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    in Career Hacks

    Capital One Recruiters’ 5 Resume Tips for Students

    It’s time to boil down your college experience into a one-page document that sells who you are to a stranger. Where do you list your major? How do you summarize your invigorating internship or great part-time job? What kind of file should my resume be?

    We know it can be intimidating putting together your resume. Thankfully, Nyla Walker and Olutoyin Asubiojo, recruiters for our Students & Grads programs, are here to help. Check out their answers to five common resume questions that will help you build a career with real impact.

    Q: Should I make my resume one page?

    Nyla: Yes. Recruiters only look at resumes for about six seconds, so we need to find your information quickly. You’ll eventually get to a point in your career where you can have a longer resume but stick to one page while you’re a student or recent grad.

    Q: How should I organize my resume?

    Olutoyin: Put your school, major and graduation date at the top of your resume so we can figure out which of our programs best match your skills and start date. You can also add relevant coursework, research and academic honors.

    Your jobs, internships and leadership roles should come next—in chronological order—giving us a glimpse at your relevant experience. Finally, you can have a separate section toward the bottom of your resume for extracurriculars like sports, volunteering and hobbies. 

    Q: How do I describe my experiences?

    Nyla: Use vivid descriptions, ranges or scales that show off your achievements, contributions and key results. Go deeper than listing a job description. Share how you improved parts of the company you worked for, and make connections between the job you want and the job you have. 

    If you’re a cashier, tell us you’re a mathematician extraordinaire and share how you can solve problems quickly. Maybe you worked in retail and organized a sales event. That’s project management. You’ll find ways to tweak your resume for each opportunity you’re applying for.

    Q: How should I format my resume?

    Olutoyin: Save it as a PDF. This guarantees your resume format will look the same on different computers.

    Q: Where can I get help preparing my resume and application?

    Olutoyin: Visit our events page for information on workshops about resume building, explaining your career journey, interview preparation and more.  More

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    in Employer

    Investing in Early Talent, Relearning, & More: Talk Talent to Me April ’23 Recap

    Catch up on the April 2023 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast featuring recruiting and talent acquisition leadership who share strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry. 

    Putting people first with Kelly Minella, Head of Recruiting at Calendly

    Investing in early talent with Krishna Kumar, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Quintrix 

    Relearning and eliminating biases with Jenny Cotie Kangas, Director of Employer Branding and Awareness at PandoLogic

    Creating a thriving company culture with Maryjo Charbonnier, CHRO at Kyndryl 

    1. Kelly Minella, Head of Recruiting at Calendly

    Put people first. You’ll be more likely to make quality hires and maintain a cohesive work environment, according to Kelly. In this episode, she shares how she knew her CEO cared about prioritizing people and the importance of a talent team having a shared understanding. Plus, Kelly tells how the introduction of interview training has made Calendly better and why you should always be asking for and reviewing candidate feedback.

    “I applied [to Calendly], and my first conversation was with our CEO, Tope Awotona, and it was fabulous. I remember calling my mom afterward and being like, ‘Mom, that was special’. And the reason why, and why it has remained special, is how much priority he puts on people.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    2. Krishna Kumar, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Quintrix 

    Investing in early talent is becoming more popular. Krishna discusses why businesses need to think more about this talent in the long term and how companies can better support their new recruits. He also dives into his game-changing post-deployment framework and why many candidates are falling short of the mark. 

    “Career development, or lack thereof, is the number one reason for people to leave their jobs and explore other opportunities. So, you want to make sure that the candidates are constantly receiving the support, feedback, and career development to be successful.” 

    Listen to the full episode.

    3. Jenny Cotie Kangas, Director of Employer Branding and Awareness at PandoLogic

    Sometimes the best approach to a challenge is to start from scratch. When Jenny lost most of her memories as a result of a head injury, she underwent a process of extreme relearning. Though the experience came with hardships and frustrations, it was hugely beneficial to her professional life. In this inspiring episode, Jenny shares how learning to explain things in their simplest form, eliminating biases and blindspots, and employing reverse engineering strategies leads to true organizational change.

    “When you storytell something in a way that makes sense to a 10-year-old – all of a sudden everybody can understand it. Not just the top 10% or the most experienced in your organization, but everybody can. And when you’re trying to actually make change happen, your goal is to hit everybody, not just the top 10%.”

