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Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

jobgen.io

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Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#31

Post by netaustin »

nathantotten wrote: post #18

I pretty much disregard every application that doesn't have at least a basic note explaining why you want this particular job. Maybe getting a job is a numbers game, but I don't agree that getting a good job is.

100%. My company does too, and in many cases, we ask applicants to include a secret phrase (usually "Welcome to the World of Tomorrow") to indicate that they've actually read the job description. I think if you're going to look at it as a numbers game, you're going to be better off sending 10 quality applications than 100 shots in the dark.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#32

Post by jeremyt »

taietel wrote: post #27
smt88 wrote: post #6

I actually really disagree that it's a numbers game. Yes, it is a numbers game if all you do is send a generic application. But it's not at all a numbers game if you only apply to companies where you have some human connection. For privileged people, that means a relative, family friend, or friend. For others, who have no useful connections, it's possible to make these connections by cold-messaging people on LinkedIn…

Thanks for the feedback. I built this as a senior in college, when my classmates and I didn't really have any useful connections to people in the industry. I did try cold-emailing and cold LinkedIn messaging people, but received few to no replies. It's definitely something that can be integrated into this webapp though, adding support for emailing/reaching out directly to hiring managers.

If you'll send me one of your cold emails, i'll tell you why you got no response. I've seen it all.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#33

Post by smt88 »

taietel wrote: post #27
smt88 wrote: post #6

I actually really disagree that it's a numbers game. Yes, it is a numbers game if all you do is send a generic application. But it's not at all a numbers game if you only apply to companies where you have some human connection. For privileged people, that means a relative, family friend, or friend. For others, who have no useful connections, it's possible to make these connections by cold-messaging people on LinkedIn…

Thanks for the feedback. I built this as a senior in college, when my classmates and I didn't really have any useful connections to people in the industry. I did try cold-emailing and cold LinkedIn messaging people, but received few to no replies. It's definitely something that can be integrated into this webapp though, adding support for emailing/reaching out directly to hiring managers.

I know you worked hard on this and it solves a perceived need. All I'm saying is that optimizing for quantity won't get the best result.

There's no substitute for meeting people and creating genuine relationships, and there's no way to "hack" or speed up that process. That really is a numbers game: you may make 20 friends, and only one of them results in a job. But each friend requires genuine time and effort.

As far as being a senior in college, what about talking to alumni, especially recent ones? What about connections from internships?

Machines can't do the most important part of finding a job, which is to increase the number of people in the world who know your name and like you.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#34

Post by smt88 »

taietel wrote: post #27
smt88 wrote: post #6

I actually really disagree that it's a numbers game. Yes, it is a numbers game if all you do is send a generic application. But it's not at all a numbers game if you only apply to companies where you have some human connection. For privileged people, that means a relative, family friend, or friend. For others, who have no useful connections, it's possible to make these connections by cold-messaging people on LinkedIn…

Thanks for the feedback. I built this as a senior in college, when my classmates and I didn't really have any useful connections to people in the industry. I did try cold-emailing and cold LinkedIn messaging people, but received few to no replies. It's definitely something that can be integrated into this webapp though, adding support for emailing/reaching out directly to hiring managers.

I know you worked hard on this and it solves a perceived need. All I'm saying is that optimizing for quantity won't get the best result.

There's no substitute for meeting people and creating genuine relationships, and there's no way to "hack" or speed up that process. That really is a numbers game: you may make 20 friends, and only one of them results in a job. But each friend requires genuine time and effort.

As far as being a senior in college, what about talking to alumni, especially recent ones? What about connections from internships?

Machines can't do the most important part of finding a job, which is to increase the number of people in the world who know your name and like you.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#35

Post by mundo »

StavrosK wrote: post #17
cwt137 wrote: post #16

My department just finished a cycle of hiring developers. We could tell which applicants mass applied to jobs and used a generic cover letter. They are probably was just playing the numbers game. Since they didn't care enough to at minimum change or add one or two sentences to make the cover letter unique to our job posting, they didn't get far in our hiring process.

When evaluating a developer, do you care more about whether they're a good fit for the job, or whether they spent more time than necessary applying for your job? I mean, how much time did you spend approaching each developer individually? Since you used an ad, I'm guessing zero. I'm not saying you should have tailored your ad to each person, but why do you care if they burn time for you, rather than evaluate them on…

Hiring managers don't look poorly on generic applications because we're prima donnas who want people to jump through hoops and waste time, we consider generic applications to be an indicator of a weak candidate.

