
I wanna work at Instagram - thankuz
http://iwannaworkatinstagram.com/
======
Mystalic
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.

~~~
crasshopper
And my question would be, why did it get to the top of Hacker News? I tried
making a website like this and failed to get much notice.

~~~
reason
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.

~~~
crasshopper
Eh ... that would be spammy. And I gave up trying to work in quant finance.
Instead I'm returning to what I know: entrepreneurship.

~~~
wizard_2
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.

~~~
crasshopper
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.

~~~
crasshopper
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.

------
mrshoe
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.

~~~
patio11
_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.

~~~
mrshoe
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."

------
kmfrk
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.

~~~
r00fus
Her article/resume is her "show" not "tell". The medium _is_ the message...
that's UX.

~~~
kmfrk
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.)

~~~
crasshopper
_Is their UX in dire need of a UX designer?_

<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:

~~~
kmfrk
Thanks for that. This puts her application in a more sensible light.

------
apl
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.

~~~
Tycho
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').

~~~
xpaulbettsx
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"

~~~
jamesgeck0
A link to her portfolio is always stuck at the top right corner of page, even
as you scroll.

------
dchest
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.

~~~
ianhawes
I would never want to work with someone as negative as you.

~~~
apl
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_.

~~~
phillmv
The problem is too many people, much like about half the people commenting
here, confuse that with being an insufferable prick.

------
reason
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.

~~~
kenjackson
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.

------
edw519
_I never wear high heels. So I can crawl into cracks and crevices to snap
awesome pics..._

AFAIC, automatic interview line. It says so much:

\- She understands the ugly stuff needed to get to the pretty stuff.

\- She's willing to do the ugly stuff.

\- Her work is more important than her ego (I think).

\- She "gets it". (Somehow I don't imagine a poser would have ever thought of
putting it quite this way.)

~~~
brown9-2
Don't you think it's also possible for someone to know exactly what an
employer would like to hear, and then say exactly that?

~~~
kmfrk
If she can win over edw519, I'm sure it doesn't hurt to put it in your
application. Regardless of what can be construed from it. :)

Telling an employer what they want to hear without the employer noticing is
still a skill, no less.

------
davidw
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.

------
kariatx
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.

~~~
kmfrk
On one hand, I think you are dead on. On the other, I think she's
inadvertently showing - unfortunately not for the better. :)

The old analogy is never to write in an application that you are funny. If you
have a sense of humour, it will show.

------
nopal
Great initiative. All employers should want to have such enthusiastic
applicants.

I'm not sure whether her design is "good" or whether her other attributes line
up with what they're looking for, but A+ for effort, nonetheless.

~~~
warrenwilkinson
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.

~~~
apl
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.

------
cabacon
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.

~~~
pavel_lishin
She sounds like a lady who's at least 78% unique.

~~~
random42
You mean probability of her being unique is atleast 0.78, dont you?

As being unique would be rather a binary state, either one is unique of not.

~~~
crasshopper
Not in fuzzy logic. One can have 78% membership in the set of unique things.

------
splish
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.

------
billclerico
love the initiative & hustle. dropping her a note now about our designer
position

~~~
statictype
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?

~~~
jrockway
You eventually have to eat, even if Instagram doesn't want you to work for
them.

------
Lewisham
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!

~~~
fara
Is the lack of a working maximize button good UX?

~~~
Tycho
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.

~~~
pkamb
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.

~~~
Tycho
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.

------
mccon104
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?

Both this page and her portfolio are blatant "adaptations" of inspectelement's
html5 single page portfolio design <http://inspectelement.com/html5portfolio/>

The top bar, color choices, structure, font, her "logo" for her portfolio, the
contact me portion... all of that comes straight from the template

 _edit: added "contact" part_

------
faramarz
+1 for the effort.. but her choice of typography is a big BIG no-no. It's very
hard to read. I don't think Instagram will be too pleased.

~~~
kmfrk
It looks fine in Opera. (Well, I would prefer Georgia, but I'm boring like
that.)

Maybe you are using a browser with a duller font-rendering?

EDIT: On Windows 7. Should have included that.

~~~
aw3c2
Opera 11 on Linux looks like this for me: <http://upurs.us/image/24755.jpeg>
Maybe I don't have the proper font. It looks awful.

~~~
estel
Nope, that's the correct font; but I disagree with you about it looking awful.