    Listen to the full episode.

    4. Maryjo Charbonnier, CHRO at Kyndryl 

    Maryjo isn’t afraid of a challenge. In fact, she has sought out difficult problems to be part of a solution. Her passion for change-making led her to be Chief HR Officer at the world’s largest startup with over 90,000 employees and $19 billion in revenue. As an expert on cultural processes, Maryjo explains what it takes to cultivate and maintain a thriving company culture. 

    “One of the most important things HR people do is listen to what isn’t said.” 

    Listen to the full episode. 

    Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?

    Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More

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    How Many Candidates Should You Interview for a Job? Hiring Best Practices

    A lot of hiring managers want to know, “How many candidates should you interview for a job?” It’s a common conundrum faced by many decision-makers during the recruitment process. In the challenging and ever-evolving world of business, one of the most important decisions a hiring manager, recruiter, startup founder, or CEO will make is who to bring on board their team. As the backbone of every organization, a quality workforce can shape the success or downfall of a company. With such high stakes involved, it’s crucial to be equipped with an optimal strategy when conducting interviews.

    While there is no universal answer, this blog post will explore some key factors to consider when determining the number of candidates to interview for a specific role.

    6 Things to Consider When Determining How Many Candidates to Interview for a Job

    1. The Complexity of the Job or Role

    The complexity of the job position plays a significant role in determining the number of candidates you should interview. For roles that require advanced skills or specific experience, you might need to interview more candidates to find the ideal match. On the contrary, for positions with less complex requirements, a smaller pool might suffice. Evaluating the complexity of the role will aid in approximating the breadth of your interview pool.

    2. Candidate Availability

    An equally significant consideration is the availability of qualified candidates. If you are in a field or location with a limited number of qualified candidates, you may need to cast a wider net and interview more individuals. Conversely, in areas with a high concentration of professionals in your required field, you might have a larger pool of qualified applicants, allowing you to be more selective.

    Hired has a career marketplace pool of high-quality, high-intent candidates for tech and sales roles. Get a live demo and see how it changes your hiring process for the better.

    3. The Interview-to-Hire Ratio

    Another useful method to estimate the number of candidates to interview is the ‘Interview-to-Hire Ratio.’ This ratio represents the number of candidates you need to interview before making a hire. According to research, this ratio can range from 4:1 to 20:1 depending on the industry and the role complexity. Thus, the ratio can help you figure out the potential number of interviews to conduct.

    4. Quality over Quantity

    While the number of interviews you conduct is crucial, it’s equally important to stress the quality of candidates over the quantity. Interviewing too many candidates can be overwhelming and time-consuming, and may not necessarily yield better results. Moreover, it can be detrimental to your employer brand if candidates feel they are merely a number in a long line of interviews. Therefore, it’s essential to maintain a balanced approach and ensure each candidate receives the attention they deserve during the interview process.

    5. The ‘Rule of Three’

    A good rule of thumb to follow is the ‘Rule of Three,’ which suggests interviewing at least three candidates for every job opening. This allows you to compare and contrast candidates effectively, ensuring a fair hiring process. However, remember that the ‘Rule of Three’ is a guideline, not a strict policy. It should be adjusted according to the role, industry, and the quality of the candidates applying.

    Too many inbound candidates, but not enough qualified ones? Learn how to manage and even prevent this recruiting challenge.

    6. Adaptability is Key

    Lastly, remember that flexibility and adaptability are essential in the hiring process. If you haven’t found the right candidate after interviewing a significant number, it might be a signal to revisit the job description, requirements, or your recruitment strategies. A successful recruitment process should be fluid and responsive to the market conditions, candidate availability, and company needs.

    Insights from Talent Leader Trent Krupp

    When asked, ‘how many candidates should you interview for a job,’ Trent says

    “Short answer: As many as it takes. Long answer: Typically you should expect to talk to 7-10 candidates, make 2 formal offers, and receive one acceptance. Having a recruiting culture that’s focused on speed and efficiency makes a massive impact on your success.

    If you’re able to go from meeting someone to presenting them with a firm offer within 7 business days, you’re going to be better than 90% of companies out there. [MAANG companies] may be able to pay higher salaries than you, but they can’t possibly compete against a 7-day end-to-end hiring cycle.

