The new playbook to get hired as a designer
文章目录
The old ways of getting a job stopped working...
So one designer came up with a novel approach that landed him multiple job offers.
And he did it without any applications, cover letters, or famous logos to lean on.
Here’s exactly what Jason Marsh did 👇
Jason Marsh (designer at LiveKit)
Stop playing the wrong game
Too many designers are still following old playbooks:
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Open a job board and apply to everything that vaguely fits
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Use AI-apply tools to maximize your reach
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Wait for companies to respond (most likely using AI to help them filter through the flood of applications)
Jason's new playbook: spearfishing
Some context on Jason: He’s not a big-time designer on Twitter with a lot of followers, and he hasn’t worked at companies you’d recognise.
But he’s exactly the type of designer every startup is trying to hire. He’s a curious tinkerer and someone who loves building prototypes.
When he was ready for a new role, he decided to channel some of this tinkerer energy into his job search.
“I was already working on side projects, and I thought: why don’t I just focus my energy on this job search and do the same kind of thing?”
He picks a handful of companies that align with his interests. In his case it was video and audio-editing AI startups.
“That was an easy one, because I have a background with media editing and I’m currently working on AI.”
Before doing anything else, he studies them like it’s his job.
*“I’ll take screenshots, throw them into Figma, and recreate what they have right now. I’ll stare at it and observe what kinds of problems I see in the interface.” *
He immerses himself in their product deeply.
Then he ships a working prototype that rebuilds a slice of their product making sure to sweat one tiny detail, something that AI wouldn’t be able to one-shot.
Finally, he sends it straight to the hiring manager at the companies he’s interested in.
The impact of spearfishing
Jason was already deploying his playbook by the time I scouted him through Decimals (which is the company powering the Dive Talent Network).
He continued sending his prototypes even after being introduced to hiring managers.
Here’s a real screenshot from a startup we introduced him to:
Real hiring manager reaction
*“After sending my prototype, we got into deep conversations working together. I felt like I already knew their product, and they already knew my work. We simply got in front of a whiteboard and started noodling on ideas immediately”
Here’s where I’d like to tell you Jason ended up hired by this startup and they all lived happily ever after.
Of course, life never works out like that 😅
But he did receive multiple interview requests on Decimals and had several job offers to choose from (eventually accepting an offer from LiveKit 🎉).
Their head of design, Matt Herzog, describes him as someone with “the tinkerer and hacker background” which is high praise indeed.
The spearfishing playbook:
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Pick 3-5 companies Ones you’re genuinely excited about.
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Write your why One honest sentence linking your “why” to theirs.
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Create a prototype A working rebuild of a slice of their product.
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Sweat one small detail Something that shows you care deeply.
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Send it before they ask Make it something they can’t ignore.
*“Be specific, hyper specific. Don’t cast a wide net. Know what you want, go for it, make yourself impossible to ignore, and just put energy into the process”
- *Jason Marsh
Now a note for hiring managers
The old game of job boards is over.
A lot of the companies we work with refuse to make their jobs public to avoid this flood of inbound applications 🤖
If you’re fortunate enough to have a designer sending you a prototype, count yourself lucky.
If you want to make it easier for these thoughtful designers to land in your inbox: ping me or join the Dive Talent Network.