------
alantrrs
So this is the new way to get a job huh? Replacing the old boring curriculum,
I think it's great. Big and Creative

------
madh
Anyone else see gibberish? (Chrome 11/XP) This can't be good.
<http://awesomescreenshot.com/0e59u240c>

~~~
noonespecial
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.

------
crasshopper
Here's a question. Why isn't _every_ resume a website? This is the era of
about.me, flavors.me, and filing your resume online.

The www allows for image, audio, code, and video, as well as text. Why are
resumes still pretending to be paper (pdf / doc)?

------
hbz
I think she did a great job. Her portfolio site is nice as well.

------
Keyframe
She made leica d vario-elmarit 14-50? I'll hire her then! </snark>

~~~
pclark
For a long time the instagram jobs page for the designer role asked for the
candidate to attach a rendering of that lens.

~~~
Keyframe
Thanks for clarification - as I have never used instagram nor seen their job
page. It's a good rendering (sans fonts), if nothing else.

------
andrewljohnson
I'm sorry, I don't hire Aries. Only Cancers and Leos for my company.

~~~
Tichy
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...

------
sbisker
Awesome. Forwarded along to Mike, one of the founders. (Know him from our CHI
days...ah, memories. :) ) Hope it works out for you!

------
postacrylic
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.

~~~
xp84
Or that you're a designer not a copywriter. You know. One of those two things.

------
kevintwohy
Wow. Reading the negativity in some of these comments makes me want to think
twice about sharing something I've made with HN. That's a bad thing.

It's not perfect. It's not the first time anyone's ever had this idea. Maybe
you wouldn't hire her. Who cares?

Not everyone's running for best-most-perfect-idea-in-the-universe-ever. She
made a thing. Good on her.

~~~
katieben
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.

~~~
ryanhuff
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.

------
esschul
I'd love it if we had this sort of show o'enthusiasm in our applicants. It's
more than I ever did to get a job.

------
jamesjyu
Someone should make an app to let anyone make this kind of clean targeted
resume.

~~~
alantrrs
How about this? <http://arcv.cwjobs.co.uk/>

------
ScottBev
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.

------
jrockway
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.

------
fistofjohnwayne
Wait a minute. jQuery 1.2.3 and jQuery 1.4? Just for the image hover?

~~~
jarek
Packets for nothing and bits for free...

------
akulbe
I think that a _bunch_ of the people commenting on this thread should go back
and read this: <http://thingist.com/t/item/4372/>

Seriously.

------
dholowiski
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.

------
georgechen
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.

------
ryanmickle
Love the ambition, but I'm curious why her portfolio work isn't nearly as good
as this site.

~~~
tomkarlo
When you're a relatively young, novice designer, one would hope that the last
thing you made is usually better than the older stuff in your portfolio.

------
sofal
Wait, is this still considered unique and outside-the-box? I must be living on
the edge.

~~~
tyng
Agreed, seen a few too many these days

------
tuhin
FWIW <http://tuhinkumar.com/portfolio/instagram/> (The first (or second maybe)
Instagram redesign before everyone joined the party)

------
tlrobinson
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.

------
dr_
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.

------
geekfactor
Is instagrid failing under the front-page pummeling? Her page isn't showing
any images: <http://instagrid.me/nettatheninja/>

------
hopeless
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.

------
sfbiker
Or if anyone wants a date, she's looking for that too....

<http://www.okcupid.com/profile/nettatheninja>

------
tehaaron
I am having an issue where when I start to scroll down, part of the page tries
to to scroll down as well and mucks up everything else..in Firefox 4

------
anhtran
I think the site is good but it's not really an innovation thing with many
sharp strokes that make me scream: How did she dare to do like that!!!

------
geekfactor
Did Netta the Ninja break Instagram?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2361470>

------
mikeleeorg
Say what you will, but I hope I can create a product or business awesome
enough to inspire candidates to do something like this.

------
sgt
Well done. And she's certainly creative, intelligent and incredibly talented
at what she does. Hope she gets the job!

------
hung
Haters gonna hate. Give her a break. The site's not half bad and at least she
tried.

------
xelipe
Why doesn't she find a technical co-founder and start her the next Instagram?

~~~
xelipe
If I were her I would immediately update the website to read I Wanna to Work
at Color.

------
benedwards
Nice looking site. Good luck!

------
alex_carlill
this is clichéd, obsequious and poorly typeset.

~~~
jewgonewild
I disagree sir. Pure ambition right there.

~~~
bmelton
That doesn't dispute his points even remotely.

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.

~~~
jewgonewild
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.

~~~
bmelton
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.

------
ignifero
picture perfect CV replacements are already getting old

------
alex_carlill
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.

~~~
blhack
...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?

~~~
alex_carlill
because I'd quite like my designers to be capable of creativity, whereas this
Instagram application is derivative in every single way.

~~~
blhack
Alright fine, but you're not allowed to say that and not include some ways
that she could make it better.

So what would you do to improve this?

------
niico
Seriously?

------
NathanLands
This is hilarious. I wouldn't be surprised if Instagram hired this guy just
for publicity because of the attention on here.

~~~
thankuz
For one, she's a she, not a 'guy'. Second, that's the whole point - to get
noticed!

------
gigawatt
"My name is Netta & Design is what I do. It's what I'm good at so why not?"

Just what I'd be looking for in an employee — good, old-fashioned "meh, why
not?" attitude.