    Being slow & indecisive, creating artificial scarcity (rejecting someone because they don’t have experience with THE particular JavaScript framework that you happen to use), or trying to hire people for significantly below market rates are all enemies of success.

    In my personal opinion, the first one or two engineers you hire should probably be the most experienced you can find. They will be making critical architectural decisions likely to be incredibly complex and expensive to unravel in the future. You need to get it right, and being penny-wise and pound-foolish does not make sense.

    Finally, these guidelines are for typical individual contributor positions. VP or Director-level hires, or positions requiring very specialized knowledge will be different.”

    Let Hired Help You Cut Down on How Many Candidates You Need to Interview for a Job

    In conclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how many candidates you should interview for a job. It’s a decision that requires a clear understanding of the role, the job market, your company’s needs, and the potential talent pool. Always remember that each interview is an investment in your company’s future, so take the time to make strategic and informed decisions. Happy hiring!

    Learn more about how Hired helps employers of all sizes find the right talent, right away! More

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    in Career Hacks

    5 Things to Avoid in Your First Job or Internship

    While there is a lot of excitement that comes with your first job or internship, there can also be a level of uncertainty that can make you nervous about the upcoming milestone. Given that these are first-time experiences for a lot of people, it is natural not to know exactly what to do and what not to do in these new professional settings.

    At WayUp, we help thousands of young professionals land their first job so we are no strangers to the missteps and errors made during these early days. To help make sure you don’t make the same mistakes some of us did, we interviewed a few WayUp and Yello employees to highlight some things to avoid doing in your first job or internship.

    [embedded content]

    Cramming Doesn’t Cut It

    Something many of you will learn going into your first job or internship is that the habits that worked in college don’t always work in the professional world. One particular habit that doesn’t cut it anymore, is cramming. 

    While a college course often only lasts for a couple of months, a job will hopefully go on for much longer than that. This being the case, it becomes even more important to take the necessary time needed to complete your work. If not, you might end up in a nightmare situation like Jimmy did. 

    One way to avoid this is by setting completion goals for yourself. Instead of having one deadline, have multiple, with each one coordinating to a certain percentage of your upcoming task.

    Don’t Take on Too Much Work

    Another important thing to keep in mind is not to take on too much work. Although you may be eager to show your new employer how much you’re capable of doing, keep in mind that your responsibilities may take some time to get comfortable with.

    While it can sometimes be advantageous to overachieve in your work, it is wise not to aim too high when you’re just starting a new job. In the aforementioned situation, Carter tried to take on too much and his work ended up suffering for it in the form of sore arms, likely impacting future shifts, and a messy uniform which most likely made him seem unprofessional. 

    Instead of biting off more than you can chew, start observing what other people are doing and maybe take the time to ask some more senior members how they manage time. This way, you can start grasping and comprehending what it takes to get more done in your position.

    Stay In Your Lane

    This next hazard to avoid is very specific and has to do with the interview process. Applications and interviews can be incredibly stressful with lots of anticipation. However, you never want that stress and anxiety to lead what this person did

    In this situation, this individual likely came off as both uninformed and probably a little bothersome. Not only did they make themselves look bad, but unfortunately, they also brought Luis down with them! 

    As Luis mentioned, the best way to find updates about your application is to go through your HR recruiter or the hiring manager for the role. Check out this blog to find more great ways to follow up after an interview!

    Don’t Ignore Your Sleep

    When you’re starting your first internship or job, you’re likely going to have to get used to a new schedule. This means that you’re going to have to start valuing your sleep a lot more and getting a more refined schedule. If not, you might end up falling asleep in a meeting like Jess did during her first big internship in NYC.

    =

    This incident is nothing short of a horror story and clearly has remained a lesson with Jess throughout her professional life. At times, it can be very hard to stick to a tight sleeping schedule, especially if you have other things going on in your life like school or family obligations. 

    Our recommendation to you is to rid yourself of the unnecessary things that consume your time. That means no more back-to-back Netflix episodes, no post-dinner espressos, and definitely no scrolling endlessly on social media when you’re in bed!

    Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions

    Our last piece of advice when it comes to things to avoid in your first job or internship is something that you should keep in mind throughout the entirety of your professional career and not just when you’re first starting out. While some situations vary, asking questions will always be beneficial – especially when you’re just starting to familiarize yourself with a new role.

    The intern in this situation was likely feeling pressure not to come off as needy or uninformed. Instead of clarifying what she was supposed to do and the deliverable that was required, she went ahead with what she thought was expected and ended up making more work for herself in the end. 

    As you make your way through your first professional experience, there very well might be mistakes you make that are specific and unique. The most important thing to keep in mind is not to let yourself get discouraged by those shortcomings and instead make it a learning experience that you improve from.

    For more career insights and professional development tips, make sure you keep up with the WayUp blog! More

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    8 Ways Talent Professionals Can Drive Business Impact Despite a Hiring Freeze

    Pausing hiring efforts may be necessary for a variety of reasons but talent professionals can still drive business impact. Whether due to missed projections, shifts in funding or shareholder priorities, or even a global pandemic, a hiring freeze sometimes means cuts to recruiting and TA teams.

    This doesn’t have to be the case. This hiring freeze may be a golden opportunity for TA and recruiting teams to pivot to other projects, assist other internal teams, or focus on new initiatives.

    Related: How to Improve Job Security During an Economic Downturn: Career Advice for Recruiters

    There are ways to use this time to start strategic projects that positively impact business with your insight and skill set, even when you are not hiring. Here are the top 8 things you can do to drive business impact and set yourself up for success after a hiring freeze is lifted.

    1. Keep your existing pipeline warm

    If a hiring freeze was unexpected, you might have candidates in your interviewing pipeline you need to notify. Sharing your hiring status (and the status of their application and candidacy) will require a balance of transparency and empathy. Let candidates in your pipeline know a hiring freeze is taking place. Offer a tentative timeline of when your team foresees hiring to pick up again. Assure them that you or your team will follow up with updates. Those are the best ways to retain your candidate pipeline while keeping the conversation and their interest warm.

    2. Engage internal employees

    During a hiring freeze, recruiters can work closely with the People Team to engage internal employees. Turnover is an aspect of people management that HR teams work to estimate, prevent, or lower. HR partners with talent acquisition teams to incorporate turnover into recruiting goals. Despite a hiring pause, turnover typically continues as expected or might even increase depending on the state of the business and company morale.

    By partnering with the larger People Ops Team, recruiting can support at-risk employees the team identifies and engage different populations to help retain and re-spark their passion for the company. In addition, working closely with company executives to be transparent about business strategy moving forward is especially crucial during this time as a means of supporting your team.

    3. Get involved with other business initiatives

    Lend your time and expertise to more teams and get creative with how to advocate for the company in new ways. Need some inspo?

    Hired’s Senior Internal Recruiter, Jules Grondin, pivoted to immerse herself in launching new initiatives. To support fellow recruiters and individuals in Talent Acquisition, Jules helped establish Hired’s Tech Recruitment Collective. Recognizing that Talent Acquisition is at the heart of building great teams, the collective connects these professionals with Hired’s extensive network of companies actively hiring TA talent.

    Another recent initiative is Hired’s Candidate Credit Program. To address a candidate supply and demand imbalance, Hired offered companies the opportunity to refer candidates in their ATS to Hired in exchange for credits to use on future Hired services and solutions.

    Brainstorm new ways to involve yourself in other aspects of the business. Reach out to other teams or colleagues to collaborate!

    4. Focus on employer branding

    A hiring freeze might create a negative perception of how the business is doing. To remain proactive, consider refreshing your employer brand strategy as a lever toward getting ahead of any negative misconceptions and attracting top talent when you open roles and resume interviewing. A company’s brand can be aspirational. Positioning your employer brand through thought leadership, company initiatives, and values helps build a relatable narrative that your company should be known for.

    Despite a hiring freeze, don’t hit the brakes on sharing your company’s forward momentum. For distributed teams, a great example would be to amplify ways your team creatively adapted to remote work, approached collaboration, and remained diligent about fostering company culture to maintain a healthy work-life balance.  

