Recruiting Leader @ Zapier | Former Educator | Advocate for job seekers, humanizing recruiting, and making the workplace more equitable for everyone!!

WARNING: There are scam accounts using my name. The only domains I use are "zapier.com" and "bonniedilber.com". If the email comes from any other domain, it's a fraudulent account, please report to your email provider, and to the FTC. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
If you receive comments referencing me on your posts, these are bots as part of a scam, please report and block those accounts! 

A bit about me: I'm a former educator and dog/toddler mom who is passionate about equity in the workplace. I love to be outdoors except when it's super hot, I'm a foodie who hates cheese, and I like cooking, politics, and travel. I have a full time job managing the GTM/Ops recruiting team at Zapier, and also love creating content on recruiting, workplace culture and trends, and career development. There's a lot of misinformation and I try to combat it as much as I can! 

My goal is to educate and bring transparency to recruiting and hiring processes - I hope my content helps you understand why things play out the way they do. That doesn't mean I always like or agree with the realities of being a part of the working world in 2025, but I think we're all better off when we understand the rules of the game we're playing. 

All opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer! If you'd like to work at Zapier, please apply directly on our jobs page. 

I do not have the capacity to respond to DMs or answer one-off questions but DO answer reader questions and offer free 1:1 chats via my newsletter on beehiiv - your best bet is to submit it there!
You can access all of my resources here: https://linktr.ee/bonniedilber

Bonnie Dilber

If I were looking for a job in 2026, I'd:
- build an agent on Zapier that understands my skills, values, and goals and delivers 10 newly posted roles that are a good match to my inbox every day.
- use Anthropic Claude to review those job descriptions and pull additional company insights to help me shape my application, networking strategy, and interview prep.
- use Lovable to build a portfolio website that shows (not tells, but SHOWS) my achievements, results, testimonials from former colleagues, or even individualized landing pages to make my case for why I'm the right fit for a specific role. 
- use Gamma to build executive-friendly slides for presentation stages.
- use Cursor to prototype a tool that shows my approach to solving problems. 

And there are two reasons I'd do this:

1. I think it would make my job search easier and more efficient then scrolling through 20 job boards every day trying to figure out what to apply for.

2. It would show actual AI fluency - something a lot of companies (at least in tech!) want - in a far more meaningful way than things like: 
- an AI-generated resume 
- copy-pasting AI-generated copy into an application
- reading from an AI assistant in interviews
- saying, "I use chatGPT for everything" in interviews with no meaningful evidence of impact

The bar for AI fluency for non-technical folks like me is evolving.
In 2023, it was, "I have a ChatGPT account."
In 2024, it was, "I use an AI assistant to think through problems. 
In 2025, it was, "I'm using a variety of AI tools in my work." 
And in 2026, it's, "I'm using AI to build solutions that help me deliver stronger results by making me better, faster, and more strategic."

Recruiting Leader @ Zapier | Former Educator | I’m a fan of transparency in recruiting, leveraging AI to make work more efficient and human, and workplaces that work for everyone.

Just some quick reminders that in the US:

1. Employers shouldn't be asking you for your current salary. 

It's illegal in some states. And  even where it's not illegal, it's wrong.
Your previous earnings are irrelevant to your future earnings, and companies should be setting your compensation based on their salary ranges and compensation philosophy, not on what you've earned in the past.

If asked, you could respond with something like, "My current salary isn't relevant, I'm currently interviewing for roles in the $200-230k range, but ultimately I'll consider the total package when making my decision here." 

2. Employers shouldn't ask you to do an unpaid work trial. 

A small project in the interview process or even a few hours of co-working as part of the interview process is fine.

But being asked to do a week long unpaid work trial violates FLSA protections. 
If this is asked of you, you could note, "I'm happy to demonstrate my skills through the interview process, but a week-long unpaid trial isn't something I'm able to commit to. I'd love to find another way to show you what I can do." or even, "Extended unpaid work trials aren't compliant with FLSA protections. I'd be glad to do a paid trial or a shorter skills assessment instead."

3. Required onboarding and training should be compensated.

The FLSA also clearly notes that any sort of training that's mandated for your job should be compensated. 

Of course, this doesn't apply to things that you seek out and choose to attend for your own development. Your employer does not need to pay you if you attend a conference that they did not ask you to attend.  but anything at their request or encouragement should be compensated.

If you're asked to do onboarding before your start date, you could say, "I'm happy to work on this, should we adjust my start date accordingly?" or "I won't have the capacity to work on this until my official start date, but look forward to prioritizing it on day one." 

I genuinely believe that most employers want to do right by their employees  and if they are making these sorts of requests, it probably has more to do with not understanding the policies than it does intentionally causing harm. 

