The primary way I've found work in the past is usually through my professional network in some way (15+ years experience). I have landed a couple on linkedin (recruiter connections), and a couple through a random recruiter message. I do see lots of jobs posted and I have activated premium so I can see how many apply, and it looks like for the top jobs (faang and hot startups) there are hundreds of applicants just through linkedin. It got me thinking about how many companies actually hire directly through job listings. I know that times are different than in the past, but I'm curious what the HN community's experience has been recently.
Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
1–10 of 89 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#2I posted here the steps I'm following when looking for a job:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36494126
And I would say I am pretty successful.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#3I posted here the steps I'm following when looking for a job: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36494126 And I would say I am pretty successful.
That reminds me of something sort of similar I observed. I was driving with a friend who drives all day for a living. He said that the fellow drivers told him that if you want to get over and you're in heavy traffic, roll down the window, and say "Hi there, do you mind letting me in?" I watched him do it and sure he showed me putting on his blinker didn't work at all, but the direct ask always worked.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#4I posted here the steps I'm following when looking for a job: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36494126 And I would say I am pretty successful.
Yup, I would say I got 9 in 10 jobs this way.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#5The past few times I've searched for a job I've literally opened Google and searched "sysadmin, Helsinki". Sometimes that points me at specific linkedin posts, random recruitment sites, and other times individual company pages.
I read a bunch and apply to three at a time, based on how the adverts sound, or what I know of the companies. The last time round I found many posts and made a ranking of the options based on the fact that people I knew said "Company XXX is awesome". Luckily I got an offer at the company at the head of my list.
Linked in I treat more as a meta/comedy site, and I've never seriously used it. I have past working experience, but I never react to things and I've made three-four posts in the past ten years. So "networking" isn't really something I handle explicitly, but I talk to people in local tech companies randomly in the pub, or via friends of friends, so I feel like I know the major companies, and the ones with good/bad reputations for staff-treatment, and technologies.
TLDR; "Networking via friends has lead to random comments over the years about companies, and using that I make a list of 10ish companies. I haven't the concentration to deal with many overlapping applications so I apply to max three jobs at time. If one rejects me I apply to the next on my list and proceed until employed".
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#6The older I get, the worse I find the experience. I've had so many poor experiences with recruiters over the years, I think I'm becoming allergic.
It's getting harder to pierce through the BS layers with all that new meat on the market, and to make the matter worse, recruiters are even less skilled than they ever were and are often offshored now. It's insane today.
When I'm on the hiring side, we can't find candidates, and on the other side I can't get through to the right people.
My advice is put out feelers with anyone you've had a good relationship with in the past, often via your old networks and ex-colleague, you'll jump in front of the queue and avoid the pre-screening nonsense. They know what to expect from you and they would prefer to have a familiar face they can rely on in their internal struggles.
That's how I've landed my last 2 jobs without an interview.
The flip-side is always to be helpful to other colleagues. At some point, everyone needs a hand - be that guy - that lends it freely. They'll always look out for you in the future if you look out for them in the present. Become a knowledge source in the company and industry. Soak in as much as you can, become a reference, expose yourself to everyone's job to some degree, providing it isn't a dead zone of silos and the people feel right (not cagey). HTH.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#7"Looking for work" on LinkedIn and replied to one of the hundreds of messages.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#8you dont use linkedin premium to look at linkedin jobs. just ignore that whole section
just set to looking for work and respond tor recruiters
sign up to recruitment firms and let them send you roles
seek referrals from greedy employees looking for referral bonuses
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#9I posted here the steps I'm following when looking for a job: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36494126 And I would say I am pretty successful.
That reminds me of something sort of similar I observed. I was driving with a friend who drives all day for a living. He said that the fellow drivers told him that if you want to get over and you're in heavy traffic, roll down the window, and say "Hi there, do you mind letting me in?" I watched him do it and sure he showed me putting on his blinker didn't work at all, but the direct ask always worked.
Is that assuming windows are rolled down or do they just speak nice and loud? I'd consider most drivers in my area to be relatively easygoing in heavy traffic but this sounds fun to try nonetheless.
Re: Ask HN: How do you go about finding a job?
#10I've basically given up at this point, but the only interview I've got was after directly responding to someone's LinkedIn post and then sending them a connection request. It didn't go anywhere after that though.
In previous years it was nearly as bleak, and eventually just lucked out, either posting on HN or maybe applying on LinkedIn. But.. that was in the before times, now it's fair for me to ignore the overwhelming majority of recruiters, especially if they're based out of India. They're all just copy/pasting the same shit job and working as a tertiary resume hocker, might not even know he name of the company or anything about it.