their respective brands.
Conversely, I had another very positive experience with a different company that I was equally loyal to. The application and interview process was excellent. I didn't end up getting the job but I walked away with even greater respect for the company.
Bottom line for me...You can learn just about everything you need to know about a company through the application process.
Someone once sent us a cover letter stating he was eager to work with "the experts at our famous company". This might help when trying out for Google, or any other actually famous company, but when you're asking for a job at an unknown company (we, of course, knew that we were nowhere near famous - yet), it makes you sound ignorant.
To write an effective resume you need to keep the audience in mind. The hiring manager will base about 95% of the decision on the answer to one question: What have you built?
Answers to questions such as "What are your skills?", "What is your philosophy?", and "What is your passion?" mostly just get in the way and waste the reader's time.
A flashy appeal for a job like this one might get the attention of Instagram, but they will not base their hiring decision on that. If the portfolio, which in this case includes the resume itself, isn't impressive work, they will pass.
Showcase your actual work well and present it in the most impressive possible light and employers will take notice even if you don't buy a domain name for every company to which you're applying.
The hiring manager will base about 95% of the decision on the answer to one question: What have you built?
I think this is approximately as true as "Customers make purchasing decisions approximately 95% based on product quality and 5% on those trivial details like marketing."
By all means, build stuff. But after having achieved some level of building stuff, the returns are far greater in attractively marketing the stuff you have build versus continuing to build more stuff, on a ROI per-hour-invested basis.
I mean, clearly she can build stuff, right? There's a portfolio. It has stuff in it. Achievement Unlocked: Stuff Got Built. That portfolio could have one extra 100x100 thumbnail that no decisionmaker is going to click on anyway, or, this site could exist. Do you think the thumbnail will matter more than this site existing? That strongly does not match my experience with how people approach decisions in the real world.
P.S. Takeaway for all engineers in the room: if you have three projects on Github and don't have one of these sites built yet, you will have far better returns on time building a site like this than you will doing another OSS project, and you will have still better returns doing actual networking rather than hoping someone on the Internet will stumble across your hidden potential and give you a shot.
You might want to re-read my comment. Nowhere did I say that marketing doesn't matter. Nowhere did I say that you should just build more stuff and not write a resume to market yourself.
On the contrary, my comment began "To write an effective resume..." Translation: the rest of the comment is going to be advice to my fellow HNers about how to market themselves. I'm not sure how you interpreted "showcase your actual work well and present it in the most impressive possible light" as "just create another project on github".
My point is that this particular resume answers all the wrong questions. All the questions I don't really care about when I'm making a hiring decision. Only at the end does she say "So... What're ya waiting for!?" and link to her portfolio. And her portfolio isn't nearly as well done as all the fluff sections ("I'm vehement about creating kick-ass interactions" and "I never wear high heels"). This is a mistake. The most prominent and polished part of her resume should showcase her actual work. She should answer the question "What have you built?" right away and in impressive fashion. Note that the question isn't "Have you built stuff?"; it's "What have you built?" So, the fact that Stuff Got Built, as you say, isn't very important. I don't care that "clearly, she can build stuff." I care to see what she's built. So, show it to me. In other words "showcase your actual work well and present it in the most impressive possible light."
"...and you will have still better returns doing actual networking rather than hoping someone on the Internet will stumble across your hidden potential and give you a shot."
This is such a retarded market inefficiency. Someone here should do something about it.
Open programming contests for job seekers? Open Source awards for job seekers?
I don't know enough about how the hiring process works, de facto.
I would say that recent grads still have the same issue. In college, you write a lot of large projects; and, if you felt so inclined outside of your regular curriculum (if it was bored, or you wanted to go the next step in a project you liked, etc), you may want to do projects in your spare time. All of those large [curricular or not] activities you did can be put on your resume!
I certainly don't have the end-all-be-all resume, but alongside my college work experience, my resume contained such things as:
* a neural network (NEAT) based, othello game board evaluator (done for a grad project); and,
* a back-propagation based neural network project, also done as a grad project for a different class.
I had quite an obsession with NNs in school (still do).
My point is: even projects you've done in school can count as things you've done that are worth considering.
As for career switchers, if they're going to go into a higher level position, I would encourage them to show that they can do what the higher-level job is asking of them, and saying "I've done this on my own!" through projects is one way to do that.
Kudos to her for putting herself out there, but she's misunderstood what the point of this kind of application is.
When you make a grab for a job like this, you underscore the fact that employers don't always know that there is something that can be improved - and that someone should be hired to do it.