    Also, consider encouraging happy and engaged employees on your team to become promoters of the business. This supports a spirit of pride, ownership, and advocacy for the great work your company is doing! Aligning your employees with company and employer branding can turn your team into brand ambassadors to their network. This offers interested candidates a view of your company that goes beyond corporate branding and marketing but a more personal look into the employee experience from a peer.

    5. Optimize recruiting process

    Taking a step back from the ins and outs of your recruiting process will help you see areas to revise and make more efficient. Recruiting teams can take the time to evaluate many areas of their process from application to offer acceptance. This goes not just for efficiency but to assure the process promotes an excellent candidate experience. For instance, going through the application for an open role from a candidate’s perspective could flag hurdles in the process that candidates would experience. This includes complications with your ATS, resume upload issues, or LinkedIn profile integration errors.

    Beyond this, there are various areas of the recruiting process that teams can evaluate, including:

    Streamlining processes in your ATS to increase data cleanliness

    Evaluating your application to improve completion rates

    Updating the careers page and job descriptions to align with talent branding

    Evaluating the recruiting funnel for biases and exclusive language

    Diving into recruiting metrics, including outreach to lead conversion rates, rejection reasons, time to offer, time to hire, etc.

    Evaluating recruiting or sourcing tools

    Related: How to Secure Approval for New Tech Tools (Free Template)

    6. Invest in training hiring team members

    Having downtime from sourcing and interviewing offers the opportunity to evaluate your process and train your interviewers. For recruiting and talent acquisition team members, training or taking certification courses can advance the team’s recruiting strategy and overall professional development. In addition, training hiring managers (and other team members who participate in interviews) around efficiencies your team has made in your recruiting process aligns everyone to best represent the company when conducting interviews.

    7. Ensure your recruiting process is inclusive 

    Now more than ever, companies are being examined for their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond public statements and surface-level efforts. The public and their workforce evaluate them based on their executive leadership team and how they conduct business day-to-day. As it relates to hiring, take the time to ensure your recruiting process is inclusive to all candidates who may apply and interview in the future. Consider everything from the verbiage in job descriptions to the logistics of how to best conduct an interview.

    This is also a great opportunity for teams to undergo unconscious bias training. This ensures recruiters and interviewers accurately represent company values during interviews and champion an inclusive hiring process.

    Related: Diversity features on Hired

    Unconscious biases may present themselves at any point, even with something as simple as seeing the full name of a candidate on their resume. For example, a person’s name can implicate their sex, ethnicity, and fluency and literacy in English. This can lead to a member of the interviewing team building stereotypes around the candidate without having met or spoken with them. Evaluate your recruitment and interview processes from beginning to end with potential biases in mind. It can help eliminate additional and unnecessary barriers to entry for qualified talent.

    8. Develop a recruiting plan

    As your team anticipates when a hiring freeze could lift, having a recruiting plan will ensure the team is ready to begin sourcing and interviewing again. Connect with your hiring managers to identify and prioritize roles that are an immediate need post-freeze. As the time gets closer, preliminary sourcing and pipelining quality candidates is a proactive way to get a preview into the active candidate market for these high-priority positions.

    In addition, you can begin to review organic applicants and put your feelers out to your existing pipeline to reignite that interest. Lastly, consider working closely with leadership. Establish a tentative timeline so the team can effectively plan their work and OKRs for the coming months. 

    Regardless of the hiring pace, skilled talent professionals drive impact throughout the organization

    Hiring freezes illicit thoughts of uncertainty for many people within a company and for those who are applying. Despite that, a freeze in hiring doesn’t mean that business strategy and talent teams are on a freeze too. Recruiting and talent acquisition teams offer value to the business beyond sourcing and interviewing. When times call for their main priorities to pause, it offers an opportunity to grow together and invest in team members. Talent professionals are incredible partners to drive impact while building a strong company. More

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    in Career Hacks

    The Ideal Side Hustle You Can Do Where You Want, When You Want

    Over the past few years, the work-from-home industry has undergone incredible growth with numerous companies shifting to partly or fully remote operations. With this change, a lot of opportunities have opened up for college students looking for part-time jobs and individuals looking for side hustles. However, the rise of all these opportunities has also led to a crowded job market that has left job seekers directionless looking for the right fit.

    As a company that helps thousands of young professionals find jobs, we’ve been able to identify the makings of great remote job opportunities. During our search, we came across Appen, a machine intelligence company, and its Yukon Raters program.

