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Traditional job applications might be officially dead
Jordan Schwarzenberger
August 02, 2025
17-year-old girl with 0 experience just got hired at a tech startup.
By being professionally annoying on TikTok.
Here's how it happened:
Meet Kaitlynn.
She wanted a social media marketing internship at Turbo AI.
Now, they have an open application link like most.
But Kaitlynn decided that wasn’t for her.
Instead, she started a TikTok series literally begging the founder, Eric Ou, to hire her.
Seven videos. 55k likes. 3.6k followers.
Complete takeover of his comment sections and DMs with people pleading "Pleaseee hire Kait."
Kaitlynn turned her job hunt into entertainment.
Created a whole story arc where she's the underdog in this Sisyphean effort - bothering Eric was her boulder, the internship was the hilltop.
One video hit 192k views.
A 17-year-old asking for a job from a niche AI startup.
That should not work.
But it did.
Because Eric noticed her from day one.
But instead of responding immediately, he watched how far she'd push it.
Watched a "diamond form" as she went viral.
Got their creators, coaches, and C-level executives all talking about how well-made her videos were.
Now when Eric reached out for a call, he framed it as a lawsuit threat.
She was genuinely terrified.
But then when they actually had the call, he told her they didn't want her as an intern but instead they wanted her on the growth team.
Watch Eric breakdown how it all happened below 👇
One girl's tenacious pursuit resulted in a guerrilla marketing campaign that cost nothing and generated over 700k views.
And honestly? I do believe this is the future of job applications.
But let's dig deeper into what actually went down here…
Kaitlynn demonstrated that competency is found in understanding the rules of the game you're playing.
The traditional job application process is a game designed for people with traditional credentials.
But the creator economy has different rules.
She proved three things simultaneously:
Media literacy: She understood how to create compelling content that generates engagement
Strategic thinking: She identified that attention was more valuable than credentials in this specific context
Execution capability: She had an idea, and executed it consistently across multiple videos
This is what Eric actually hired her for.
Her demonstrated ability to generate attention and convert it into desired outcomes.
Which is literally the job description for modern marketing.
This only worked because Eric understood what he was actually looking at.
Most hiring managers would have seen this as unprofessional.
As someone who doesn't understand boundaries.
As desperation rather than strategy.
Eric saw it as exactly the kind of thinking they needed.
Someone who could generate massive organic reach.
Someone who understood how to turn constraints into advantages.
Someone who could execute creative campaigns under pressure.
This is the gap between traditional business thinking and creator economy thinking.
Traditional hiring: "Does this person fit our requirements?"
Creator economy hiring: "Can this person generate results we couldn't predict?"
The risk calculation is completely different too.
Traditional hiring optimises for reducing downside risk.
Creator economy hiring optimises for capturing upside potential.
And what’s fascinating is how this scales.
If Kaitlynn can generate 700k views asking for a job, what happens when she's actually doing the job?
If she can turn her own unemployment into a marketing campaign, what can she do with an actual budget and product?
This is why the traditional credentialing system is breaking down.
When the skills you need can't be taught in school, you have to look for different signals.
Kaitlynn's TikTok series was essentially a live case study.
Real-time demonstration of exactly the capabilities Eric needed.
In the attention economy, attention is the credential.
Welcome to the future of work.
Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱
P.S.
P.S.S.
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