Plenty of people wear their heart on their sleeve. Yerjasn (Jason) Ait wore his resume on his chest.
Smartly taking advantage of an event attended by more than 750 members of Seattle’s tech community, Ait showed up at the GeekWire Gala Thursday night sporting a white T-shirt with his resume printed on the front.
For those who missed the fine print, a larger notice across his back read, “Internship Wanted. CV’s on the front.”
During a time of mass layoffs and a tough labor market, when many tech job seekers are having an unusually difficult time landing their next gig, Ait’s fashion choice was a prime example of reading the room — or having it read him.
“I was wondering how I can stand out in a crowd, because I’m an international student, my English is not perfect, and I’m still learning a lot of things,” Ait told GeekWire.
He grew up in Kazakhstan in the city of Almaty and moved to the U.S. a year and half ago to get his Master’s in Communication at the University of Washington.
“It was a big dream when I was a kid to study abroad, especially in the best university,” he said.
Ait is due to graduate in June, and, like the T-shirt says, he’s looking for an internship or early career role that would utilize his skills in people management, product development, problem solving, and more.
The T-shirt definitely got people’s attention at the Gala, where Ait said 25 or 30 attendees tapped him on the shoulder to compliment his idea or extend a business card. It was only his second time attending an event of that kind, and there was some fear to overcome.
“I was so scared to speak with people who are very successful — they’re professionals, experts — and it was like imposter syndrome at the beginning,” he said. “Somehow I overcame this fear and just started talking with people. And that’s fun.”
Ait was especially frazzled because he was still getting the T-shirt printed two hours before the event, and a QR code linking to his digital resume was supposed to be part of the design but didn’t make it. Then he had to sit in Seattle traffic getting south to the Showbox SoDo.
The struggle to find work is a real one for people who have far fewer obstacles to overcome than some of the ones Ait has faced. Indeed recently reported on how tech-related job postings remain stuck well below pre-pandemic levels in Seattle. Macroeconomic headwinds and a climate of change in the artificial intelligence era add to increased uncertainty.
“I had everything in my home country. I had a nice job, nice house. It was a great comfort zone,” Ait said. “But I challenged myself to be here in a new country with a total new environment, new language, new people. And sometimes I felt kind of insecure, unsure what I’m doing. But right now, I can see I’m on the right direction. Maybe someday I’ll find my dream job.”
The morning after the Gala, Ait wrote a post on LinkedIn about some of the insights he gained from wearing the shirt. He offered it up as a “small playbook for international students” who are also looking for work or an internship.
Among what he learned: “Go to more events like this. It’s a muscle. You train it. Each time, I get better — more confident, more sharp, more clear.”