    As a Search Engine Evaluator within Appen’s Yukon Raters program, you are responsible for rating the quality of web pages and the relevance of search results. Undertaking any number of tasks such as rating automated voices, determining what topics are central and secondary to what a given web page is about, and more, being a Yukon Rater allows you to work at any time and from anywhere you have a computer with internet access

    Recently, we spoke with a few former Yukon Raters who were recently promoted within the company to Quality Analysts. In our conversations with them, we learned that the flexibility, the engaging material, the impact of their work, and their ability to grow professionally at the company all contributed to Yukon Raters being the perfect part-time, work-from-home job.

    Set Your Own Schedule

    As a college student or professional looking for a part-time gig, being able to set your own schedule is a very rare, but sought-after feature. At Appen, you are able to work at any time of day on any day of the week! The work is always there so you can log in and log off when you choose.

    While there is a minimum amount of hours you must work, you are still able to complete tasks on your own schedule.

    There’s so much that opened up for me because the work is literally there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I was able to take a last-minute trip in 2017 to Japan because the schedule was so flexible. Another instance was when my mother had some health problems and I was able to travel in order to provide care for my family without missing work. I have worked in hospitals, restaurants, and even in a car. For me, it’s just allowed me to really do what I want while earning a living.
    Laura James, Quality Analyst*

    Chelsea Mitchell, another long-time Yukon Rater turned Quality Analyst, said the flexibility of her schedule allowed her to pursue another job at the same time.

    The hours were very flexible. You could work as much as you want as long as you don’t go over a certain amount of hours each week. You could even work in the middle of the night from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM if you wanted. It was great because I was able to have my other job with the set schedule and then just work around that. I could work on the weekends, I could work three days a week, I could work five days a week, just as long as I met the minimum and didn’t go over the maximum.
    Chelsea Mitchell, Quality Analyst

    The ability to manage your own time as a Yukon Rater gives people the freedom to pursue other goals in life, both professional and personal.

    Learn About Interesting Stuff

    Another thing that makes the Yukon Rater position so sought after is the fact that the material you’re looking into is engaging and oftentimes never the same. Due to the nature of the job, having to examine different websites and different types of content, you are exposed to a wide expanse of information. This keeps the job fresh and new!

    I think it’s a job where it’s really difficult to get bored. We’re researching different types of information and content that you get to learn about through the process of rating. You get to learn about all different kinds of topics whether it’s cultural things, current events, or cool science stuff. So I think that that helps to keep it really interesting.
    Elizabeth Parker, Quality Analyst*

    For Elizabeth, she was really interested in politics. So for her, getting paid to read about topics that she finds interesting has been more than ideal!

    It wasn’t really a boring job at all and I was always learning something. There was a lot of diversity in the tasks that we would get in our queues every day. You never kind of knew what you’re gonna be working on so it was really cool in that regard.
    Susan Garret, Quality Analyst*

    While the work the Yukon Raters were doing was enjoyable and engaging, it was just as much impactful to the digital world and the billions of users who occupy it.

    You’re Making the Digital World a Better Place

    The main goal of the Yukon Rater is to make searching the web a better experience. While this has to do with assessing the accuracy and relativity of web pages and search results, it also has to do with making sure no offensive or harmful material is present. 

    For example, this might have to do with a Yukon Rater flagging a children’s YouTube video because it has inappropriate content in it or a rater flagging a blog for containing offensive language. 

    One responsibility of ours has to do with offensive-type tasks. One of the big things was trying to weed out upsetting or offensive videos on YouTube. We would also examine videos and pages to make sure there was no porn or racist material which is really important. It’s a rewarding job because I did think we were making a difference. Everyone wants to have a pleasant internet browsing experience and we are helping facilitate that.
    Laura James, Quality Analyst*

    The Internet is a place full of endless information and opportunity, but it also has some shady and dark places. Luckily, there are people like Laura and the rest of the Yukon Raters keeping the website clean and free of offensive material.

