Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky shares the No. 1 trait you need to land a job there
It's no exaggeration to say that hundreds of thousands of people want to work for Airbnb right now.
When the company announced its shift to a permanent remote work model on April 28, more than 800,000 people flocked to its career page — and that interest has held steady in the weeks following the announcement, Catherine Powell, Airbnb's global head of hosting, tells CNBC Make It.
Under its new policy, salaries for U.S. and Canadian employees will be determined by a single pay tier for a given role instead of location-based tiers, and starting in September, Airbnb's more than 6,000 employees will have the choice to work for up to three months a year from over 170 countries.
But, if you want to nab a job at the booking site, you don't need a stamped passport — instead, you should be "very curious" and eager to ask questions, according to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky.
"There's a number of traits that we're looking for in candidates, but one that's always stood out to me is curiosity," Chesky tells CNBC Make It. "To innovate, you have to be very curious and you have to ask a lot of questions … you can't presume you know the answer, and if you think you do, you have to constantly reevaluate."
Part of Airbnb's mission, Powell adds, is to "build a culture of connection and belonging" — and anyone who wants to work for Airbnb needs to be open-minded and share this value.
"Human connection is at the heart of so much of what we strive to do and create, so anyone joining [Airbnb] needs to help build that," she adds.
Curiosity is a valuable soft skill that can help you gain an edge in today's competitive workplace, according to Barbara Petitt, a career development expert.
"Sharpening your curiosity skills will help you come up with great solutions faster and more creatively," she recently told CNBC Make It. To develop curiosity skills, she added, educate yourself on a topic you haven't studied before.
For example, Petitt shared that she recently "decided to learn more about how the brain works." "I read two books about neuroscience, and gained deep insight into how people process new information," she explained.
Highlighting such anecdotes, or interests, on your LinkedIn profile, job application or during an interview can help you stand out to potential employers — especially Airbnb.
"Isn't that what travel is all about?" Chesky says, linking curiosity to the company's goal of making travel safe and accessible for all. "It's the one time in people's lives where they're probably more open-minded than anything else about people, different cultures and the way they live."
Check out:
The 10 most in-demand entry-level remote jobs to land right now—and where to find them
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