Often these sorts of things happen as a result of an eager but uninformed manager or recruiter vs a company policy to take advantage of workers. So I think you should feel perfectly confident speaking up when there's misalignment - most people will appreciate the redirection.

It doesn't matter if the real reason companies are laying off thousands of people at a time is because AI is increasing productivity or because they over hired or because their shareholders need a short-term win even if it means a long-term loss or because they're about to be acquired or because they simply aren't making enough money to pay everyone.

What matters is that thousands more people find themselves unemployed today.

Here's some advice I will share:
1. Take a beat to be angry and scared and bitter and relieved and whatever other emotions you're feeling.
You have no obligation to write a post thanking your former employer today (or ever), and it's also perfectly great if you want to do so because you had a great run and your last day doesn't erase that, or because you want to play the game as you navigate an unexpected job search.
There is no right or wrong way to respond to traumatic experiences.

2. Don't let the negativity on social media get you down.
There are a small number of loud voices that get disproportionate attention with narratives of doom and gloom.
Often, their poor outcomes are often a result applying for jobs they simply aren't competitive for, submitting high numbers of low quality applications, unrealistic expectations for remote work, etc. 
People who apply for jobs they are extremely well-qualified for, leverage their networks effectively, and manage their expectations around things like location and industry are for the most part doing OK out there. 
I promise - lots of great companies are still hiring great talent every day - Zapier is one of them!!

3. Use this time to upskill with AI.
Y'all the bar is rising rapidly and an advantage those who are currently unemployed have the opportunity to invest in building these skills rapidly. 
Challenge yourself to build real solutions - things you could use you in your role, or that accelerate your job search. 
And share these online. I promise, if you're applying to AI-forward companies, this will be a huge competitive advantage. 

4. Build something on the side.
I firmly believe everyone should have a side business in 2026. 
Job searches often take 6+ months these days, so this gives you a source of income, expands your network, and gives you a way to keep your skills current. 
We're increasingly seeing that employers are no longer loyal to their workforce, and you can be cut loose at any time so we need things to fall back on. 
Those who talk about the future of work are increasingly talking about how workplaces will consist of fewer full-time employees with a rotating group of experts that bring in niche skills as needed. That means more of us need to build the skill of jumping in and quickly adding value, and contract work does that. 
And sometimes, those side businesses or short-term contracts can pave the way to a long-term opportunity. 

Hopefully this helps someone out there, and I'll drop some resources in comments!

There are a wide range of people who can do a job, but often we default to the "usual suspects" - people who enter a field and have a natural upward trajectory. 

Last year, we had a conversation with our sales leadership team around broadening our candidate pool beyond "the usual suspects" - those who had grown up in tech sales. One profile that came up was consultants with strong technical backgrounds. 

The issue is that this is a really hard profile to attract since many of these folks aren't necessarily looking for sales roles. 

So we made a post about this profile as one that could be a great match for sales. And within a few minutes Adrian Obleton saw my post and applied (using my referral link which you'll find in comments cause no gatekeeping over here!)

What stood out: Adrian has several years of consulting experience with exposure to GTM across many companies, he's a founder himself which suggested he'd be comfortable with our current stage where we're still in building mode, and he even studied computer science in undergrad which gave us confidence he could talk the talk with technical buyers. It was clear from our first conversation he could easily build the selling skills as he had everything else we'd want in a strong seller.

Adrian is currently doing a series of blog posts on his transition from consulting into sales (gonna drop that below too!) 

One thing Adrian talks about in his post is how consulting trains you to diagnose problems before jumping to solutions which translates well to discovery in sales, and they typically have strong business acumen since they're navigating complex organizations. But check out his post for more of the transferable skills between consulting and sales!

Couple of takeaways I hope y'all will have from this post:
1. If you're currently hiring, think about other experiences that may have built the skills you need on your team to help you expand your profile. 
2. If you're open to those unique profiles, just put it out in the world with a post like I did - you may just get the perfect applicant!
3. And most importantly, if you're someone who sees some of yourself in Adrian's journey, then check it out and apply for an AE role at Zapier!

Dark Wolf Solutions

Direct cross-functional teams of 50+ IT professionals, managing systems architecture, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and software development for high-profile government clients.
Develop and implement IT roadmaps, ensuring compliance with federal regulations (FISMA, NIST, FedRAMP) while optimizing resource allocation and minimizing risk exposure.
Provide thought leadership and strategic direction for IT service delivery, guiding projects with multi-million-dollar budgets and tight timelines to successful completion.
Deliver large-scale, multi-phase IT projects within budget and on schedule, supporting government agencies in enhancing infrastructure, software solutions, and cybersecurity frameworks.
Oversee system integration projects, collaborating with stakeholders and vendors to implement secure, scalable IT infrastructures for clients across defense and intelligence sectors.
Lead security protocols and risk management initiatives, managing federal cybersecurity requirements and implementing best practices for data protection, incident response, and disaster recovery.
Foster strong relationships with government stakeholders, ensuring consistent communication and successful collaboration to meet evolving technology requirements and timelines.
Act as a key liaison between government clients, contractors, and internal teams, ensuring alignment between IT objectives and broader organizational goals.