    We’re definitely helping to make search a better experience for users and that’s something to take a lot of pride in. Everybody uses search, so it’s exciting to be a part of what’s making that better.
    Susan Garret, Quality Analyst*

    Ability to Grow Within the Company

    During your work as a Yukon Rater, you get the opportunity to grow your skills in a number of ways. Whether it’s research skills, data and analytics muscles, communication abilities, or general knowledge, being a Yukon Rater is just as good for your resume as it is for conversation at a dinner party.

    However, Appen and their Yukon Raters program also help you grow your professional career as well. All of the Appen employees we spoke with were former Yukon Raters that are now full-time with Appen working as Quality Analysts who, in addition to other job functions, oversee the raters.

    While Appen wants their employees to enjoy the liberties of their incredibly flexible and lucrative Yukon Raters job, they also want to encourage and enable employees to grow within the company. While Raters are invited to become Quality Analysts, they are also encouraged to reach out to management if interested in the position. More often than not, management will give you the tools you need to make it to that level!

    So if you’re looking for a part-time, work-from-home job that allows you to work when you want, learn about interesting topics, make an impact on the world, and grow yourself professionally, be sure to check out Appen and their Yukon Raters program.

    Start browsing open roles at Appen today!

    *Names of employees have been changed* More

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    Day in The Life of an Investment Analyst at Insight Partners

    The private equity and venture capital space is one of the most exciting and dynamic industries to work in. So much so, that job descriptions often fall short of capturing the incredible opportunities and fulfilling work that professionals get to do.

    This being the case, those who want to pursue a career in PE and VC don’t always have a clear picture of what it looks like. To shed some light on what a career in investing entails, we spoke with a pair of former analysts and current associates at global software investor Insight Partners about their day-to-day work. Insight Partners invests in high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries

    Sourcing

    Analysts are responsible for identifying new investment opportunities in the form of businesses and products, or what’s known in the industry as “sourcing.” At Insight Partners, analysts look to source promising companies in a variety of software subsectors such as FinTech, HealthTech, cybersecurity and more.

    Simply put, sourcing is the active process of identifying and evaluating potential investment prospects. The actual undertaking of that can consist of anything from market research and referrals to outreach and pitching. What’s so enjoyable about this part of the job is the excitement surrounding the discovery of a new business or opportunity that no one has come across before!

    Talking to Founders

    A big part of sourcing is talking to founders and executives. As an analyst, you’re given the opportunity to speak directly with these founders as they share what oftentimes is their life work, and something they have built from the ground up. In addition, being able to speak with some of the smartest subject matter experts across a variety of industries and sectors presents analysts with a massive opportunity to grow and learn about different technologies and domains.

    Zack went on to say how thought-provoking it is to listen to someone sharing the most interesting things that they know—things that might have taken them years to find out, test, or hypothesize. For Zack, having access to that kind of information and learning more about the world are what he really loved about being an analyst. 

    Becoming a Market Expert

    Although talking to founders is a crucial aspect of being an analyst, it is just one of many levers pulled on the track to becoming a market expert. Analysts also need to be well-versed and informed on particular markets in order to evaluate the potential of a business. While much of this is done by individual research, the analysts at Insight Partners have the opportunity to learn from those around them, which makes for an incredible culture of learning and development for all.

    For Ana Hugener, the Onsite Diligence & Growth Strategy team and the broader Insight Onsite team were two of the biggest influences to her becoming a market expert. The Insight Onsite team is made up of 140+ operational experts who work side-by-side with Insight’s portfolio companies in the key functional areas of a software company, including talent, sales, marketing, product, engineering and strategy. Onsite’s different Centers of Excellence mirror these company functions.

    These Centers of Excellence allow analysts the opportunity to grow in a variety of fields while also setting themselves up for future opportunities.

    Diligence

    While becoming a market expert is crucial for sourcing, it is equally as important for conducting diligence. The end-to-end diligence for new investment opportunities can consist of talking to founders about what they are building, telling them about Insight Partners, learning about markets, and more. Whether that’s looking at the model, the customer data, the competitive landscape or talking to customers, analysts at even the most junior level are given the opportunity to get involved.

    In our conversations with Ana and Zack, one thing they made clear about diligence is how much Insight allows entry-level and junior-level employees to get involved. Right from the get-go, analysts are making lasting impacts and contributions to the firm and their portfolio companies.

