Hired! — Sam tells us about Freelancer
Hi Sam :)
First off, we think its pretty cool that you found your job via Unicorn Hunt, shows we doing something right! Can you tell us how you heard about the site?
I’ve worked for a couple of startups in recent years so Unicorn Hunt was frequently mentioned as a great jobs board for tech startup jobs. I always keep an eye on it for new roles when i’m job hunting, and this time it proved to be well worth it!
What do you like about UH and how does it compare to other job boards?
Other than the excellent use of emojis…
It’s a really simple interface which allows job hunters to quickly see new roles available, categorised by job type. Much more user friendly than many other job boards out there.
And you landed a job with Freelancer! What was the process like once you made your application?
It was just a one off 5 hour interview, which sounds like an ordeal but it flew by and I was glad to have a single long assessment rather than a long process dragged out over several weeks. I received an offer the next day, and really appreciated the quick turnaround time.
What is it you like about working at Freelancer?
Freelancer is really data driven company, so there’s a big effort to use data to back up your opinions and new feature ideas with data that proves your case. So rather than working for weeks on a feature just because management told you to do so, we’re encouraged to come up with new product ideas supported by the existing user data, and then A/B test it on release to ensure it’s a positive improvement. Because of this no one feels like wasting their time on a new feature, and we regularly see some great results in the end.
How did you know it was the right job for you?
I’d been really keen to make a move from project management into product management for a while, but felt that my lack of direct experience as a product manager would hinder me from joining most product management roles. Freelancers role didn’t require direct product management experience and instead looked for a general awareness of product concepts, the web, algorithms, security and SQL — thankfully all things I had experience in previously. The fact that Freelancer were open minded in their search for the role and didn’t just look for experienced product managers told me a lot about the kind of company they would be like to join.
Additionally the London office is pretty small (10 people currently) but runs almost like a startup, largely independent from the HQ in Sydney. This really appealed to me, and unlike many startups Freelancer has the advantage of being a listed company on the Australian stock exchange and so is a lot more stable than many London startups.
Job Hunting is hard work — what is your best bit of advice to others on the hunt for the dream position?
If you find the a role you really like the look of, make sure to write a short tailored cover letter (even if it’s bullet points of why you’re a good fit) and tailor you CV as much as possible to the role. I had various different versions of my CV prepared during my last job hunt and would use a different CV depending on the type of role I was applying for. Unfortunately the standard one-cv-fits-all approach can mean you’re much more likely to end up in the “rejected” pile.
Do you have any life long ambitions? We’d love to hear about them no matter how wild or wacky!
I’m looking forward to the next wave of technological revolution and the possibilities it will bring. I’d love a chance to work in (or set up) a cutting edge AI/robotics startup some day!
Well thank you Sam and good luck with it all :)
__________________________________________________________________Sam Fitzpatrick has also written some useful blogs on his website so be sure to check that out, and if you’re looking for a emoji fuelled job finding experience head on over to Unicorn Hunt.
