SpaceX Resume

[cole-maclean]

Hi everyone, I've made an online resume at http://www.spacexresume.appspot.com in an attempt to get a position at SpaceX. I'm posting it here looking for any comments or advice you guys might have and to use you as a resource to help my chances. It may also help in the off chance the right person sees it and likes it.

A couple comments: 1. I've intentionally broken some links to content I don't want posted in this version 2. Part of me is nervous about posting this to the wild. I've copied SpaceX's base webpage without explicit permission, but my intentions are good and believe it's an innocent use of their source code. If some of you disagree, I'll take it down. 3. If anyone works/knows anyone that works at SpaceX, feel free to put in a good word for me =) Thanks everyone, -Cole

[runjake]

As logn mentioned, the images look like they were done in 1995. I'd go so far as to say the entire website looks very antiquated.

Also, don't use online slang like "tl;dr". It took me years to figure out what that actually meant. We're not all on Reddit. In fact, the inclusion of such slang in a professional document biases me into thinking you'd probably spend a good portion of your work day on Reddit.

Better alternatives for "tl;dr" are "summary", "synopsis", "overview", etc.

You mention that you know a lot of the site and its contents sucks. You should have cleaned all this up before posting it to HN, as that would probably be the short window in time where someone with SpaceX would see it. Don't publish half-ass work.

[cole-maclean]

Okay that's fair, sounds like a better path to go would be to make an entirely updated website.

Hahaha, you're right, I'll change the slang.

The link content is broken on purpose, and I think the About Me section is weak, but I don't consider this half-assed. Maybe I posted this prematurely, but I did want to get a sense of peoples opinions and advice. And I'm glad people are giving me honest advice. I'm getting the sense that it's simply not good enough, which I think is better to find out now from you guys other then a rejection letter from SpaceX.

Really appreciate the comments.

[ameister14]

You need to have someone edit your copy. 'Your Motivation Statement' is a huge jumble. I know you're excited but calmly examine why you want to work for SpaceX and then, when you're done, get someone good at editing to read it through for you and rip it apart.

This is a first draft, that's why he said it was half-assed.

Your final version shouldn't have any obvious mistakes at all. You're applying to work for a SPACESHIP company. Details are incredibly important.

example: "Each section of this website will start with a TL;DR to summarize the content of that page. Fell free to have a look around!"

TL;FR, Fell, and !. You're writing something that should actually be fairly formal. Don't use exclamation points. Fell is a typo. There should be no spelling errors or typos. TL;DR was covered.

Not trying to break you down, just trying to tell you this shit really matters.

[cole-maclean]

You're absolutely right. Don't worrying, you're not breaking me down, it's all valid and solid advice. Sounds like I got too excited in both my motivation statement and posting the site. I've diabled the site, but hopefully I can take all the comments here and post a nearly final version.

[runjake]

> but I did want to get a sense of peoples opinions and advice

You have to realize HN is a very public place with an audience from extremely diverse places. You can guarantee someone from SpaceX has already laid eyes on your website and this thread.

[cole-maclean]

Okay, I've clearly jumped the gun here. I'm going to take it down, but I really appreciate everyone’s comments. I'm glad that I can use the advice I've already received here, and use it to make a final draft that might be more appropriate to post.

Thanks everyone.

[yodakohl]

SpaceX has a very clear description how to apply http://www.spacex.com/careers.php. They offer the possibility to inculde a videolink, thats definitely a chance to stand out. Depending on the position your applying for you may have to work on very critical szenarios. Try to give your application the level of perfection a mission critical component would require. Also consider SpaceX probably recieves hundreds of applications. It may be better to stricly follow their guidelines in order to keep their application system efficient.

[cole-maclean]

I think that's a valid point. My plan was to upload a conventional CV, but have the opening line refer to the website. I'll work on the perfection part. Thanks for the tips.

[sgpl]

clickable: http://www.spacexresume.appspot.com

Also, your linkedin profile says you are in Canada. I hope for your sake that you're a US Citizen; otherwise you won't be able to work at SpaceX.

[logn]

Your tl;dr on About Me is 20%+ of the text that follows.

Your images are dithered like it's 1995.

This all feels a bit cheesey. I'd just make a general homepage for yourself with a blog page. Invest in your own domain name. Also, mimic the style of modern web pages (not SpaceX). Take your News to Me stories and make a fuller blog post for each one. Omit the dates so it doesn't look like you put this together in a day. Maybe add some physics/space/engineering posts too.

Further, blatantly copying the SpaceX homepage is a foolish move. One, instead of calling you for an interview, their legal department might send you a stern letter. And two, it looks a bit desperate. You should be an all around brilliant person in high demand for jobs, not someone spending a week thinking how to weasel your way into an interview for one company.

[cole-maclean]

Perfect. Thanks for taking the time to go through the site.

I agree my About Me section kinda sucks. I was thinking I would use this space to incorporate sfretchling's suggestions.

It's too bad it comes off as cheesy, I was more hoping it would come off as showing that I dedicated the time and effort to put this together specifically for SpaceX.

The News to Me section is integrated into Pockets API, so updates whenever I add content to it, but I like the idea of writing my own blog post on the content. Sorry, which dates? I do have physics/space/engineering, just hasn't been an article worth saving recently, but I could control that under what I favorite so I'll be sure to tweak that.

Thanks for your opinion on how copying the website would come off. My intentions were simply to bring my resume to SpaceX in a familiar and customized-to-them manner, but understand that it might not come off that way.

It's also too bad that it seems like I'm trying to weasel anything. I'm certainly not desperate for a job, but am crazy interested in the things SpaceX is doing and it sounds like such a fun group to work with.

I do really appreciate your thoughtful comments. Regardless of how it works out, I've learned a lot and it's been a fun way to build my first web app.

[blockjack]

While I don't think they'd be so heavy handed, I do agree that lifting content directly from their website and using it as part of your application probably wont give the best first impression. Also it looks like you're using a standard web palette in your GIFs which is causing the ugly dithering effect.

[cole-maclean]

Okay awesome, thanks for the tips blockjack.

[sfrechtling]

That's an interesting idea! The major point I would make is that it isn't clear why you want to work at SpaceX - the only point that alludes to it is that you want to work there because "Mastering space is one of the toughest challenges this generation will work on, and I want to be a part of that challenge from the beginning by working for one of the first private companies to tackle it"

Secondly - I'm not quite sure what you want to do at SpaceX; you haven't really defined your value to the company. If you want some further points email: seb [at] xtextx [dot] com. I used to work as a recruiter.

[cole-maclean]

Awesome. I'll try to better communicate why SpaceX is the company I want to work for. Specifying where I see myself working and adding value is a great idea, thanks sfrechtling.

[sfrechtling]

Good luck!

[drstewart]

Don't you have to be a US citizen/permanent resident?