I vaguely recall someone writing an application for 37signals, where he made some redesigns for the site that he thought were needed. (He made them - actions speak louder than words; deeds are better than words; show, don't tell.) In other words: "You need to improve these things - guess what, I can fix those problems for you." It must be what every start-up dreams of at night.
This is what these applications are intended to be about. Again, kudos for putting herself out there (I shudder at the thought of putting myself in the spotlight of the internet with my identity displayed and available for public mockery). But the application itself is very vague and will do little to convince the guys at Instagram to hire her.
I mean, who the hell wouldn't have an interest in working at Instagram? You are not a unique snowflake to have that desire - and it makes the attempt to convey passion less persuasive.
But hey: the site currently has 70 points on the front page of Hacker news, and a lot of new people now know her name. It's inconceivable that there is any "bad publicity" to come of this, so she can't really fail, regardless of what happens from now on.
But what can she contribute to the Instagram team? Is their UX in dire need of a UX designer?
It's fine as a resumé and general job application for everyone who reads the story, but she directs her application to Instagram - but it might as well not have been.
It's not a lack of display of talent that I think is what she misses (although she tells a lot of things about herself that she doesn't show); it's that she doesn't show how she can help Instagram, and why Instagram would need her.
Maybe they have an available UX job position that I am unaware of, but she'd improve her chances if she directed her application to Instagram specifically.
Here is an exercise (for everyone): replace all instances of "Instagram" in the application with any arbitrary start-up name. There is little to underscore her passion and usefulness for Instagram (specifically) - she might as well have made the same website with five other domains with "Twitter", "Tumblr", etc. instead of "Instagram" in the URL and design. (She has that "No high heels" part, but that could be a variable to be replaced in every instance.)
This doesn't mean that I believe that she's done this(!), but a specifically directed application should be much harder to arbitrarily change to work for another start-up.
(I don't write all this to hate on her, as I've said in other comments in this thread, but there are some great, important lessons to be learnt. This is, after all, a great way to land yourself a job - if you pull it off.
Again, this will only help her career. It's just that it could be improved.)
http://instagr.am/about/jobs/
| Design Candidates |
We believe that design isn't just about pretty pixels – it's a full understanding of how the products we build interact with the people that use them. An ideal design candidate will have a deep portfolio of top-notch design projects. Design at Instagram is a combination of the following:
Except she doesn't have web sites for all the other startups. Registering the domain and dedicating the site to them is enough to show me that she really cares about working there specifically.
As far as demonstrate a problem that needs to be solved and how you can solve it...that would be a lot harder to do without risking sounding elitist and condescending. Maybe they don't have a problem that needs to be solved, they just need to do more of what they're doing. If she's a fit, they'll recognize that she can do that for them based on this site.
At this point, there's nothing innovative or quirky about "active applications." Especially if they're rather mediocre.
EDIT: After looking through the whole thing, I have to revise my opinion. It doesn't even qualify as mediocre -- copy and design are surprisingly awful. Large quantities of pseudo-charming nonsense ("I'm vehement about creating kick-ass interactions", "i can write a mean agile spec,
and i’m comfortable working in a highly iterative environment", the complete section outlining why she's supposedly great for the gig) and completely interchangeable self-promotion. Active applications can be interesting if they're actually tailored to the company in question; this particular instance can't be bothered to make any meaningful connection to Instagram. Well, except for the domain name.
The design is surprisingly awful? What? I can only assume you're talking about the graphics and layout (unless we talk about 'attitude design' now or something). I thought that part of the site was excellent (original and pretty), although I didn't care for the content admittedly (except the word 'vehement' cracked me up, and 'LOL - I'm Funny').
I think it shows off her design skills and her lack of ability to write good copy, but I would've put the portfolio bit far higher up. - "here's my 1-paragraph spiel about me, here's what I've done, and at the end, put all the cutesy bits"
Yeah, but I think we need to step back a bit and think about what's working here. No one can improve in design or copywriting overnight. So she pulled a different level with brilliant self promotion that's getting real results. It makes me think I should stop tweaking the pixels on version 1,367 of my logo and look at the bigger picture. Like her, I want the work I'm doing to be noticed. In that category, she's kicking my butt, and I think I could learn a thing or two from her approach.
