KayFabe: The art of selling your job skills, a guide for zoomers.

· 12 min read

TL;DR: mfs with less skills than you are getting the job you want, because your presentation is awful.

First I’d like to thank @tunahorse21 & @zeroruck for all the work they’re doing to help us make it out.

I’ve been on a job hunt for a few weeks now, haphazardly sending CVs and going to interviews unprepared. After seeing the poor results I was getting, I decided to go on a quest to find a more effective approach.

And there it was, KayFabe. For those who don’t know about this, here’s the official definition: In professional wrestling, kayfabe (/ˈkeɪfeɪb/) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as “real” or “true”. You can read more about it here if you want.

I decided to make this article as a reference for all of those who need it. (such as myself)

I put what we’ll call wakeups in between some paragraphs as a way to stress the state of things.

There are some bullet points for your short attention span, and honestly you could get away with reading just that. But you can also find more detailed explanations and examples in the sections under them.

Actionable Ideas

  • Tailor your resume(s) to follow the high score resume format.
  • Have a tight little script, explaining your story in 1-2 mins. (as a reference, be able to answer the question “what’s your deal?” -> video example (do it in a professional way, obviously))
  • Apply to random jobs to upskill your interviewing skills.
  • Have some questions to ask at the end of interviews, it shows that you care.
  • Be yappy. In other words, have an answer to anything.

General Ideas

  • Stop believing in meritocracy, that’s not how the world works.
  • A lot of this is not rational.
  • Believe you can solve any problem, and act like it.
  • Be a social chameleon.
  • Keep the interview conversational. Avoid answering like a robot.
  • Stop being too humble — especially when you know what you’re talking about.

Job Requirements

You have to realize that a lot of people are straight up lying on their resume. So being “too honest” is equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot, it’s like you’re competing against people on steroids and you decide not to take them.

The advice you should derive from this is not to start lying like them, but learn to stretch the truth, sell yourself. Understand that if something is asked of you, and you can do that thing, it effectively qualifies you for the job. Nothing other than that is a real requirement. If you have no formal experience to justify that skill, find a way to fit it in there.

Now in the case where they’re asking for 5 skills and you only have 2 what should you do?

Honestly it really depends on who you are at that point, if you’re a quick learner (as you should be in IT) don’t be scared to put them on there. Do some research on the subject, learn at night, on the weekends and on the job. Don’t disqualify yourself just because you’re not that confident on a particular topic, let THEM tell you no.

wakeup #1: There are people who can barely code, making 6 figures in engineer roles.

If your reasoning is in this style: ”I don’t really know javascript, I shouldn’t say I know react.” All that attitude is gonna get you is, UNEMPLOYMENT.

Create opportunities for yourself to thrive.

If they ask for python, you know python like the back of your hand. If they ask for FastAPI, you’ve been using FastAPI for years, you love it.

Really you’ve gotta ask yourself this. If playing by the rules has only gotten you negative results, why do you keep doing it?

So to recap. Don’t lie, or you’ll get a job you know nothing about and get fired. But please learn to sell yourself!

Resume/CV

Your CV will mostly be viewed by non-technical HR people, so don’t write it like it’s for your friend that’s been writing compilers since 8th grade.

Put all the industry buzzwords on there, make sure to have something that’s easy to read.

Most skills are learned on the job, especially if you’re a junior.

So focus on showcasing your adaptability and that you’re able learn quickly based on the company’s needs.

Instead of saying things like: I’m familiar with google cloud use something in this style: expert in google cloud, had 99% availability

Add a bit of extra oomph to everything on there, inflate your proficiency to match their expectations. Make sure you’re able to back it up though.

So to recap. Add a little extra flavor to everything you’re presenting, add extra buzzwords. Don’t be afraid to be cringy, because the guys who ARE doing it are actually getting the job, unlike you.

Honestly just follow the high score resume format

Phone screening/Interviews

This is the part where your selling really becomes valuable.

You want the recruiter to finish the call thinking I loved talking to him you automatically get a better shot at getting to the next interview. -> be upbeat, engaged, ready to go.

When asked about a technology, language etc… -> hey are you familiar with S3 Buckets? never just say no to that, it’s unacceptable. Even if you don’t know of it you should never answer a question in that way.

A better way to answer it would be I don’t know but let me see how I can figure it out or I’ve done x project that had x similarities and I can apply it to that case.

Even when you don’t know something, you can flip it into a positive, No I haven’t used this but I know projects that use it and a couple people that do. This means you can pick it up easily.

You never want to make them feel like you don’t know how to do something.

Always be positive

You gotta let them know that you’re a doer, you can solve any problem.

When you’re on that call, your job is to solve every problem they put in front of you. No matter what the question is you need to have an answer for it.

You have to be able to talk about the weather, sports or whatever. They like to do that sometimes.

These people are just the first pass of a vibe check, you usually don’t need to explain anything crazy technical here.

You have to be able to quickly present yourself, have bullet points to allow for a full presentation in 1-2 mins.

If you have a little script of that, you’re gonna sound super professional. — Don’t type it out and repeat it word for word you will sound robotic.

Just have some bullet points, and the more times you do it the more natural it will feel. You can record yourself to heard how it sounds, listen back to it and develop a little story.

Work on answering things like:

  • Your education —> where/what did you go to school for — why did you do that?
  • Your aspirations —> why would you like to do this? — how did you decide to do that?

End of interview

Always have some questions to ask in interviews. If you don’t you are COOKED, because it shows that you don’t care.

By asking those questions it will show them that you are interested and/or have done your research.

Try to ask semi-unique questions, don’t say nonsense like: what does this company do?

Go for things more in this style: What’s the day to day look like?, What’s your favorite part of this job — at this company?

Pros: It makes them think as well, you get to flip the script and you get to learn more about the company.

Google great questions to ask to different kinds of people, you can either write them down or figure them out as you go.

Endnotes

Go to seniors that do the job you want to do, ask them what you should be able to do. Better yet ask them what they do and what they’re supposed to be capable of for their jobs, and you’ll have a tailored roadmap telling you exactly what to work on to get to their spot.

As a junior it’s gonna be really difficult to get a job just from applications, easier to get them from networking. Stuff like events, cold emails, cold DMs on LinkedIn.

Don’t just dm people for a job, actually get in there with some value to offer. You’d be surprised how many people are down to open up and share valuable insights. Sell yourself and lie a lil bit if needed, fitymi but back it up/be ready to learn.