If it's not immediately clear why, imagine that you're a fantastic developer who can get any job you want. How many jobs do you apply for per day? Would you use a web app that automates applying to jobs, even if it worked really well and were free?

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#36

Post by bjt »

nathantotten wrote: post #20
StavrosK wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When evaluating a developer, do you care more about whether they're a good fit for the job, or whether they spent more time than necessary applying for your job? I mean, how much time did you spend approaching each developer individually? Since you used an ad, I'm guessing zero. I'm not saying you should have tailored your ad to each person, but why do you care if they burn time for you, rather than evaluate them on…

If someone can't be bothered to spend 10 minutes writing a cover letter for a job they want then I would consider them unqualified. I don't want to work with somebody who refuses to put in a bit of effort to get what they want. I spend at least a few hours writing job posts. Why shouldn't I expect the same?

But you don't customize the job post to each applicant, right? So "the same" would be a developer spending a few hours writing a cover letter and resume that are sent to a bunch of potential employers without customization.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#37

Post by pkaye »

StavrosK wrote: post #17
cwt137 wrote: post #16

My department just finished a cycle of hiring developers. We could tell which applicants mass applied to jobs and used a generic cover letter. They are probably was just playing the numbers game. Since they didn't care enough to at minimum change or add one or two sentences to make the cover letter unique to our job posting, they didn't get far in our hiring process.

When evaluating a developer, do you care more about whether they're a good fit for the job, or whether they spent more time than necessary applying for your job? I mean, how much time did you spend approaching each developer individually? Since you used an ad, I'm guessing zero. I'm not saying you should have tailored your ad to each person, but why do you care if they burn time for you, rather than evaluate them on…

It is a little bit of both really but along a spectrum. If a person is really really good you don't care much about their resume. If they don't have relevant experience but spent some time on their resume it helps show interest. If you are fresh out of college, the second approach is probably all you have.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#38

Post by mdavid626 »

nathantotten wrote: post #20
StavrosK wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When evaluating a developer, do you care more about whether they're a good fit for the job, or whether they spent more time than necessary applying for your job? I mean, how much time did you spend approaching each developer individually? Since you used an ad, I'm guessing zero. I'm not saying you should have tailored your ad to each person, but why do you care if they burn time for you, rather than evaluate them on…

If someone can't be bothered to spend 10 minutes writing a cover letter for a job they want then I would consider them unqualified. I don't want to work with somebody who refuses to put in a bit of effort to get what they want. I spend at least a few hours writing job posts. Why shouldn't I expect the same?

I don't understand this. I'm a developer, I create products. I'm not a professional writer. For me this means you value >>presentation<< more than my skills, despite I won't be a professional writer in your company...

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#39

Post by throwaway47861 »

If the author reads here and is accepting feedback: please let go of these ancient and inefficient tropes called Resume and Cover Letter.

They're quaint, meaningless and "work" because of old people's habits and for no other reason. They have no real useful purpose.

"I am really enthusiastic about not ending up living in the streets" can be a good cover letter too, you see.

EDIT: The classic letters are a one-way tool. That's not okay. A 20-minute chat serves the same purpose and gives more info to both sides.

Re: Show HN: A Webapp to Auto Apply for Jobs

#40

Post by dimitriraj »

taietel wrote: post #2

Hi guys, I built this after spending over 2 months applying to 100+ jobs on all the job boards and managing everything through a spreadsheet as a senior in college. I want to make the job seeking process easier for everyone so I built JobGen, a way to auto-apply to hundreds of jobs in 2 minutes. It's built with Rails on Heroku, and on the backend uses image recognition and DOM parsing to identify fields to submit you…

Ok, I was going through your website. i found few issues. 1. the progress bar and the percentage do not match up. 2. I think you are storing the search results in sessions. Try to clear out the sessions every time. when i did a search on a term it shows me the result when I did a new research or refresh the page, the results are not being updated with new search 3. Upper case on the nav bar tabs labels which looked weird to me. 4. Applications remaining and upgrade plan gives me the same page. I would expect application remaning 10 should be a label not anchor tag 5. when I click on my profile and try to open current resume. I would expect resume to get downloaded. But it takes me to a blank page
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