Author: Mike Nova

• CloudKitchens CTO Brian Atwell said testing for intelligence is necessary for some tech roles.
• He said that Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick’s startup is considering using IQ tests for more roles.
• Atwell said such tests would “help weed out people very early.”

CloudKitchens CTO Brian Atwell said he has considered a way to shake up the startup’s hiring process by implementing one of the oldest kinds of tests.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt if you slapped an IQ test in front of the PM in your process,” Atwell told podcaster Ryan Peterman during a recent episode.

Atwell said it’s difficult to design a perfect interview process, particularly one that can’t be gamed. He said that CloudKitchens, Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick‘s $15 billion ghost kitchen startup, is conducting 20 experiments at any given time to improve its interview process.

“The reason that companies don’t do it is, it just takes a ton of work to build a good process,” he said. “Like in a tech org, you have dozens of different roles and each one needs different interviews, so the leadership team needs to be really, really dedicated to it.”

In particular, Atwell said hiring project managers is more difficult than hiring software engineers, because some of the tasks a PM performs are “generally less well-defined than the engineering role.”

Adding an IQ test wouldn’t solve everything, but Atwell said such intelligence tests can help cull the initial field of applicants. He said that CloudKitchen’s accounting team already uses IQ tests in its hiring process.

“It wouldn’t help differentiate between the excellent and super excellent, but it would help weed out people very early, and then you could spend more time differentiating between the good versus excellent and the rest of your process,” he said.

Companies like CloudKitchens need such a rigorous process, Atwell said, to make sure they’re hiring quality engineers.

“Like an interview that tests your ability to recall things, your experience, or just your mindsets, does not build a strong engineering team,” he said. “An interview that anyone can pass regardless of IQ, if they can practice enough that does not build a strong engineering team.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Happy Thanksgiving! It might be turkey day today, but there are many things going on throughout Greater Cleveland. We offer 29 things to do: Holiday shows with lights, theater performances, a bunch of basketball games and many other events are set from today – Thursday, Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving) to Wednesday, Dec. 3. And at the end, we’ll offer a few events to look forward to in …

• Research shows women with curly hair may face bias in professional settings.
• Former journalist Priya Anand has a new podcast about curly hair, including its perception in the workplace.
• Do you think having curly hair has affected your career? Business Insider wants to know.

Having curly hair in the workplace can be fraught. Just ask Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The Florida Congresswoman’s wavy locks were the subject of a recent Business Insider article about how pressure to straighten them has followed her throughout her career. It was based on her appearance on “We Are Spiraling,” a new podcast about curly hair by former journalist Priya Anand, who has ringlets, too.

Anand launched the show earlier this month along with a Substack to complement her forthcoming hair care product line, Mayura. She told Business Insider she could relate to her high-profile political guest.

“In high school, other girls would tell me I’d look so much better if I straightened my hair,” Anand said in an email, adding that over time she learned not to let critics bother her. “At some point, I started tuning out noise around how I should reshape my appearance based on other people’s commentary.”

Research shows women with curly hair — especially those who are Black — can face bias in professional settings, which is why Anand says many intentionally hide their curls. Lawmakers have sought to address the problem through legislation, such as the 2019 CROWN Act, which bans race-based hair discrimination.

If you’re a curly-haired professional, Business Insider would love to hear from you. How has it affected your career? Tell us your story below.

• Struggling job seekers are taking part-time gigs outside their fields to make ends meet.
• Some say they’re unsure whether to include these roles in applications for full-time jobs.
• They say it’s uncertain whether employers will view their temporary gigs in a positive light.

Kevin Hannegan is proud of the string of part-time gigs he has taken on while looking for full-time work. He’s just not sure they belong on his résumé.

Since being laid off from his director role at a publishing company in January 2024, Hannegan has driven for DoorDash, worked on the changeover crew at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh — helping convert the arena between concerts and sporting events — and taken on odd jobs for friends, including fixing deck boards and replacing ceiling fans.

He said he asked several people in his life whether it’s wise to include gigs like these on his résumé when applying for full-time roles in his field, and the feedback was roughly split. Half said he should, since it showed he was still working; the other half said listing roles that weren’t full-time or relevant to his field probably wouldn’t be helpful.

Regardless of what he includes, he knows employers will likely have questions about the past two years.

“Being unemployed from full-time work for this long will definitely require some explanation during an interview — whether the information is on a résumé or not,” said Hannegan, who’s in his 50s.

