Hey there! It's Ross, from our Customer Advocacy Team. 👋 After four years, we finally hired a new Customer Advocate here at Buffer. This was a big moment for us! I got a lot of questions about hiring during the process, so I wanted to peel back the curtain a bit. Ready for some details?

Here are some high-level stats: 📊 We had over 600 applicants! 📝 Out of this group, we had about 100 move on to complete a written exercise (16%) 💬 From here, we brought 12 folks into an initial interview (2%) 🧍 Out of those 12, we hired one (.16%)

During the hiring process, we were looking out for a number of things: 🕐️ Timezone: We're a global team, but keep our support operations well-staffed for coverage. 🛠️ Experience: We were looking for someone with a support and hospitality background. Someone who could be successful right away!

🧩 Creator: We think it's easiest to support our customers when we're familiar with the same challenges, so having experience creating content was important. 🥳 Culture: Company culture is important to us at Buffer, so we wanted someone who was excited about our values, and push us to grow!

People ask me how to stand out when applying for a role at Buffer. There's no set formula! A few things I noticed as the hiring manager for this role: 🖥️ Applications generated exclusively with AI stood out easily, and it was hard to feel like I was getting to know the candidate in those moments.

🤝 It was easy to pick up on genuine passion for hospitality and support, and would often come through in how folks wrote about their previous experience. 🧠 Thoughtfully written applications that blended work experience, personality, and passion felt very compelling to read.

🥞 Previous experience with Buffer and a genuine knowledge of our company and product was a huge plus! While we're not currently hiring for any new Advocacy roles, I often tell people it's never too early to start preparing for the role you want one day 😉