Anthony Dombrowski

It’s incredibly hard to land a Product Manager role right now 😔 This is what I tell those not hearing back despite numerous applications: 𝟏. 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 Focus on positions where you're a strong fit rather than applying broadly. This approach prevents burnout and frees up time to improve the quality of your applications. 𝟐. 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 Tailor your resume for each role, make your summary include 4-5 bullet points that correspond to the key requirements and distinctive features of the job. 𝟑. 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 Keep your resume concise. Use one-line bullet points and emphasize impact over responsibilities. Avoid unnecessary fluff, graphics, and photos. Remember, you have 30 seconds to convince someone that you’re a great fit. Make every word count.

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A lot of people turn down offers due to compensation. That’s a fact. I didn’t make that up, it’s not a personal opinion, it’s an important part in making a decision. People want more transparency around compensation, so here is what I’ve been seeing on my end. I’ve been recruiting software engineers with 4+ years of industry experience. On average I am hearing people say they are targeting $180-220k total compensation. I have had a few outliers outside of that. I have people who request $120k and $150k. I’m not sure if those numbers are publicly listed somewhere, but on the lower end those are the two I get. 9 times out of 10, candidates will say they are looking for “the market rate”, “willing to negotiate”, “want to wait til the offer to discuss numbers”, and they will try to counter the total comp expectation question back to me. When we talk some more - they open up that they are willing to take less, that’s their IDEAL* compensation, and I always jot down the comp goal / never ask what they’re currently making. I believe current salary is irrelevant because you are taking a risk when joining a new organization, leaving your tenure, and should look for increase in your next role. I do have candidates who are my OUTLIERS - they request $300k+ with the max so far being $440k. In these situations, I used to let candidates know we probably wouldn’t be able to come close to that or compete. Lately though, I’ve been questioning that logic. I think Microsoft CAN compete, but you have to look at your package holistically. In the last year I have challenged myself personally to see… can I make more investing than my base pay? Can I beat out these Engineering salary expectations without being in the field/ making less? And if I can do it … can I share how* I’m approaching this because yes …. Base pay I don’t make 300k. No where close to that. But despite the ups and downs of the market, I’m determined to clear $300k this year. I believe I’m worth every penny and what those engineers who demand crazy numbers have taught me is …. you’re worth whatever number you want. You just need to get a little creative 🤑 Microsoft sets me up perfectly to do a few things: Receive: 50% 401k match 10% discount through ESPP HSA contribution The numbers below do not account for RSUs granted, bonus pay, Perks+ stipend, or healthcare benefits. My fidelity acct only includes 12 months of investing while at Microsoft, this doesn’t include any money outside of having my current 9-5 job. (This isn’t total savings, doesn’t include any side income, just an experiment.. is this possible?) Since I’m heavy on Microsoft stock/ refuse to sell, I am investing in 4 different categories: 1. Our competitors that pay dividends 2. Safe companies that pay dividends 3. ETFS 4. Outside of tech stocks - I like semi conductors, healthcare, defense and growth stocks

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3 keys to my first $60,000 deal (5x increase) When the average deal is $5k, it’s every agency’s dream to have a $50k deal. That was true for me. Most of my agency’s projects were between $2k and $5k. I had pitched a few big projects but hadn't landed one. Why? Those other projects didn’t share the must-have ingredients that this one did. The secret ingredients that made this deal work: 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁. This wasn’t the first time I’d pitched them. I had delivered multiple projects before. Senior decision makers trusted me. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 2 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁. I knew every department head. I knew the pains of their job and talked with them about solutions. I was also a customer, and knew a lot about their customers’ behavior. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘁, 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀-𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. This was a humongous risk that most agencies won't take. The client’s business is seasonal so my solution had to be in place before the busy time. As the deadline approached I wasn’t sure we’d make it. But we did. 𝘁𝗹;𝗱𝗿 - 𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗶𝗴, 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. Deliver something smaller first. Consult - understand the business and their challenges. Do the math and make bold promises. How did you level up your client deals? ------------------------------- I'm Jason and I never click the "Rewrite with AI" button. Message me if you run a tech agency and want help building on LinkedIn.