I don't think active applications are innovative or quirky. But I do think that they are effective (when done right) and I hope they have staying power. The resume is long overdue for a bit of reinvention. But you are absolutely right: the site must present work tailored very specifically to the company you are chasing. It has to do more than mention them by name. My biggest critique is that I think she should have put some of the effort into a proposed redesign of an instagram feature. Some piece of work that would help them imagine her contributions as an employee.
"Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation. "
It's a pretty good rule for writing things on line whether it's in the guidelines or not. Sometimes you (meaning: all of us) get tempted to be snide or snarky, but if you think that there's another person out there, and if you pretend you're saying whatever you have to say to them directly, I find that it greatly improves what you write.
It doesn't mean "don't criticize", just do it as if that person were in front of you.
If you wouldn't say it to my face, don't say it here. Pretty simple concept. I'm sad to see your only contributions here have been negative comments, all but one of which were on this story. People on Hacker News don't discourage criticism, but do prefer that it is done politely, and with reason.
Don't want to sound rude, but the lens ("I made this") has pretty bad type work. Kerning is off, the curve is not right (http://i.imgur.com/tpDqv.png). The drop shadow is also strange. Overall, there's not enough attention to detail.
I’m disappointed by her use of straight apostrophes (') in contractions and straight quotes ("") around quotations. Using typographic apostrophes, typographic quotation marks, and em dashes in the right places makes all the difference, especially in headlines.
Nowadays, web designers have so many typographic tools to work with, like @font-face and lettering.js, but basic punctuation and formatting don’t get enough love.
It’s an oldie, but I think everyone working with web type should read Robin Williams’ The Mac is not a typewriter [0]. It’s just as relevant to modern web type as it was to early desktop publishing.
As a technically lay person who does care about this, what are some tools that I can use to write web copy with typographically correct apostrophes and quotes (or convert it afterwards)? Am I supposed to use the html code or special key combination every time?
Thanks for those suggestions. So, then, do you (or others) actually use those key combinations instead of ' and " while writing/typing? That seems like a fairly heavy re-working of a very low level muscle-memory process that would take me a long time to habit-change.
I don't use any of the software that Smartypants supports, but I just started playing with Pandoc http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/ yesterday, and it has a --smart flag, so that's probably what I'll go with.
As a technically lay person who does care about this,
what are some tools that I can use to write web copy
with typographically correct apostrophes and quotes
I use Textpattern CMS, which has built-in support for Textile (they were built by the same developer.) Textile converts marked-up text input to valid, well-formed XHTML and also inserts character entity references for apostrophes, opening and closing single and double quotation marks, ellipses and em dashes.
I was also confused by it. I was wondering if she worked for Leica at some point (i.e., she designed a camera lens?). Only by reading your critique can I guess that she drew it. It looks pretty good, although the kerning problems with the text is a little distracting.
I didn't notice this at first glance but I definitely see it and agree now that you mention it. Not only is the type off but when I look very carefully at the lens the overall construction feels off-balance to me. It feels like the lens is being looked at slightly off center, e.g. the individual lens elements (circles) are off center.
All that said, I still think this is a totally awesome site and I hope she gets the job!
If you look at the copy, the label text is set around a much wider circle than it should be. Also, the characters are relatively larger, a lot wider, with smaller letter spacing, than the original.
Some people don't enjoy working in pseudo-positive and falsely encouraging environments that give second-rate work an undeserved pass. There's something motivating about standards and demands.
I'm not sure I understand: are employers supposed to be positive and not critical when hiring people?
It's a designer showing her work to a potential employer. I made a comment that her work is not yet good enough, there are certainly areas which she can improve.
As for your ad hominem: I'm not actually a negative person.
The critique might have been harsh, but it was also constructive. It's not like he came out and called her work crap. He gave useful feedback on the design.
He prefaces it by saying that there is no offence intended. Even if it may come across as negative, it's clearly in the best interest based on the preface.
Why do you want to look at my site? Will this somehow make my points invalid? :-) Oh, this guy can't design, so no, kerning is right.
I'm not a designer, and although I design everything for my products myself, I don't pretend that my design work is good; hell, I know that I lack attention to detail, and I'll be the first person to criticize my work.
If you insist, here you go: http://www.codingrobots.com/ (the most recent thing I drew was this, I think: http://www.codingrobots.com/images/cathodique_128.png [this reminded me that this product is dead, and I need to release this icon into the public domain], and I can point out why it's not good, and why it's the best I can do at this moment).
BTW, I'm not looking for a job.
