Need help with evidence organization

Stage 1
1

Hey All!

I have 10+ yrs of tech industry experience, currently working as a Software Engineer at a FAANG company for 2.5 yrs. I am starting to gather the required documents for Exceptional Talent application. I am thinking of submitting the following documents. I would like to get your opinion on whether this makes sense, or should I change something to make the application stronger?

Personal Statement and LoR

  1. Personal statement
  2. Resume
  3. LoR from my current senior engineering manager (at FAANG)
  4. LoR from CTO of my previous company (currently a senior tech partner at a reputed VC firm)
  5. LoR from COO of my previous company (currently a founder of their latest venture)

Evidence for MC

  1. Proof of employment at current company
  2. Total comp (base + bonus + equity) at my current company, including market comparison from glassdoor
  3. Total comp (base + bonus + equity) at my previous company, including market comparison from glassdoor

Evidence for OC2

  1. Speaker at KubeConf EU (event schedule, youtube video link, screenshot of me giving the talk from the video)
  2. Speaker at national level Kubernetes Forums (event schedule, youtube video link, screenshot of me giving the talk from the video)
  3. Tech blog with 40,000 views and 150+ followers
  4. Merged PRs to open source repos like Kubernetes (links and screenshots for the merged PRs, including stars for the project)

Evidence for OC3

  1. Architecture diagrams of work done at current company (FAANG)
  2. Architecture diagrams of work done at previous company
  3. Peer feedback received at current company (FAANG)

Any feedback is most welcome!

cc @Francisca_Chiedu @Maya @alex_james @alexnk @ask4jubad @herman.komashko

2

Hi @londongeek

Your MC is too weak. As far as I know, 7. and 8. are the same.

Your 9. and 10. could be suitable for MC but I would argue that you simply more evidences perhaps another reference from a more senior colleague.

Any news article about you or your work?? Would be useful for MC.

For OC3, you can merge 13. and 15. then obtain a reference from a senior colleague on the impact that you have made in 2.5 years (translated to performance improvement, volumes and/or revenues).

1 Like
3

@londongeek Here are my comments.

Your MC 6-8, to me is 1 strong evidence only. You need more to show your are a leader in the field.

Your OC2.

  • Your #9 and #10: Ensure that you are the main speaker, more than 100 attendees, demonstrate the popularity of the event that it is in the digital-tech field, and had a significant viewership.
  • I don’t think #11, would be a strong evidence. Can you provide any other reference to show that your 40k view (entire site monthly?). It is also self-established, not awarded thank-you points like those stakeoverflow. It is also not a standard form that Tech Nation has suggested.

OC3:

  • #13 - #15 do not show any business impact. You will need to provide a stronger metrics and evidence to show that your work contributed to the success. And explain that what success was it. How it was be measured and evaluated, and compared to the others, to show that you are a exceptionally better than others in the field.

I hope this helps

1 Like
4

MC seems weak.

MC Evidences 6,7 and 8 feels like what should be in a single evidence’s Page 1,2 and 3. Then look for more evidences. Note that you can actually repeat few evidences if they meet criteria in MC and OC. For example, if some of your speaking engagements was publicised in a popular tech blog and your name or picture is shown there in the blog, it may add as a separate evidence (if this is the case, ensure to show screenshots of the blog’s reach using sites like similarweb to show it is a reputable blog in terms of average monthly visits)

If OC3 is about Impact then you need to show the volume of work/impact. I will advise a much senior colleague to discuss the amount of your “impact” on a project, not just mere peer review. Since you are a software engineer, other evidences that will show your impact is number of lines of code written (with screenshots), number of git commits, not just only architecture diagrams.

1 Like
5

Thank you all for this valuable feedback!

For some of the questions that are posed, here’s my response.

Any news article about you or your work??

Unfortunately, no. While there are articles about the work that I have done, none of them mention me personally.

I don’t think #11, would be a strong evidence. Can you provide any other reference to show that your 40k view

I have evidence in the form of Medium stats.

You will need to provide a stronger metrics and evidence to show that your work contributed to the success.

Yes, thank you. All the LoRs and other evidences will contain strong data points about how the state of the system / product has improved.

other evidences that will show your impact is number of lines of code written (with screenshots), number of git commits, not just only architecture diagrams.

Great idea! I will include this in the letters.

Based on the above feedback, I have reworked the list of documents. Do you think this will help make the application stronger?

Personal Statement and LoR

  1. Personal statement
  2. Resume
  3. LoR from my current senior manager (FAANG)
  4. LoR from CTO of my previous company
  5. LoR from COO of my previous company

Evidence for MC

  1. Total comp (base + bonus + equity) at my current company, including market comparison from glassdoor.
  2. LoR from a senior engineer at current company (FAANG), showing metrics and how important the work is.
  3. Peer feedback received at current company (FAANG).

Evidence for OC2

  1. Speaker at KubeConf EU and Kubernetes Forums (event schedule, youtube video link, screenshot of me giving the talk from the video, number of attendees, etc.)
  2. Tech blog with 40,000 views and 150+ followers (Medium stats as evidence)
  3. Merged PRs to open source repos like Kubernetes (links and screenshots for the merged PRs, including stars for the project)

Evidence for OC3

  1. Architecture diagrams of work done at current company (FAANG), along with concrete metrics that were improved
  2. Architecture diagrams of work done at previous company, along with concrete metrics that were improved
  3. LoR from a senior VP at previous company
  4. LoR from my current senior manager (FAANG) [Same as doc no 3]
6

Hi once again @londongeek ,

Why not include 9. as well under MC?

And for 15., I’d advise to get someone else beside someone that had already written an LoR for you.

1 Like
7

Why not include 9. as well under MC?

I am worried that OC2 might become too weak. And I can’t repeat evidences as per the new guidelines.

I’d advise to get someone else beside someone that had already written an LoR for you.

OK. Let me find one more person to write LoR for me.

8

I didn’t know that repeating an evidence across criteria is now frowned upon.

Still I think that MC is not strong for an Exceptional Talent and such a speaking engagement can improve the MC.