3 ms·

I gotcha, good example. Did you try this at some point, or did you make it up?

by coryl 17y ago

patio11 17y ago
The last time I was applying for a job I had insufficient web development skills to pull this off and I rather doubt I will ever have need to apply for a job again, so no, I have never actually delivered a resume in this format. (Though if I were hypothetically doing an application to YC or otherwise trying to influence a decisionmaker to give me money, I'd have a website purpose-built for it.) Let's see, previous job application hacks I have actually done: when I was 16 I applied for a summer job at a large American company which sells office supplies, as a seasonal order entry operator. They sort of value obsessive-compulsive attention to detail in that position (difference between 10 reams of paper and 10 cartons of paper: rather substantial!). I am not normally a very detail-oriented person but I have a fairly decent memory, so I called them up, asked them to mail me a catalog, and then memorized a few bits of trivia about prominent product lines and all their policies about shipping. During the interview, the person speaking to me mentioned "drop shipment", and then proceeded to explain what drop shipment actually is. I cut her off and said that "Drop shipment is when you order from $COMPANY but the order actually ships directly from the vendor." She asked if I had previous experience in the industry. I said "No, but it is written in your catalog. You see, customers should know whether they are ordering drop shipped products or not, because while drop shipped products are covered by the same 'free shipping for orders above $THRESHHOLD' policy as products shipping from the warehouse, they are not actually carried by the same shipping lines, and appropriately the customer needs to make arrangements to move the item from the door. However, for an extra charge of $35, the truck driver will take it to anywhere accessible via an elevator." She looked at me dumbfounded for a moment. "I made it my business to know your business." That line was pure luck, incidentally -- I had to come up with it on the spot because I did not have a half-dozen prepared, tested, memorable quotes ready to slot in at any opportune time in the interview. I have learned the value of those in the last decade, though.
- coryl 17y ago
  Great story, one thing though. You were impressive in your interview/performance, but I'm kind of failing to see how you "hacked" the system. You were smart by being prepared and researched the company's product offering. This is kind of standard practice, to know what the company you're applying to sells/builds. So in this particular example, can you show you hacked the system? Is being more prepared than the average applicant good enough to show this?

I gotcha, good example. Did you try this at some point, or did you make it up?

by coryl 17y ago

I gotcha, good example. Did you try this at some point, or did you make it up?

The last time I was applying for a job I had insufficient web development skills to pull this off and I rather doubt I will ever have need to apply for a job again, so no, I have never actually delivered a resume in this format. (Though if I were hypothetically doing an application to YC or otherwise trying to influence a decisionmaker to give me money, I'd have a website purpose-built for it.) Let's see, previous job application hacks I have actually done: when I was 16 I applied for a summer job at a large American company which sells office supplies, as a seasonal order entry operator. They sort of value obsessive-compulsive attention to detail in that position (difference between 10 reams of paper and 10 cartons of paper: rather substantial!). I am not normally a very detail-oriented person but I have a fairly decent memory, so I called them up, asked them to mail me a catalog, and then memorized a few bits of trivia about prominent product lines and all their policies about shipping. During the interview, the person speaking to me mentioned "drop shipment", and then proceeded to explain what drop shipment actually is. I cut her off and said that "Drop shipment is when you order from $COMPANY but the order actually ships directly from the vendor." She asked if I had previous experience in the industry. I said "No, but it is written in your catalog. You see, customers should know whether they are ordering drop shipped products or not, because while drop shipped products are covered by the same 'free shipping for orders above $THRESHHOLD' policy as products shipping from the warehouse, they are not actually carried by the same shipping lines, and appropriately the customer needs to make arrangements to move the item from the door. However, for an extra charge of $35, the truck driver will take it to anywhere accessible via an elevator." She looked at me dumbfounded for a moment. "I made it my business to know your business." That line was pure luck, incidentally -- I had to come up with it on the spot because I did not have a half-dozen prepared, tested, memorable quotes ready to slot in at any opportune time in the interview. I have learned the value of those in the last decade, though.

coryl 17y ago
Great story, one thing though. You were impressive in your interview/performance, but I'm kind of failing to see how you "hacked" the system. You were smart by being prepared and researched the company's product offering. This is kind of standard practice, to know what the company you're applying to sells/builds. So in this particular example, can you show you hacked the system? Is being more prepared than the average applicant good enough to show this?