    Meaningful Work with Meaningful Companies

    Whether it’s sourcing, diligence, or portfolio work, one of the most gratifying aspects of working as an analyst at Insight Partners is the opportunity to do meaningful work with companies that make a difference. 

    After meeting with these successful analysts, it became clear that the software and technology industry is an incredibly fascinating and ever-expanding industry. This being the case, there is no shortage of interesting companies to work with.

    For Zack, his favorite portfolio company that he’s worked with sells software to pharmaceutical companies to help with clinical trials. The software allows the companies to simulate parts of the clinical trial process so that they can get FDA approval for drugs faster. For Zack, this meant he was helping a company that might be responsible for getting life-saving medications and drugs to market faster. This was an incredibly fulfilling opportunity in his day-to-day work as an analyst.

    For Ana, her favorite companies to work with were startups that were early on in their growth journey. Ana claimed that these companies are so interesting to work with because of all the questions that still need to be answered and the opportunity to have a real impact on the success of a business. For Ana, growing something from these early stages is what made the analyst role so appealing for her.

    Whether it’s sourcing, talking to founders, becoming a market expert, doing diligence, or making meaningful impacts on businesses, the work of an analyst at Insight Partners is an unbounded position with infinite potential. If you’re interested in a role where you can launch your career in private equity and venture capital, check out some of Insight Partners’ open roles today. More

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    in Career Hacks

    How Two Engineers Found Success with Klaviyo and Their Boston-Based Experience

    When you think of an ideal internship, what comes to mind? Do you think of a sprawling office space in a big city? Maybe you imagine rooms filled with massive whiteboards and colleagues sharing ideas and making moves? Or maybe, you think of an ideal internship as a place where everyone is friends as much as they are colleagues with a fantastic work-life culture?

    If you answered yes to any of those questions, then the Boston-based e-commerce marketing automation platform, Klaviyo, may be the place for you. Their summer engineering internship is a dynamic opportunity for aspiring engineers to find their footing in the industry and get a taste of the local tech scene in the Northeast. 

    We decided to sit down with a couple of Klaviyo engineers, one of whom started as an intern, to find out what it is that makes the program so special. In our conversations with them, we discovered that the hands-on work, vibrant office space, and incredible culture at Klaviyo helped make their internship experience memorable, and their work today as engineers so satisfying.

    Building Real World Applications

    Everyone we spoke to at Klaviyo agreed that part of what makes Klaviyo’s engineering internship unique is that interns get to work on things that have real business applications and problem-solutions for the company. Klaviyo’s goal for their interns is that by the end of the summer, they will have a project they worked on where they can really see their contributions taking hold.

    Maya Nigrin, a former intern and now senior software engineer, recounted how these very real engineering endeavors and projects made her feel like she was progressing in her career.

    Maya went on to share that never felt like she was being treated like an intern or somebody that didn’t know what they were doing. The fact that she was trusted to write code, do a good job, and take on difficult projects gave her the confidence needed to grow herself both as an engineer and early career professional.

    A Vibrant Office Space

    One of the biggest headlines over the past few years at Klaviyo is without a doubt the arrival of their downtown Boston office. With multiple floors fitted with everything from coffee, beer, and snack bars, a large outdoor balcony/terrace, open format workspaces, and even arcade games, ping pong, and shuffleboard, there is little that the sprawling office space doesn’t offer.

    In our conversation with Dmitry Mamyrin, a veteran engineer with tons of experience in the industry, he remarked on how much he enjoyed the layout and overall aesthetic of the space.

    Definitely not a bad view to have while writing some code or working on a project!

    Keeping a Level Head

    For Dmitry Mamyrin, it was the way in which his fellow colleagues dealt with high-intensity situations that made him admire the culture so much. Referring to a problem he and his team were addressing, Dmitry remarked that “everyone was so cool-headed during the event.” It made him realize how much he wanted to be a part of a culture with people who, “think critically and seriously, but don’t freak out and continue the process when out-of-the-ordinary events occur.” From our conversations with Dmitry and Maya we could tell that they are impassioned engineers who work alongside a cohort of similarly passionate colleagues who love what they do and the customers they do it for.

    As Klaviyo continues to grow, so too does its summer engineering internship and the opportunity it affords everyone who participates in it. For more information on Klaviyo and internship application details head over to their company profile today! More