Director of Information Technology

BAE Systems, Inc.

•Lead geographically dispersed enterprise Operations, PMO, and Cybersecurity professionals developing and delivering on strategic roadmaps and enterprise objectives in support of Department of Defense programs.   
•Guide Cybersecurity teams implementing RMF processes and procedures to maintain the highest levels of security for on premise and cloud environments.
•Develop organizational objectives, goals, and roadmaps to implement Digital Engineering and Model Based System Engineering capabilities across multi-billion-dollar defense contracts.
•Ensure achievement of financial, schedule, technical, and new business performance objectives resulting in over $10M in revenue year over year.
•Develop and implement enterprise portfolio integration, risk, opportunity, and dependency identification and traceability through resolution.
•Develop and implement best in class system architecture, technical design, and system/software development processes utilizing DevSecOps principles and processes.
•Implement and utilize Earned Value Management System (EVMS) across programs and provide real time status reporting to senior leadership.

Senior Technical Manager - Information Services

Zendesk

•Led data architecture programs to improve key customer metrics including CSAT scoring, Net Promoter Score (NPS), Churn/Retention Rates, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), etc.
•Led enterprise Cybersecurity improvement programs to achieve SOC 2 and FedRamp compliance and improve proactive threat detection, reducing system attack attempts.
•Influence cross-functional organizations while improving strong internal relationships to meet business requirements and cost objectives.
•Increased application availability and integrity and implemented SLAs for high levels of accessibility, security, and reliability.
•Led and provided development opportunities for direct reports and teammates to learn, grow and improve in their careers.

Sr. Technical Manager, Program Management

BAE Systems

•Led software development teams to develop new software capabilities and implement a technical code refresh for the F-35 aircraft program.
•Developed organizational objectives, goals, and roadmaps to implement Information Technology and Digital Engineering Systems across multi-billion-dollar DoD contracts.
•Led 125 employee enterprise Information Services team developing and delivering hardware, software, and cloud capabilities on Sentinel, MMIII, and F-35 DoD programs.
•Developed, maintained and monitored OKRs and KPIs providing gap analysis to drive improvement across all business functions.
•Led Cybersecurity teams implementing RMF processes and procedures to maintain the highest levels of security for application and network infrastructure.
•Managed implementation of 3 classified labs providing technical support to Nuclear Surety, Telemetry, Ground Support, and others in support of Sentinel and MMIII.
•Developed and maintained supplier and partner relationships to increase time to delivery for hardware and software capabilities by 70% and reduce FTE spend by $2.5M year over year.
•Developed and implemented best in class system architecture, technical design, and system/software development processes, improving cloud and data center uptime to 99.9%.
•Led program/project management teams establishing a governance framework to optimize collaboration and execute complex projects utilizing Agile and Waterfall methodologies.

Chief of Staff - Information Technology/Services

Dyno Nobel

•Define, implement, and monitor core operational tech stack to ensure optimization and scalability of hardware and software solutions.
•Use Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP), and Request for Quote (RFQ) techniques to identify, select, and engage with suppliers to ensure competitive market advantage. Direct and implement supplier-sourcing strategies to ensure high quality, timely delivery, and cost competitiveness.
•Manage and report on budgets, resources, and return on investment for multi-million dollar concurrent projects.
•Facilitate global cross-functional steering committee and decision-making meetings.
•Utilized Earned Value Management System (EVMS) on projects and provide real time status reporting to senior leadership.
•Responsible for preparing, examining, analyzing, negotiating, and revising contractual language in contracts and subcontracts.

Principal IT Program/Product Manager

Intermountain Healthcare

Delivered strategic internal and customer facing initiatives and programs enhancing and creating new revenue streams.
Led initiative to leverage industry best practices to increase structure and use of PMO processes, procedures, and standards.
Built and grew relationships with executive leadership and organizational leaders to increase PMO footprint and support.

IT/BD Project Manager

Technology Innovation and Development Leader

Information Technology Leader challenging the status quo.
• 10+ years leading global cross-functional technical teams
• 10+ years developing strategic roadmaps, leading L1 OKR programs, and improving processes and procedures that increase recurring revenue and reduce overhead expenses
• 10+ years leading software development teams utilizing the Agile SDLC and implementing CI/CD processes and procedures

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Bonnie Dilber

Dan Johnson PMP, CSM 💭

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Dan Johnson PMP, CSM 💭

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