Welcome to the latest issue of The Commons digest!
This is our bi-weekly round-up of community news, relevant content and anything that can help us level up together.
As always, reach out if you have any feedback or if you’d like anything featured in here.
Now onto the update 👇
Insight We're Pondering 💭
One of the biggest quirks of the tech recruiting market is that often the smartest candidates are the ones who self-select out of a job application.
We've all experienced some version of the following:
You receive a LinkedIn notification that your dream company is hiring. The opening is for that BizOps, Product, Strategy or Growth function you've been wanting to move into. You scan the job description and realize that the scope of the role is EXACTLY the type of work you want to do. Your heart beats with excitement as you think of all the amazing things you could help this team accomplish...
... until you notice that the job posting requires a very specific set of past work experiences. Ones that you don't have 😤
99% of candidates will simply close the window and never apply. The tragic part? Many of them would have been perfect for the role.
Like all employers, tech companies use past experience as a proxy for transferrable skills. What most people don't know is that they are *much* more open than traditional employers to the possibility that you possess the right skill set, even without that prior experience.
During our Tech Discovery Weekend conference a few weeks ago, The Commons mentor Si Jia walked through how you can still demonstrate the right *skills* even if you don't necessarily have directly applicable experience. A case interview, for example, is a great opportunity to showcase how you tackle problems.
Check out her advice here.
One corollary is that you shouldn't self-select out of the process. Take it from The Commons mentor Wafic who gave similar advice to our January Core Sprinters a few weeks ago:
The Commons Spotlight 💡
Today we’re featuring Ally Bashir, an exceptional operator and leader who is currently Director of Operations & Customer Success at Snapcommerce, a scale-up that uses AI to provide personalized shopping experiences over messaging channels (SMS, Messenger, etc.)
Ally is also a mentor here at The Commons, where she has had an incredible impact on the careers of many mentees. One of the ways she has helped folks is by taking a genuine interest in their career development and helping them understand what types of projects excite them.
In that vein, she was kind enough to sit down with us and share what her role is like, including the types of projects that she is personally excited about. You should absolutely give the article a read if you’ve ever asked yourself what a rewarding project as a business professional in tech might look like. You can check it out here.
🪂 New Sprint Drop 🪂
We're dropping a new Sprint in April: Revenue Growth
We're giving early access to community members and The Commons Insiders (that means you!).
The Commons mentors Angelina (Product at Wealthsimple) and Si Jia (Product, Crypto at Revolut) have created the Sprint to get you up to speed on what you need to know to succeed at early-stage FinTech companies, in roles at the intersection of BizOps & Product.This Sprint is for you if:
- You’re interested in working at an early-stage company where you’ll sit at the intersection of BizOps & Product
- You want to learn the ins and outs of FinTech orgs and levers to drive revenue growth
- You’re keen to work on top-line growth (revenue) vs bottom-line efficiencies (costs)
Like all Sprints, applications are first-come, first-served. We're opening applications publicly next week, so apply now to secure your spot 👇
Applications Are Open: Product Ops Sprint 🚀
Our Product Operations Sprint is back by popular demand!
You'll be coached by mentors like Wafic El-Assi (Product Ops at Uber Eats) and Marco Chan (Product Ops at Shopify) to get up to speed on what you need to know to succeed in Product Ops roles and level up to nail an interview.
This Sprint is great for:
- People looking to land roles like Product Operations Manager or Product Manager
- Recent Product Operations Manager recruits who want to hit the ground running
- Strategy & Operations Managers who work cross-functionally with Product Ops and who want to learn how to work more effectively with them
Curious to learn more about careers in Product Operations? Listen to our interview with Camila Gargantini, a Senior Product Operations Manager at Oyster.The Product Operations Sprint kicks off on April 25th. Spots are limited and first-come, first-served, so you should apply ASAP if you're at all interested.Apply Now - Product OperationsQuestions? We've got you covered. Just reply to this email and we'll be glad to help.
Events @ The Commons 🗓
- Monday March 21st: We kicked off the March cohort of the Strategic Finance Sprint! Welcome to our new StratFin Sprinters 💸
- Tuesday March 22nd: We kicked off the March cohort of the Product Strategy Sprint! Welcome to our new ProdStrat Sprinters 🎯
- Saturday March 26th: We're kicking off the March cohort of our Core Sprint! We're so excited to welcome our new Core Sprinters into The Commons community 💚
- Wednesday March 30th: We're hosting our very first Web3 company showcase with Maple Finance and CyberConnect ✨
- The growth seen across the Crypto industry has been astounding. Naturally, high achieving business professionals are interested in learning more about up-and-coming startups in web3 and crypto. We're here to introduce you to two promising startups, their founding teams and the types of business roles they're hiring for so you can put your best foot forward. This event is open to community members and The Common Insiders (that's you if you're receiving this newsletter!).
- Register 👉 HERE.
#community-wins 🥇
We celebrated several hiring announcements and promotions!
- Bruce Reid joined Weedmaps as a Senior Financial Analyst 📍
- Rosemary Williamson was promoted to Senior Manager of Marketing Operations at Volta Charging 🔌
- Wendy Wen joined Ivee as Director of Operations 🖥
- Gabriela Martinez-Moure joined the Customer Success team at Canal 🤝
- Drayton D'Silva joined Paysail as Head of Operations ⛵️
- Kareem Azees joined Scratchpad as Sr. Manager of Growth Marketing 📈
- Hershel Caywood III joined Uber on the Strategy & Ops team 🚗
Please be sure to reach out with a word or two of congratulations on Slack!
One (Community) Thing 🏀
We've just opened a new channel in The Commons Slack community - #sports!
we've also nominated 3 community members who've been incredibly vocal on all things #sports on Slack over the last year to be this channel's co-captains 😎
Big thanks to our community members who are keeping the new channel buzzing for the community: Swapneel Mehta, Fairuz Hoque and Wilford Lam. In true Commons fashion, they've *already* shipped a great initiative: a March Madness bracket!
Community members can join the channel and take part in the fun by heading on over to Slack.
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That’s all for now ✌️ If you’d like to access more news and content before the next update, you can hop on over to Slack.
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See anything your friend might find interesting? Feel free to forward this issue! This community grows stronger and more valuable to everyone in it the more smart people - i.e. folks like you - learn about The Commons. Sign-up to receive all things The Commons right here.
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