We’re hiring for three positions right now: an Education Coordinator, a Supply Chain Manager, and a VP of Finance. I posted the three positions on Friday and then promptly left for a week vacation mountain biking in Idaho.

I’m back now and starting to parse all 1200 resumes. There are some amazing-sounding candidates in the mix, so all of us at Modular Robotics are looking forward to starting interviews soon. Unfortunately, though, I’m tossing the bulk of the emails into the trash. I know that there are all sorts of evil robots out there throwing unfit resumes at every single job posting on the internet. But on the optimistic assumption that some of these people are actually real, qualified humans who are interested in working with us, I thought I’d share my quick 6-step pre-screen algorithm. If your email ended up in the trash and it shouldn’t have, please make a quick change or two to pass our little pre-screen and email us again. This isn’t meant to be a “how to apply for a job” post, I just thought making the pre-screen transparent would be a good idea. It’s simple:

1. Is there a cover letter? A traditional cover letter isn’t necessary, but a couple of sentences about why you’re applying or why you think Modular Robotics is a good fit for you or why you like robot toys is necessary. It seems to me like the best place for this would be in the body of the email, not as an attachment with a cover letter for the cover letter in the email body. Just a resume without a cover letter? To the trash.
2. Does the cover letter have a glaring typo? Or two? To the trash.
3. Is the cover letter a generic copy/paste? Does it mention “your organization” and “your product” instead of “Modular Robotics” and “Cubelets”? To the trash.
4. Is the cover letter just an explanation of how, although the person doesn’t meet any of the requirements for the job, they’ll be a great candidate and a perfect fit? To the trash.
5. Does the cover letter direct us to do things without using the magic word? “Call me to discuss this opportunity.”, for example? To the trash.
6. Does the resume have a glaring typo? To the trash.

OK! Back to the jobs@ inbox!