I will not reply to you or if I do my response will be neutral.
An employee can get in trouble if he is critical of his current employer.
Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#12We developers keep hearing that we need to do "networking." In general, I don't even know what that means -- but here is an excellent example of what you should do.
Well, yes and no. The point of "networking" is to develop a web of connections within one's industry (or within the business world in general). Build a strong enough network, the theory goes, and you'll never have to go in cold. You may not know someone at every company out there, but if you've got a strong network, you'll get a referral from someone you know who knows someone there.
The worst time to be networking is when you're looking for a new job. (That's not to say you shouldn't do it; it's just a bad time to be starting the process.) The best time to network is when you're not looking. When you've got no hidden, job-seeking agenda in mind, you're psychologically in a less desperate and more genuinely curious place. And the people you talk to will be less skeptical or cynical, because they'll see that you're not just using them to get a job. The "networking" becomes less transactional and more social, and the connections developed are more likely to be mutually interesting and beneficial.
That's not to say that reaching out to someone within a company is a bad thing, even when applying for a job. Indeed, it's better to have anyone on the inside than to drop a resume completely blind. And it's better to get the inside scoop on a company that's made you an offer than to accept the offer without diligence. Ideally, though, you don't want your first contact with someone inside the company to be simultaneous to your application to work there.
Much more can be said about "networking" -- how to do it, when to do it, ethical considerations about it, social qualms about it, or even whether "networking" is really a less ideal form of some other, presumably more meaningful activity (e.g., making friends on an agenda-free basis). But I'll leave those considerations for a different discussion.
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#13Yeap. Being on the employed side of things now, I've had acquaintances reach out to me with questions about the company/work/culture and ask me to pass their resume along. It's only a few minutes of my time and people are quite appreciative of it, so I'm always happy to help out.
Thanks. For some of these companies, I don't know anyone. Would you just cold-email someone, even if you didn't have any acquaintances there?
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#14I will not reply to you or if I do my response will be neutral. An employee can get in trouble if he is critical of his current employer.
I completely agree.
But it's still possible to respond neutrally, truthfully, and informatively.
For example, it's possible to just answer with positive aspects and leave out the negatives--that's still valuable info.
Or someone can honestly talk about whether the culture is, for example, high-energy or more laid-back -- each has its advantages.
Are you saying that it is _not_ at all worth cold-emailing a peer in a potential workplace?
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#15Yeap. Being on the employed side of things now, I've had acquaintances reach out to me with questions about the company/work/culture and ask me to pass their resume along. It's only a few minutes of my time and people are quite appreciative of it, so I'm always happy to help out.
Thanks. For some of these companies, I don't know anyone. Would you just cold-email someone, even if you didn't have any acquaintances there?
I wouldn't, for the most part. Not saying that it would or wouldn't work out, but I don't feel comfortable with doing that. Going through friends who might know someone there could help, as that way you wouldn't be a complete stranger. The only instances where I might do so is if I know someone there with which we share the same background (e.g. same college) which provides some sort of common ground.
I've only ever cold e-mailed recruiters (or some job listing e-mail), which is pretty much expected.
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#16You can do this, but you'd be much better off finding a common connection, perhaps through LinkedIn. No company is perfect, but someone who knows you only through a cold email would be a fool to trust you with criticism of his employer.
I'm not sure why you think that your personal site proves that you're "worth responding to." The problem with your post is that it's all about you - you're not thinking of what's in it for the recipient of your email, or what risks it poses for them.
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#17I would try something slightly different. Use a 'Trojan Horse' topic or subject. Email saying you are trying to use the company's product or service in a current project.
Ask them questions about the product or service. If they are enthusiastic and helpful, that will be an indicator that the company is a good place to work. If they don't respond, or forward you to marketing or sales, that tells you something else about the company.
After the initial contact, you might then ask questions about the company in general. Something like: we like the product, but are unsure if the company will be around in a year, etc. At that point the developer might just give you the standard company line, or might be more forth coming.
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#18I will not reply to you or if I do my response will be neutral. An employee can get in trouble if he is critical of his current employer.
I completely agree. But it's still possible to respond neutrally, truthfully, and informatively. For example, it's possible to just answer with positive aspects and leave out the negatives--that's still valuable info. Or someone can honestly talk about whether the culture is, for example, high-energy or more laid-back -- each has its advantages. Are you saying that it is _not_ at all worth cold-emailing a peer in a p…
"neutrally, truthfully, and informatively" is very subjective.
I don't believe it will give you any insights.
The only thing that can give you some sort of vague idea of the workplace is check the Linkedin profiles of ex-employees, how long they stayed there (doesn't work for new startups...) ?
Even better if they are part of some sort of meetup, you can casually meet them and chat, but that's borderline stalking :)
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#19When I applied, I used Glassdoor/Facebook/LinkedIn to search through my current social/professional network and to find people one layer removed from me who worked at my now current company. I then asked my contacts how well they knew the employees at my current company. One was able to put me in touch via email. I contacted the employee via email, said I need 15 minutes to chat with him and that it needed to be fast because I was going in for an interview that afternoon. He never got back to me but wound up being one of my interviewers. Obviously, I got the job.
Short version, showing interest helps. Showing you are connected helps.
Re: Ask HN: Do you cold-contact peers when considering working at a company?
#20Offer to take them out to lunch. Keep the email short. Five sentences or less.
That usually works.