Day: November 10, 2025

• Tesla’s Cybertruck lead is departing the company.
• Siddhant Awasthi thanked Elon Musk in a farewell post, referencing the billionaire’s $1 trillion pay package.
• Awasthi is the latest Tesla exec to leave this year, and his exit comes as Cybertruck sales struggle.

The Tesla executive in charge of Elon Musk’s “apocalypse-proof” pickup truck is leaving the company.

Siddhant Awasthi, Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model 3 program lead, said in a Monday post on X that he was exiting the EV maker after eight years.

Awasthi, who started at Tesla as an intern and helped launch the stainless steel-clad truck in 2023, didn’t give a reason for his departure.

The ex-Tesla executive thanked Musk in his goodbye post and appeared to reference the approval of the billionaire’s $1 trillion pay package at the company’s annual shareholder meeting last week.

“I’m confident Tesla will nail its next big mission (especially after last week), and I’m truly excited for the next chapter of my life,” Awasthi.

Awasthi — who, according to his LinkedIn profile, also took over Tesla’s Model 3 program in July — is the latest executive to depart Tesla this year.

Milan Kovac, who led Tesla’s Optimus program, announced his departure from the company in June, while top Musk lieutenant Omead Afshar was reportedly fired several weeks later.

Vice president and head of North America sales, Troy Jones, also left in the summer, and Tesla’s director of battery technology, Vineet Mehta, announced he would step down in April. Peter Bannon, the head of Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer, left in August after Musk shut down the project.

Awasthi’s departure comes as Cybertruck sales continue to struggle. Tesla sold just 16,000 pickups in the first three quarters of the year, according to data from Cox Automotive.

That’s a long way from the 250,000 target Musk suggested Cybertruck production could eventually reach.

The trapezoid electric truck has also faced 10 recalls in two years. The most recent saw Tesla issue recalls for around 6,200 Cybertrucks over concerns the optional light bar may fly off because the wrong glue was used to secure it.

• Job seekers should prioritize networking over applying for roles, says this CEO and tech veteran.
• Having five conversations a week can help you stand out in a sluggish job market.
• Even if you have a job, building genuine relationships now can help you in the future.

In a tough market, applying to jobs can bring an instant sense of relief.

The problem is, it often doesn’t bring much else.

Rather than applying to job after job, you’d be better off having five conversations a week with people at companies where you might want to work. That’s the advice of Alan Stein, CEO of Kadima Careers, which offers job seekers coaching on how to get six-figure roles.

Following his “five chats” rule doesn’t mean asking each person for a job, he told Business Insider.

“Go in there with an intent to learn about them,” he said.

The conversations a week are a way of “leveraging your relationships” and building others, Stein said.

The 3% ROI

Maintaining and adding to your network is important because it can be hard to stand out in a sluggish labor market. Someone on the inside might be able to put in a good word for you with a recruiter or hiring manager — or even just let you know when a posting might be about to open up.

That matters because it’s often better to make contact with key players before a job gets posted. And when a role does appear, applying early can sometimes give you a better shot at landing an interview.

Any edge can help in a market where it’s hard to draw notice simply by applying.

Aaron Cleavinger, a managing partner at Murdoch Mason Executive Search Group, said that job seekers he speaks to often devote 80% to 90% of their time to applying for jobs. Yet, he estimates that those efforts only result in an interview about 3% of the time.

That’s why he encourages people to rejigger how they divvy up their days.

“If your return is 3%, then spend 3% of your time applying to jobs,” Cleavinger said.

Start when you don’t need something

Having conversations each week isn’t just important when you’re in the job market. If you’re still employed — maybe you’re hugging your job — there’s less pressure, and building ties can be a lighter lift.

“The time to start networking is when you don’t need something from someone else,” Cleavinger said.

If you have a job, having one or two conversations a week with people about their work can be invaluable in cultivating relationships, he told Business Insider.

Cleavinger said it’s best when networking is rooted in “genuine curiosity” about people with whom you have real relationships. It might be people you’ve worked with, though it’s not limited solely to former coworkers. Your network might include vendors or consultants you’ve worked with. It can also just be people you know, but who are willing to give you the time.

“You talk to the people who are your champions and who love you, and then ask them who else they’d recommend,” Cleavinger said.

Don’t make it awkward

If you’re reaching out to someone you know, set something up by saying something like, “I’d love to just catch up,” he said.

Viewing the conversation this way, Cleavinger said, can also prevent you from feeling like you need to slip in a ham-handed job ask at the end of a call. There’s also no need to request that the person let you know if they hear anything about a role.

“If they have a positive view of you after the conversation, they’re going to think of you anyway,” he said.

Cleavinger said that instead of asking for a job, inquire about other people you should connect with who might be willing to have similar conversations.

“It’s expanding the size of your listening audience, because recency is going to remind them that you’re amazing,” he said.

Stein, who previously worked in Big Tech at firms including Facebook, Google, and Salesforce, said he recently followed his own guidance on networking by meeting with a high-level executive in Silicon Valley.

Stein said conversations like these are a chance to build a genuine connection. The exec ended up giving him some “fantastic advice,” including guidance on how Stein could use his experience in tech to differentiate his company’s offerings.

Another perk of networking? Human-to-human interactions are also often far more enjoyable than submitting applications.

“It’s more fruitful,” he said. “And you make a friend or two sometimes.”