Interactive Website Lands Job

Shaan tells a story about how he landed a job at Monkey Inferno by creating a unique website application instead of sending a traditional resume.

"When I moved to Silicon Valley, I applied to two jobs: Stripe and Monkey Inferno. For Monkey Inferno, I didn't send in a resume - I made a website. I wrote an email saying 'Hey Michael, I'm applying for the product manager role, and even though I have none of the qualifications you're looking for, let me explain why I'm the man for the job.'

Rather than add a resume to the stack, I made a website specifically about why I should work at Monkey Inferno. I had a skills chart where I included stuff I wasn't good at - like hard work was 40%, I admitted I was kind of lazy and couldn't force myself to do things I don't love. In the interview, someone asked why I would apply for a job and write that my hard work isn't high, and I had a whole explanation ready.

The CEO later told me, 'If you hadn't done that website, there's no way we would have hired you because on paper you had literally none of the qualifications we were looking for. But that website was really cool, it was unique, nobody else had done something like that, and it made us feel like we had to talk to this guy.' That's what got me the job in the end."