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.
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.