Edit: while the spotlight is on my, I'd like to say that design is a very fricking hard work. Every time I try to draw an icon or position elements on a web page, it's like going to hell -- it takes forever and causes pains. Programming is easier ;-)
Why do you want to look at my site? Will this somehow make my points invalid? :-) Oh, this guy can't design, so no, kerning is right.
No, it doesn't make it any more invalid. BUT I looked a the lens and didn't see a problem with it, and overall thought the design seemed pretty good. With your critique I was hoping to see what someone with a very sharp eye for design would actually put in production.
I don't really think the critique of the lens was valid. I don't see the point, "lack of detail?" Maybe it wasn't meant to have detail in the first place? It's like if I would say that "You only used bewels in PS" for your little "drawing", I mean it's sort of pointless.
So HN: Why does this get voted up because of the hustle and for her actually "doing something", and yet there are Rate My Startup posts of actual somethings that go unnoticed on a daily basis?
Check out the "new" and "ask" pages to help some of those people who've put a lot of effort into their executions by giving them more exposure.
Not to move this more towards Reddit, but it would be nice if there were a separate tab for rating startups. That seems like such an important aspect of HN, I'd like it to be called out more. And upvotes on that get double karma or something.
I want to work at Instagram myself because I love increasing entropy in the universe.
And yes, I'd say that to their faces: it can be very irritating to see pictures that already are not stellar, being from mobile phone cameras, further trod on by software.
I think this is a prime example of "too much telling not enough showing." While I dig Netta's moxie and possibly would even hire her as a community manager, there isn't much here that wows me. Less than 200 Instagram photos and a lackluster design portfolio don't back up the passion and talent that she claims.
I agree. I think any employer would be flattered with such a targeted application.
But I think it could be better if she listed benefits she could bring Instagram, rather than her personality traits. She does link to a very nice resume that has more content.
It's targeted in one way, and in one way only: via mention. Sure, the domain name includes the word "Instagram." Similarly, it's in the page's title.
However, the connection is surprisingly superficial. As you point out, she offers a comically generic application and then emphasizes that, you know, working at Instagram would be, like, cool. I find that a little cynical.
Minor nit: "my differences only make me that much more unique."
Unique is an absolute state. One is unique or not; there is no more/less about it. Per the dictionary usage guidelines, think about using something like: "rare, distinctive, unusual, remarkable, or other nonabsolute adjectives".
Sorry. This is my wife's pet peeve, and it has been drilled into my brain.
Reminds me of something Merlin Mann often says about prioritizing: Having multiple priorities is like saying you have more than two arms. You are either crazy or you are lying.
The resumé is very difficult to read and took a bit of a nosedive into the generic in its attempt to look unique with the crescent shaping.
Also, as a UX designer the design/layout/grammar(?) of the resumé is a head scratcher - lack of capitalization is no longer a style choice and just made everything harder to read, the most important bits of information: name and contact information are ... sideways.
You don't mind hiring someone who clearly has her sights set on a different company? To the extent that she even registered a domain name professing her personal interest in said company?
While I like the initiative, I'm a little worried that someone who says she's a UX designer wouldn't have considered that most Mac users do not run their browsers full-screen, so there's a horizontal scroll bar for anything less than a 1024 width (I think it's 1024). That's not a good UX!
most Mac users do not run their browsers full-screen, so there's a horizontal scroll bar for anything less than a 1024 width
Sure most Mac users don't run full-screen but no Macs from the past few years have native displays limited to under 1024 pixels wide. Even without maximizing, most people (in my experience with running stats on this stuff) run at > 1024. Without pulling out my data, I found a browser width of around 1100-1150 pixels to make up the lion's share of my users.
Apple doesn't even have a maximize button. I believe you're referring to the green(+) button which is technically called the zoom button. I refer to it as the optimize button since it resizes the window based on the content and when appropriate, will maximize the window to fill the screen. There are a few instances where the button does something completely off the wall, like in iTunes where it shrinks it down to the mini-player. If Apple is guilty of anything, it's not having a consistent function for that button. It's a wildcard.
I'd say the maximize button is in itself a bad design idea. Hit the green button on the browser window and it will expand to the width (or height) whereby scroll bars are no longer necessary. This 'maximizes' your screen real estate, rather than blowing it all on one window/app like a Windows maximize button. Also, while it's not a bad idea to keep page widths in the 750-1050ish range, No True Mac User would object to using their UI controls to optimize their viewing. I mean that's why they're there.
Doesn't work so well with a tabbed browser, where each tab is going to have a different optimized 'maximize' size. It's decent for folder windows and etc. though.
