Temperature's Rising
Aug. 8th, 2023 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
Yesterday I finished my interviewing for the Customer Success Associate position at Instacart. The most surprising thing about the process is how much it made me excited to work there! My former manager referred me for the opening but I had my heart set on Stanford, so I approached it as an opportunity to get more interview practice and maybe a few more LinkedIn contacts. I had assumed that even with the reference under my belt they'd find someone with more direct experience or qualifications that matched a bit more closely. I honestly didn't think I had a chance, and I wasn't sure I wanted to work there anyway.
But the interviews turned me around on it. I would be managing accounts for Eversight (an Instacart company), which uses AI optimization (I know) to help retailers set their prices competitively in an ever-shifting marketplace. There are ways to "live-test" promotions to find out which one performs best according to the client's wishes, like...say someone wants to run a quarterly sale on toilet paper but they're unsure how to make sure they sell a certain quantity during that time. Eversight can take a segment of shoppers (from, say, a loyalty program) and set up a test for different promotions (that ultimately end up at one or two price points). So if a roll of TP normally costs $1.49 and they want the best way to promote a sale of $0.99/roll and/or $1.25/roll, what would be the best way to do that?
Eversight would A/B test *ten* different promotions, like $0.99 for 1 roll, or $5 for 5, or even Buy 2, Get 1 Free. It all comes out to the same price, but each promotion has a different effect on the buying habits of shoppers. In this example, people who are given a $5 for 5 promotion are MORE likely to buy multiple rolls of TP even though they don't have to for the savings, even though the $0.99 promotion ended up with more purchases. $5 for 5 is the best promotion even if it results in fewer sales because each sale moves more rolls.
It's actually...kind of fascinating. In this position, I could gain a deep knowledge of the retail industry AND the people who set prices for things. Just by talking with our local supermarket employees, I know little things like the best day to shop for Coke is Tuesday, because that's when the local vendor comes in and resets any promotion they're running. Imagine having deep knowledge like that, but for everything!
I'll find out if they're making an offer later this week at the earliest, but most likely next week sometime. If I haven't heard from Stanford by then, I'll most likely accept. It's the best paying job I'm up for right now, it's fully remote, it's *permanent*, and Instacart is a reasonably-stable company looking to jump into other areas of retail. I really like the team, and I think I could learn a lot there.
Through the process I've come to confirm that I interview *really* well. I think once I get in the door I can talk myself into most positions -- or at least contention as long as there's not a wild mismatch in skills. Combined with what I've learned about resume-building and the finer details of being a candidate, I feel like I'm in decent shape for any future stints.
In other news, I promised myself I'd be a bit more on the straight and narrow after my birthday but I didn't quite have enough time to do anything. There were definitely moments where I could have written or studied, but the day was pretty full and I at *least* procrastinated productively. I cleaned up the kitchen, started in on folding the laundry, and R. and I made some headway in dealing with the fruit(?)/drain(?) flies situation.
We have a mild infestation of them in our kitchen, and while R. is fine with letting them be it triggers this cleanliness anxiety in me. It's a sign that the way we keep our home is lacking, and we should change our behavior to make sure we live in a clean space.
R. thinks they're coming up from the drain because, you know, drain flies. And they do seem to congregate in the kitchen sink -- though I'm not sure if that's because there are almost always dishes in there. In the two - three weeks I've noticed them, I've taken to wiping out all of the pots, pans, utensils and dishes I use so there aren't food bits or anything. I did notice yesterday that I filled up two crystal flower vases with hot water with the aim to clean them and then...just didn't. These flies love standing water, especially with rotting bits of organic matter (like flower petals and leaves), so I poured those out and let them dry. And we found that a mason jar quarter-filled with apple-cider vinegar (or sweet vermouth if you have that lying around), covered in Saran Wrap and poked with holes makes for a surprisingly effective trap.