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Big day for the Rails Foundation: 1Password is the first new Core member to join the board since we launched. Looking forward to working with Jason Meller on the board. You might be thinking: 1Password? Rails? YES. 1Password recently acquired Kolide, a Rails app, and integrated it into the core of its XAM. With today’s world of remote work (and the apps we rely on at work) combined with the ever-increasing threat of data breaches and bad actors, this Rails app now handles “thousands of web requests per second, authorizes millions of authentication attempts, processes billions of asynchronous jobs each month, and consistently delivers four nines of annual uptime for customers”. Not bad for a Rails app, ey?

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Zip File Scam of LinkedIn Something happened today. The second time actually but I waived the first one off and didn’t attach any importance to it. A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn. He has over 150 followers and has LinkedIn premium membership. He discussed with me about a technical documentation writing role, asked legitimate questions and sought my expert opinion which I gave. Then he said he’ll send a file that has the detailed job description that I should check it out and write a report in doc format after which he’ll send a contract. Next, he sent the link to download a zip file. While chatting with him, I reviewed his profile. He has a job onsite with a company in the United States and another job (hybrid) in the UK at the SAME TIME and that’s a big red flag. How is he shuttling between the two jobs when they are not remote roles. He added a legitimate company but his name or picture is not in the team members section of the project’s website. I proceeded to downloading Mega on my mobile phone and opening the file for a quick preview (I don’t open random links on my MacBook and iPad). Experience has taught me that I could be phished and have malware like Random Access Trojan (RAT) or Keyloggers installed on my devices which could be crawling in the background while harvesting my data, password and other personal information for them. In most cases, the files are passworded so that they are sure that you downloaded it. On getting back to LinkedIn, the profile is gone! I had to search a particular keyword I used during our chat before I could get the chat and it showed LinkedIn Member instead of the recruiter’s name. This was the same trend when it happened the first time. Her profile was also deleted. Y’all need to becareful out there. Don’t fall for scams like this.

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If you struggle with networking - just meet people that work on the same thing as you, but at different companies. Grab virtual coffee to compare notes casually. You can find them on social media, communities dedicated to your field, tech conferences, and other places. Just compare notes + help/be helped + make a friend. Do this a lot. You'll help your current employer with added perspective on a problem space. You'll help yourself by making a new friend! We need to stop defining "colleague" as "works at the same company" but rather someone we just collaborate with professionally in any capacity

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The Ghosting Epidemic: Why Companies Aren't Getting Back to Me 📵 A few months ago, I received an email from Anabel. She was desperate. After months of job searching, she hadn't even made it past the initial screening for a Software QA Engineering role. Anabel had the experience, the skills, and the determination—but her resume wasn't getting noticed. I knew the problem: her resume wasn’t optimized for the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that most companies use to filter candidates. Anabel’s resume was a jumbled list of accomplishments without a clear focus, and crucial keywords were missing. I explained to her how ATS works, how it scans resumes for specific terms, and how the layout and wording of her resume could make the difference between getting an interview or being overlooked. Anabel was intrigued. She had never realized how critical a well-structured resume was, not just for getting noticed, but for showcasing her true potential. I offered to help her redesign her resume using a simple, ATS-friendly template. Together, we highlighted her key skills—functional testing, regression testing, defect tracking—using the exact language that employers were searching for. We also structured her experience to focus on quantifiable achievements, like reducing bug turnaround time by 20% and leading cross-platform testing efforts. Within two weeks of sending out her revamped resume, Anabel started receiving interview invitations. By the end of the month, she had landed her dream job as a Software QA Engineer. Are you ready to land your dream job? Let’s make sure your resume is working for you, not against you. I specialize in crafting ATS-friendly resumes that highlight your strengths and get you noticed. Contact me today, and let’s get started by reviewing your resume. If you need this editable template; Message me for the editable Word document. #qamanualtester #engineer #cybersecurity #softwareqa