Hmm, that's a good point I hadn't actually considered. BUT, I don't see it as a big problem because once you resize for the largest tab, it's not like the others become unusable, they just now have some redundant space. It helps that most sites conform to a standard range of widths.
I don't see how the constraints of one system, whether they are right or wrong, really affects the ability of a UX designer to recognize and work within those constraints.
It doesn't mean she is not aware of the issue, she might have prioritized other things and make it "good enough" for other resolutions (even the ipad has a 1024px browser). Apple must know this issue and it's site also ads a scrollbar when the window is less than 1024px...
Although I highly agree with you on how Apple messed up by making "maximizing" such a pain, at the same time, I (not a Mac user, but had to use one for work for around 5 months) almost never have my browser maximized, even when on multiple screens. So it's still a valid point that Lewisham brought up.
This website gives the impression that she still needs some practice in her UX design skills.
I actually think Apple got the maximize button right (at least from the perspective of higher resolution displays).
The maximize button for browsers on Mac's maximizes the browser window to fit the content within the page. That is exactly how I want it to work when working with higher resolutions. Never do I want to maximize my browser to my 1920x1080 resolution.
I could see that while that solution is great for larger resolutions it may be non-optimal for smaller one's so maybe adding a system wide toggle switch would be ideal.
Get the app "Cinch" from the app store if you're on OSX, and especially if you're on a big monitor. It's frankly better than a maximize button, as it also lets you do side-by-side half screen windows.
(I am not associated with this app, just a happy customer.)
Personally I like SizeUp better. Keyboard controls for multiple positions and layout combos, moves windows across spaces and monitors too. It even has border control. One of the first, most useful apps I found when I made the switch to my imac.
I personally use BetterTouchTool (http://www.boastr.de/). It has basically the same functionality as Cinch and then some (maximize, auto-resize to split views, move windows across spaces/monitors), but it's (a) free and (b) also lets you define custom touch gestures to activate them (and any other actions you want) with a MacBook trackpad / Magic Mouse / Magic Trackpad.
I hate to be the debbie downer here. I love her ambition and ability to market herself, but when you are attempting to sell yourself as a visual & UX designer shouldn't your design be original?
Its a font thing. The style sheet calls for a load of YanoneKaffeesatz-Light.otf and a few others from the server. If that goes wrong for some reason, there's no alternate so you get gibberish.
OMG, instant app idea. Are there astrology pages for hiring already? You could enter the zodiacs of all your employees to determine if a new hire would match or not...
The copywriting is really awful - it makes her come across as a try-hard...
She should have just put up a page with her work and the line: "I want to work at Instagram. Why should you hire me? Take a look at my work", and then post a bunch of kick-ass projects.
Over-the-top copy coming from a designer always is a sign that they're trying to hide subpar quality of work.
Negative comments? Eat em up. Take note of what people dislike (be it even solely out of jealousy or spite, which is the vibe some of these comments give me) and work them into making your next creation even better.
It's easy to criticize. Surely anyone who does like it doesn't have much to say other than an obvious "it's good".
I don't think it's wrong though that people point out what they don't like, or would improve on. It's doesn't mean the person giving feedback is right, but it does allow the person who created it to take it into consideration.
Honestly, if you get feedback that's 'hard to take' it's probably because you know it needs to be changed.
Agreed. As a newbie in the HN community hoping to share some of my work soon, this is really disappointing. There's a difference between being constructively critical and judging. I would welcome more of the former.
Don't let it stop you. Understand going in that there will be noise in the feedback, and to sort through it to extract the valuable feedback. Its not personal, because the judgmental don't really know you.
I just finished interviewing 12 grad students from the same school. I wish someone would have come in and given me such a clear reason to place them above the rest.
Very nice idea with great execution surely that is worth something.
What's with the trend of public overdesigned resumes? If you want to work for company X, call your friend that works there and ask them for an interview. They will probably be very interested in speaking to you.
I built a site like this once for a company I wanted to work for very badly. I didn't get the job, but I did at least get a response from them, which is very unusual.
Good portfolio except it's a bit too Web centric. Apps, Mobile interaction should be a part of it if this person is serious about working at Instagram.
I always find these kinds of "résumés" rather awkward. Yes, companies usually like to hire people who are passionate about the product, but it's possible to be passionate in a creepy obsessive way too.
Might be a good idea to create some filter effects on your own and apply them to your photos - giving a sample of the original and your various filters applied to it. Just a thought.
Good luck.
