Phia founders say some of their earliest hires came from their DMs—here's the 3-sentence pitch that gets their attention

In today’s tough hiring market, job seekers are trying everything to get noticed by hiring managers, including sending prospective bosses a direct message to kick things off.

It could work, as long as you go about it the right way.

A good self-pitch has gotten the attention of Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, co-founders of the buzzy AI-powered shopping agent Phia, who said they’ve made some of their earliest hires from their own Instagram and LinkedIn inboxes.

In addition to posting openings on an official board via Ashby, the co-founders said they’ve posted callouts on Instagram and LinkedIn for followers to introduce themselves and submit their interest through DMs, Kianni, 24, said in a conversation at the SXSW conference in Austin on March 13.

Candidates have three sentences to make their case, Kianni said: “Give us a pitch about who you are [and] what you’ve done in the past, what you want to do with Phia, and how you would be able to solve a problem for us.”