I like to say sometimes that one reason I never really get crypto is that it involves the concept of “proof of work”. That phrase sort of triggers me. It reminds me of all the times when I was in school when I wouldn’t get full marks in maths despite getting all the answers correct because I “didn’t show working”.
In any case, I spent about fifteen minutes early this morning drinking my aeropress and deleting LinkedIn connection requests. Yeah, you read that right. It took that long to refuse all the connection requests I had got since yesterday, when I put a fairly innocuous post saying I’m hiring.
I understand that the market is rather tough nowadays. Companies are laying employees off ($) left right and centre (in fact, this (paywalled) article prompted my post – I’m hoping to find good value in the layoff market). Interest rates are going up. Stock prices are going down. Startup funding has slowed. The job market is not easy. And so you see an innocuous post like this getting such a massive reaction.
In any case, the reason I was thinking about “proof of work” is that the responses to my post reminded me of my own (unsuccessful) job hunts from a few years back. I remember randomly applying through LinkedIn. I remember using easy apply. And I remember pretty much not hearing back from anyone.
Time for a bollywood break:
Yes, the choice of where I’ve started this video is deliberate. As i was spending time this morning refusing all the LinkedIn connection requests (some 500+ people I have no clue about had simply added me without any matter of introduction or purpose), I was thinking of this song.
I followed a simple strategy – I engaged with people who had cared to write a note (or InMail) to me along with the connection request, and I just ignored the rest. As I kept hitting “ignore ignore ignore … ” on my phone (while sipping coffee with the other hand), I realised that I almost hit “ignore” on one of my company HRs who had added me. A few minutes later, I actually hit ignore on a colleague who I’ve actually worked with (I made amends by sending him back a connection request that he accepted).
Given the flood of requests that I had got, I was forced to use a broad brush. I was forced to use simple heuristics rather than evaluating each application on its true merit. I’m pretty sure I’ve made plenty of errors of omission today (that said, my heuristic has thrown up a bunch of fairly promising candidates).
In any case, if you think about it, the heuristic I used can pretty well be described as “proof of work”. And what the proof of work achieved here was to help people stand out in a crowded market. That there was some work showed a certain minimum threshold of interest, and that was sufficient to get my attention, which is all that mattered here. And on a related note, during normal times (when I get a maximum of one or two LinkedIn requests each day), I do take the effort to evaluate each request on its own merit. No proof of work is necessary.
And if you think about it, “proof of work” is rather prevalent in the natural world. A peacock’s feathers are the most commonly quoted example of this one. The beautiful tail comes at a huge cost in terms of agility and ability to fly, and the tail is a way for the peacock to show off to potential mates that “I can carry this thing and yet stay alive so imagine how fit my genes are. Mate with me”.
Anyway, back to the hiring market, you need a way to stand out. Maybe a nicely written cover letter. Maybe a referral (or “influence” as we used to pejoratively call this back in the 90s). Maybe a strong github profile. (Ok the last one is literally a proof of work!)
Else you will just get swept away with the tide.
PS: In general, I was also thinking of the wisdom of writing to someone at a time when you know he/she will be flooded with other messages. The bar for you to stand out is much much higher. Being contrarian helps i guess.