I'll also make sure I'm cleaning up the kitchen a bit more rigorously, with an eye towards standing water and crumbs. The infestation should clear up pretty soon between these interventions. Fingers crossed!
Today, I'll be carving out time to get everything on my to-do list done and trying a new time-blocking technique that will hopefully put me back on track for improved productivity.
But the interviews turned me around on it. I would be managing accounts for Eversight (an Instacart company), which uses AI optimization (I know) to help retailers set their prices competitively in an ever-shifting marketplace. There are ways to "live-test" promotions to find out which one performs best according to the client's wishes, like...say someone wants to run a quarterly sale on toilet paper but they're unsure how to make sure they sell a certain quantity during that time. Eversight can take a segment of shoppers (from, say, a loyalty program) and set up a test for different promotions (that ultimately end up at one or two price points). So if a roll of TP normally costs $1.49 and they want the best way to promote a sale of $0.99/roll and/or $1.25/roll, what would be the best way to do that?
Eversight would A/B test *ten* different promotions, like $0.99 for 1 roll, or $5 for 5, or even Buy 2, Get 1 Free. It all comes out to the same price, but each promotion has a different effect on the buying habits of shoppers. In this example, people who are given a $5 for 5 promotion are MORE likely to buy multiple rolls of TP even though they don't have to for the savings, even though the $0.99 promotion ended up with more purchases. $5 for 5 is the best promotion even if it results in fewer sales because each sale moves more rolls.
It's actually...kind of fascinating. In this position, I could gain a deep knowledge of the retail industry AND the people who set prices for things. Just by talking with our local supermarket employees, I know little things like the best day to shop for Coke is Tuesday, because that's when the local vendor comes in and resets any promotion they're running. Imagine having deep knowledge like that, but for everything!
I'll find out if they're making an offer later this week at the earliest, but most likely next week sometime. If I haven't heard from Stanford by then, I'll most likely accept. It's the best paying job I'm up for right now, it's fully remote, it's *permanent*, and Instacart is a reasonably-stable company looking to jump into other areas of retail. I really like the team, and I think I could learn a lot there.
Through the process I've come to confirm that I interview *really* well. I think once I get in the door I can talk myself into most positions -- or at least contention as long as there's not a wild mismatch in skills. Combined with what I've learned about resume-building and the finer details of being a candidate, I feel like I'm in decent shape for any future stints.
In other news, I promised myself I'd be a bit more on the straight and narrow after my birthday but I didn't quite have enough time to do anything. There were definitely moments where I could have written or studied, but the day was pretty full and I at *least* procrastinated productively. I cleaned up the kitchen, started in on folding the laundry, and R. and I made some headway in dealing with the fruit(?)/drain(?) flies situation.
We have a mild infestation of them in our kitchen, and while R. is fine with letting them be it triggers this cleanliness anxiety in me. It's a sign that the way we keep our home is lacking, and we should change our behavior to make sure we live in a clean space.
R. thinks they're coming up from the drain because, you know, drain flies. And they do seem to congregate in the kitchen sink -- though I'm not sure if that's because there are almost always dishes in there. In the two - three weeks I've noticed them, I've taken to wiping out all of the pots, pans, utensils and dishes I use so there aren't food bits or anything. I did notice yesterday that I filled up two crystal flower vases with hot water with the aim to clean them and then...just didn't. These flies love standing water, especially with rotting bits of organic matter (like flower petals and leaves), so I poured those out and let them dry. And we found that a mason jar quarter-filled with apple-cider vinegar (or sweet vermouth if you have that lying around), covered in Saran Wrap and poked with holes makes for a surprisingly effective trap.
I'll also make sure I'm cleaning up the kitchen a bit more rigorously, with an eye towards standing water and crumbs. The infestation should clear up pretty soon between these interventions. Fingers crossed!
Today, I'll be carving out time to get everything on my to-do list done and trying a new time-blocking technique that will hopefully put me back on track for improved productivity.
