Q: Wouldn’t this be easy for you with 50k followers? With the network and the kind of LinkedIn presence you got, it shouldn't be that difficult?

A: I know most of the design content creators on LinkedIn. Yet, I can’t think of a single content creator who has leveraged their LI presence into a FAANG job. Not one.

In fact, a LinkedIn presence is likely to be a net negative for several reasons:

• It took me 3+ years and thousands of hours to build my LinkedIn presence, and that was time that could have been spent on learning and improving my portfolio. I would be in a better position to land a job had I done something design related.
• Having a LI audience isn’t seen as a benefit for designers. No hiring manager is going to prioritize this over design-related skills.
• Having a LinkedIn presence can be a risk factor to many employers. I’ve gotten offers rescinded after a hiring manager reviewed my LinkedIn profile. I also know content creators who have been fired over this. Many employers will also have a “no side business” or “no extensive social media platform usage” rule (JPMC)
• Ultimately, even if this is beneficial, that would still be useful to know. No one is stopping you from posting on LinkedIn and doing the same thing, just like nothing is stopping you from learning how to use Figma.

Q: Is this for real? Are you just doing this for clout or to become a design influencer?

A: Yes this is real. I am fully committed to pursuing a top-tier design job and staying at that company for a minimum of 1 year. I will most likely be winding down social media after landing a design job. I look forward to a quiet designer life, like that Death Star scientist who escaped to become a farmer. Also, there are better and more efficient ways to build an audience than to work my ass off to improve my candidacy. Design audience size =/= design skills.

Q: Why are you doing this? What are your goals?

A: I don’t believe it’d be realistic or responsible for me to continue writing about design if I haven’t worked in the field for 3+ years. I also do miss doing design work, despite all the challenges and burnout I had faced.

My goals:

• This would be tremendously valuable for other designers who are also struggling in the current environment of mass layoffs, concerns around AI replacing designers, and predatory career strategy programs that cost thousands of dollars.
• I have pretty bad ADHD and procrastination challenges. Doing this publicly will help keep me accountable and focused, so this is a win-win.
• There is a lot of advice online, but most of it is theoretical. This would be a rare instance where we can see if something works or not in real-time.

Q: According to the name ‘OnlyFAANGs’, are you only pursuing jobs at FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google)?

A: No, because these places are no longer the top places that designers are targeting. I only chose ‘OnlyFAANGs’ because it was a catchy name, and communicates that I’m going for top-tier roles. I’ll also be applying to companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, Notion, etc. In the next few weeks I’ll make a list of top companies and there will be an audience-choice as well. Stay tuned.

Q: Why do you want to get a job at a FAANG? You can do more good elsewhere.

A:

1. It's a timed challenge to motivate and push myself to the limit.