- Candidates looking to work for Elon Musk’s DOGE have been invited to send their cell number and bullet points about their “exceptional ability” to the department on X.
It seems Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is even streamlining its own hiring process, with potential candidates for the project invited to pitch themselves in bullet point format.
DOGE, headed by the Tesla CEO and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, is recruiting a handful of individuals to work within the limited-time government department aimed at axing trillions of dollars from the federal budget.
As well as identifying and implementing cost-saving measures, DOGE will also seek to cut headcount among civil servants and eliminate seemingly cumbersome regulations.
Musk and Ramaswamy said they are hiring a “lean team of small-government crusaders” to do this work, and it seems that applications are continuing to open up for roles.
Writing on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter and now owned by the world’s richest man, DOGE said earlier this week it was hunting for a “very small number” of software engineers and InfoSec (information security) engineers.
The roles are full-time and salaried, the post adds.
Yet unlike traditional job postings, which might ask for a few pages of CV and cover letter, DOGE wants bullet points “demonstrating exceptional ability” from candidates.
And no, those hoping to join the team won’t need to send their bullet points to an email address or recruiter—they can direct message them straight to DOGE on X.
DOGE wrote that applicants will also need to add their cell numbers, presumably so that successful candidates can be called back for further information.
Recruiting for a very small number of full-time salaried Software Engineers and InfoSec Engineers. If interested, please DM us a few bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability, and your cell phone number.
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) January 7, 2025
This isn’t the first time DOGE has outlined its more unusual approach to recruitment.
In November, the department also invited applicants to DM their CVs to the DOGE account. However, at the time, the privacy settings on X meant that individuals must be premium, paying members to message the account privately.
Fortune has confirmed that the account’s settings have since changed, and users who do not pay for an X subscription can now directly contact the DOGE account.
In the post late last year, DOGE also outlined the candidates it would be looking for: “Super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”
At the time, the work was also framed as “helping” DOGE rather than being employed by the government agency—a clarification that has been made in more recent posts about joining the team.
In addition to an unorthodox job application process and exceedingly long hours, DOGE will also be run in a way that may be unfamiliar to fellow government-related employees.
For example, SpaceX founder Musk has said he will create a virtual suggestion box and rank some of the worst examples of federal waste.
“We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars,” Musk posted last year. “The entertainment value will be epic.”
Working for DOGE is a temporary gig
While DOGE work is full-time, the Trump administration has been clear that the department will not remain for good.
As a result, those looking to apply for roles may only be working in them for some 18 months.
Musk and Ramaswamy have clarified their deadline for when they want the project to cease.
Writing an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal back in November, the duo said their “top goal” would be to eliminate the need for the team by July Fourth 2026, coinciding with a major public holiday.
“There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud,” the pair wrote.
