It's not an easy job market out there, and I know a lot of folks are looking for new roles. At Clearly AI, we're just wrapping up interviewing for 7 new job functions - from account execs, to software engineers, to support, to GTM. I was an interview bar raiser at Amazon, and interviewed hundreds of candidates there during my 5 year tenure. Yet, this was my first time not only interviewing but creating job descriptions, reviewing job applications, and making final hiring decisions.
After reviewing hundreds of job applications, there's a few key things standing out:
AI Slop
I get it. It's a lot of work to manually respond to jobs. But it's a pretty clear signal to hiring managers when candidates don't put in a minimum level of effort that they aren't specifically interested in this job. We're an AI company. We do ask candidates to use AI during our job process. But the end product should look and read like yours, not ChatGPT's.
This means "de-slopping" anything you AI generate. Make it concise. Show you care.
Why this company
Similar to my thoughts on AI slop above, you should have a really good answer for why you're applying to this company (or this job). For us, especially as a startup, it's important to work with folks that believe in and understand our mission. We have one required question on our job application - Why Clearly AI. It's shocking how many applicants don't answer it, provide AI slop, or put a one-sentence rushed answer.
The candidates that stand out had thoughtful responses. The job application is your first opportunity to put your best foot forward. The answered not only why they want to work with us, but also why they're a great fit for what we're building.
This level of effort should continue throughout the interview process. If you really want to work at Clearly AI, you should continue to dig between interviews. Our Head of Product surprised me in my final interview with him, quoting back information from a random conference talk I gave that was recorded and on YouTube. It meant a lot to know he was doing everything he could to learn about us and our space before joining.
Prepare anecdotes
You are the expert on you, and you probably have hundreds of stories you could tell potential interviewers. At Amazon, we highly encouraged interviewees to answer our questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). You'd be surprised how many folks don't. They give high-level, rambling, or low impact answers. Especially for certain roles, there's only so much we can measure in the interview itself, so your past performance, and your ability to talk about it in a compelling way, is all we have to go off of. (We do have at least one technical competency per role, but that's easier for some roles than others).
Go above & beyond
Similar to "why this company," there are small things you can do during the process to stick in folks' mind. Add the team on LinkedIn, message the founder when you apply, spend that little extra effort researching the company or writing thank-you notes.
As a counter-point to 4, the best ways to ensure you won't get hired is if you:
Only email the team, and don't actually apply to the job role
Harass the team or send spammy messages
Don't show up on time to interviews
Take a long time to schedule or often reschedule interviews
Are rude, discriminatory, or bash your previous company or team
In closing
I get it, everyone is busy, and you might be applying for a lot of jobs. But if you can't tell, the answer is quality over quantity. We get hundreds of applicants for each role, and we're just a seed-stage startup. Find roles that actually fit you, and put effort into those. Best of luck out there.
If you made it to the end of this blog and are interviewing for Clearly AI, send me an email with the subject "Interview tips." Happy to give brownie points for anyone who went the extra mile to discover this little corner of the internet. (Bonus if you give me some feedback on my blog!)