Hannegan is one of several job seekers Business Insider has spoken with over the past year who have taken part-time jobs outside their field to earn income while continuing to search for work. Many said they’ve grappled with whether to include temporary roles on their applications — fearing that a résumé gap could hurt their chances, but that listing a job significantly different from their desired role might do the same.

In a challenging job market, some candidates say even small résumé choices are worth agonizing over.

Whether to hide work experience on your résumé

A San Francisco-based millennial has worked contract positions at Microsoft and Amazon in recent years, earning about $120,000 annually. When the latter ended in December 2023, he struggled to find another role.

At first, he wasn’t interested in the job postings recruiters sent him that offered as little as $75,000 a year. But after a year of struggling to find work — and relying on unemployment benefits and food stamps to stay afloat — his perspective shifted.

“By the end of 2024, I would have loved to make $75,000,” he said.

After a year of unemployment, he began applying for any gig he could find, and eventually secured work as a ghost tour guide for $30 an hour and a US Postal Service mail carrier for $24 hourly. He estimated that he’ll earn about $55,000 this year across the two jobs.

While he hasn’t stopped applying for communications roles, you won’t find either of his current gigs on his résumé. He believes many companies are biased against candidates who are unemployed or working outside their field.

It’s unclear how much job seekers stand to gain by leaving certain gigs off their applications. Priya Rathod, workplace trends editor at Indeed, said it’s generally wise to include any work experience — even if it’s temporary or outside one’s field — and to highlight the skills gained from those roles.

“It’s not a surprise to employers right now that a lot of people are struggling in the job market,” she said, “And I think it shows initiative that you’ve continued to stay in the workforce in some capacity.”

Hannegan said he considered adding his changeover crew job to his résumé because it’s a unique role that might catch an employer’s attention — and signals that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to support his family.

However, Hannegan isn’t optimistic that tweaking his résumé would make a difference. He said he recently decided to pause his search for a full-time role and focus on part-time gigs.

“It’s exhausting to put in the work and get no response,” he said.

Finding ways to avoid a résumé gap

Some job seekers aren’t just being selective about which gigs they include in applications — they’re also trying to avoid a résumé gap. The key, some say, is finding any relevant experience they can frame as their current role.

In addition to leaving his mailman and ghost tour gigs off his résumé, the San Francisco-based millennial lists his current employment as an independent communications consulting business. He said the business is barely active and brings in little income, but he includes it to avoid showing an employment gap — and to maintain the appearance that he’s still working in his field.

“I have to keep this charade up that my independent communications business is healthy and successful and that I’m not hustling as a letter carrier,” he said.

Miles Bradley has been searching for work since losing his contract software engineering role at AT&T in 2022. He said he’s the chief technology officer of a startup, but the company is still securing funding and isn’t yet providing any income. Still, he keeps it on his résumé to signal that he remains active in the tech industry.

“The industry has become addicted to finding the ‘Goldilocks’ candidates,” said Bradley, who’s in his 50s and lives in New York. “They want to have somebody that exactly fits what they’re looking for.”

Lisa Rangel, CEO of Chameleon Resumes, an executive job search firm, said job seekers have good reason to keep a current position on their résumés — and especially on their LinkedIn profiles. Some recruiters, she said, are more likely to search for candidates who are currently employed — in part because they’re perceived as a “safer” hire than someone who isn’t working.

To improve their chances of being discovered, Rangel recommends job seekers add a current position to their LinkedIn profile if they’re not formally employed. This could be a personal consulting or freelance role — if they’ve done relevant work — or a placeholder title such as “Seeking marketing manager role,” with the “company” field reflecting their target industry.

“You need a ‘current position’ that outlines what you are doing during your unemployment period,” Rangel said.

At a minimum, Indeed’s Rathod recommends that job seekers address résumé gaps in their résumé and cover letters, as well as during interviews.

Juan Pelaez said he’s been fortunate not to have an employment gap on his résumé, despite being laid off in 2023. That’s because he’s continued doing part-time work for his former employer while searching for full-time marketing and project management roles.

Pelaez, who’s in his 40s, also has a side gig that he has debated including in his applications. To earn some income during his job search, he’s worked as a background actor on a few films — including “Happy Gilmore 2.” He hasn’t listed the acting work on his résumé, but said he’s now reconsidering.

“Not having it on there hasn’t yielded positive results, so maybe putting it in there would help,” he said.