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I’ve been doing a lot more recruiting and one trend I’ve noticed is a tendency to talk about using a framework when really describing a process. There are two key differences: Frameworks are structured but open ended and are not prescriptive. Processes are prescriptive sequential steps. It’s important to identify when you want to use one or the other: - Coaching an engineer: Framework - Planning: Probably framework with a tiny bit of process for scheduling - Recovery of a data center: Process A more engineering centric / systems view would be to look at frameworks as the interfaces in engineering and process as the implementation behind the interface. Too often we’re focused on the implementation of the process before we’ve established what the framework is we want to use.

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Building a reliable RAG system isn’t just about performance—it’s about trust. Matt Turk's blog post breaks down the importance of this for both technical and non-technical folks—highlighting how Cleanlab's TLM, paired with Pinecone’s vector database, delivers high-quality data retrieval, accurate, context-aware responses, and scalable performance to meet growing demands. 👏

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Raphael Neves - I totally relate to this! In a previous project, we resisted addressing tech debt for as long as we could, thinking it wasn’t urgent and we could keep pushing features. But after a while, it felt like we were trying to drive with square wheels—progress slowed down drastically. We reached a point where the system became so clunky and error-prone that even small updates were taking forever, and the number of bugs was growing rapidly. Eventually, we had no choice but to tackle the tech debt head-on. It was only after we cleaned up some of the critical issues that development started to feel smooth again. Looking back, it would have saved us a ton of time and headaches if we had incorporated some of those strategies you mentioned earlier in the process. Prioritising it early makes all the difference. #TechDebt #CodeQuality #SoftwareDevelopment #Agile #TechLeadership #DevOps #CleanCode #Productivity #Refactoring #TechStrategy #SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperLife #Teamwork #AgileDevelopment #CodeMaintenance

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For all of us who love Slack, our trust has been broken. Slack has turned your private messages into AI training data without your explicit consent, raising serious privacy concerns. The company has admitted to using customer data, including private messages and files, to train its machine learning models by default, without requiring users to opt-in. It seems some companies believe that the best way to catch up with the big players in AI is by ignoring privacy concerns. You can opt-out of this (allegedly) by sending an email to "[email protected]" with your workspace URL as content and "Slack Global model opt-out request" as the subject

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Hello LinkedIn friends, I’m still on the market. Trying to find a new gig. For personal reasons I need to remain remote, but the occasional trip into NYC or an offsite meeting is fine. I’m looking for IC roles at this point. I want to build cool shit that helps people. I’m great with TypeScript and Node.js, as well as data engineering. Full stack or backend is fine. If you know of any roles I’d greatly appreciate a recommendation or even a link sent via DM. If you’re a resume wiz, maybe you could review mine to see if it needs work. The tech world is all about ghosting candidates or sending out broken (([candidate.name])) rejections. I appreciate any support! #opentowork

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Friends, next Wednesday i'll be sharing some tangible ways to leverage a designer's mindset while building a startup or doing your job. Though design has come under some heavy scrutiny the last few years for being perceived as "too abstract" or "too far away from the business," I remain bullish on design's ability to fuel innovation. I'll be sharing practical examples of how we leveraged a designer's mindset at VMHA to: 1️⃣ Prototype our market positioning 2️⃣ Create a culture to foster the free flow of ideas 3️⃣ Establish our managerial controls and business processes 🚨 Spoiler Alert 🚨 The designer's mindset allowed us to listen to our customer and learn quickly through prototyping and iterating! I'm always excited to share space with ambitious veterans and their supporters and am looking forward to the discussion! #designersmindset #prototype #iterate #learn #listen #adapt #culture #innovation https://lnkd.in/g6-UFnn7

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🚨 Check it out - hot off the press! 📰 Sudeep Das, Pradeep Varma and Ying Yang are all hiring as we continue to scale! 🙏 If you have a passion for Machine Learning and expertise within Deep Learning, Computer Vision and/or NLP domains, let's connect! #experimentation #DoorDash #hiring #machinelearning