I like the Instagram (well, I liked it better when it wasn't so crashtastic) but I can't help feeling her talents would be wasted there since there's basically no web presence.
As for 'poorly typeset', I have no choice to agree, if only because her portfolio page implies that her name is "Netta & Design".
Her customer work looks good though, so if, as I assume, she's seeking a design-oriented role, she'd likely do well in a team (where somebody else can say 'Hey, what's up with this bolding?') The fonts in her personality chart are barely there.
Completely offtopic, I'm always wary of people who tell me how funny they are. If you're funny, I'll almost certainly figure that out organically.
I was addressing this part of said comment: "clichéd, obsequious". I do agree with your last point. Most people who tell me how funny they are turn out to be the exact opposite.
It's all open for interpretation, of course, but I think, by this point, these sorts of 'I want to work at X' websites ARE cliched, so I personally would agree there.
I don't particularly find it obsequious, though I probably wouldn't have to look too far to find another word that I could apply disparagingly to reference the points I mentioned before.
Regardless, as I stated, it IS a nice looking website, and if they have openings, they probably would do well to hire somebody so obviously passionate and motivated to work there.
I don't really see how statements like "I learned from Pooh bear that it takes guts to be different but my differences only make me that much more unique." - and indeed the entire "active application" format - can be described as anything but clichéd & obsequious.
I disagree with your disagreement ;). We see one of these every week; Some kid lacks the qualifications for a job, so they make an uncreative boilerplate web page bullshitting about how much they love the company they're applying to work at.
They usually work, but that doesn't make it any more ambitious or creative than the last 20,000 of them.
It's a two-hour webpage that says "I wanna work at Instragram", but doesn't answer the important questions. Why do you want to work at Instagram? How are you uniquely qualified to work at Instagram?
I feel sorry for companies that fall for this sort of thing.
How are they falling for something if they reach out to her? You can call it a "two hour website" but that only means that she sent about 1 hour and 57 minutes more "applying" for this job than the average schmoe who visits Monster.com, checks a few boxes and clicks "Submit Resume."
That, IMO, shows a fairly meaningful level of initiative and ambition. It shouldn't guarantee somebody a job, but if somebody applied to my company that way, I'd definitely give them a meaningful look and consider reaching out to them. But I want people who are passionate about their work.
Hell, I'll go so far as to say that passion and attitude trump raw talent.
ambition isn't posting a mediocre and derivative personal website, replete w/ trite copy, on Hacker News in a (hopefully quixotic) attempt to get a job at a small startup.
I'd just like to put it out there that when I run a company we will automatically disqualify anyone who tries to get a job w/ us in this way. So remember that if you'd like to work for me sometime in the near future.
...why on earth would you do that? This person wants to work at instagram, if she gets the job, she'll be absolutely floored about coming in to work every day.
This is exactly the type of employee I would think everybody would want. Why would you want something else?
So, you will discourage applicants from creating targeted webpages both expressing their love for your product (giving you more exposure) as well as doing something extra to stand out? Harsh.
Employees who love their own product are a cancer that must be treated. Complacency with a product necessarily leads to a dangerous inability to find ways to improve upon it.
I do speak from long experience, here. This isn't a crazy idea I read out of a dogfooding blog entry.
I don't want employees who love my product, I want employees who are competent. this example is telling in that although the prospective employee clearly wants the job she is also clearly not a particularly talented designer.
Well all power to you! But should you be put in such a position some day, I suggest being open to learning from some of the great leaders in history. Not to say you want to hire an army of groupie lightweights, but passion is not a quality to undervalue.
Exactly. If this woman was to be hired, she'd probably take in everything shown to her. Honestly, if there's a position open for someone that passionate but a bit rough around the edges, find a junior role to put them in within a team she can really learn from.
Depending greatly on the short and long term situations, I'd rather hire someone enthusiastic and wait a few months for them to get up to speed than hire someone with more experience who is dispassionate about the job. There's just so much more room for growth with the former (and initial salary negotiation should be a cakewalk from a management perspective).
Sure you could bitch and moan about her portfolio, the grammar used, etc... But this still stands out and her passion is there. These kinds of people soak up whatever you give them.
Plus it takes balls to do something like this, and that's a good trait.
No, they're clearly going to notice her and give her consideration that she wouldn't otherwise get. They're probably thinking "nice initiative" even if they've seen this type of application before.
I think a few of you are being too cynical about this being overdone. Getting a new career is a highly competitive race and doing anything that gets you noticed (and on the top of Hacker News) is always going to be a win for your career.