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Priscilla John King from VIVIO is looking for a Product Manager. It’s Friday people, so you know what that means there will be a lot of product manager roles posted this afternoon, but you have to learn how to pitch yourself to get an interview beyond sending an “I’m interested” message to the hiring team. Do you want access to the rest of the product manager jobs instead of just getting them one by one, then sign up for our exclusive newsletter here.  https://lnkd.in/g7stR_Nj In addition to sending you a fresh batch of urgent product manager roles each day like hot bread out of the oven, I will also be sending you some LinkedIn templates on how to convert these LinkedIn postings into interviews.  https://lnkd.in/g7stR_Nj For whatever reason I have been getting a lot of hate comments about posting this many product manager jobs from real product managers. I have no clue how some people can be that angry considering I am trying to help the community out. You can sign up for the postings in my newsletter here.  https://lnkd.in/g7stR_Nj I am hosting 7 live trainings next week with the intention of helping as many people land a product manager job as possible for FREE. My team is still posting up the meetups on Eventbrite, but I will be sending an invitation to the following trainings over the weekend.  https://lnkd.in/g7stR_Nj Real Reason Nobody is Landing Product Manager Jobs in 2024 How to Interview Against Product Managers with More Experience Cold Product Manager LinkedIn Message Templates to Convert Interviews Product Manager Resume Templates for Startups and Big Tech Roles Big Tech Product Manager Case Studies of 2024 Secret Product Manager Job Boards and Referral Network How to Increase Product Manager Job Applications w/ Chat GPT + AI PS Please RESHARE this post for all your colleagues still looking for a job. #productmanagement #productmanagementcareers #productmanagementjobs #speedtolead

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Robinhood is offering a 3% IRA rollover match through April 30th. If you rollover your old 401k with a balance of $25,000, that's about as free as $750 gets. There's no limit on how much they are matching this 3% rollover on, so if you have a $100k+ account, this could be a hefty payday. Robinhood is polarizing in the financial field. Some say their interface turns investing into gambling. Others say it's the modern approach to investing that we need. Regardless of your stance, it's hard to argue that they are disrupting the field with their 3% IRA match and their newly announced credit card (3% back on everything). What are your thoughts? Will you be rolling over your accounts to get the 3% match? #investing #robinhood

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3 quick lessons how SWE can level up their career when working on a Product team: 1. Engage w you Product Manager. Actually speak up to ask them legit questions and coice concerns about timeline or feasibility. 2. Own your 1:1 w your Manager. Eng Managers have a lot of different work on their plate- tell them how they can help YOU or what you want in your career. They can’t tead your mind. 3. Engage more deeply w designers. Ask questions, review their work more deeply, stay collaborative. What else can you add?

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This is a perspective I've been thinking about for a while, and I appreciate how colorfully pg puts it here. However, he does not explicitly define Founder Mode, except for contrasting it with being "a faker." I don't disagree, but I think I have a more subtle take. With the "don't just hire good people and let them figure it out" sentiment - I think that advice hits failure modes because people take it too literally and end up abdicating their authority instead of scaling it. I also think some founders should fully step away from their company as their involvement can hinder the company's success instead of nurture it. In both cases, you're not making decisions grounded in reality. I do know that managers and leaders who aren't zoomed in and present in the day-to-day work with their teams tend to make really crappy decisions. And because they have large areas of ownership, they can really steer the company into the rocks because they are - unwittingly or otherwise - willfully flying blind. So if being in Founder Mode means that you're in the work with skin in the game and not just phoning in your remit, you've got your hands in the dirt enough to understand what's growing and what's dying, you're constantly responding and adapting to the dynamics of your context, you're making timely decisions that keep your teams productive and grounded, and you're hiring good people and empowering them to do their best work, then I don't see much of a difference between being in Founder Mode versus being someone who is owning their work. That's just doing your damn job, and doing it well.

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