What I learned today: Never apply for a job • Hacker News Board

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#71

Post by phlux » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 7:29 AM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #70

bpick wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What someone should do is create a site where you can email your resume/letter in and have it attractively handwritten on nice letterhead. Who's with me?

It's not a bad idea, but the issue is going to be to find enough people with attractive handwriting...

Girls.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#72

Post by m0nty » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 7:42 AM UTC

bpick wrote: post #55

m0nty wrote: post #35

Just recently, I took a couple of steps to enhance my job searching. First was to post my CV/resume to jobs like monster.com; the second was a very old skool writing-a-letter-on-goddamn-paper-and-mailing-it-out-to-would-be-employers. The first has produced nothing but clueless phone-calls from agents. The second landed me a job with >90% certainty; I have a second interview next week. I am very well-qualified for the…

What someone should do is create a site where you can email your resume/letter in and have it attractively handwritten on nice letterhead. Who's with me?

Key to my application is I can write a good letter and CV/resumé, whereas most people can't. They also don't know how to research their industry: finding the right companies, working out who to address the letter to, how to followup a few months later (or by phone a week later) without sounding pushy.

So, your idea has "legs" :) Somewhere between a virtual personal assistant, a resumé-writing and mailing service, and a campaign planner for job seekers. I want royalties ;)

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#73

Post by mkramlich » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 7:50 AM UTC

I completely agree with the article. Not a week goes by where I don't see this reinforced further. Just had lunch today with a guy I met through a meetup, and it might lead to paying work of some kind if I wanted it. A lot of the stereotypical application process and resume paradigm is all about filtering out and sorting random strangers who ping you across the transom. And it's only a proxy for the thing you want, not the thing you want directly. By going around that, by avoiding it, you avoid a lot of the pain and inefficiency that's experienced on both sides of the table. Go meet people directly. Show them what you're like. Smile. Laugh. Be kind. Don't smell bad. Be efficient. Do good work. Put examples of your stuff out there. Be findable. Be ambient. Increase your "surface area" and more opportunities will come to you. And if you're prepared when those opportunities present themselves, and you recognize them, you suddenly experience "luck" (where luck = preparation + opportunity.)

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#74

Post by mkramlich » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 7:51 AM UTC

shawnee_ wrote: post #11

While we're on the topic, I'm just going to say that those "anonymous" job postings here on YC drive me nuts "YCW11 company hiring front end dev! New office space! We There are a only couple YC companies I wouldn't want to work for, period. Mainly from the recent crop, but those bad seeds kinda ruin the whole "work for a random anonymous YC company!" recruitment tool.

explanation: stealth mode and/or 20-somethings

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#75

Post by motters » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 9:13 AM UTC

aik wrote: post #59

motters wrote: post #48

The trouble with this strategy is that it's really just cronyism - employing your friends and relations - rather than trying to do a less heavily biased search for the best candidate. Resumes/CVs, imperfect though they are, at least represent a sort of level playing field, whereas employing your friends via opaque methods is blatantly cronyistic.

Not necessarily. My company is often hiring and I have friends who potentially need jobs, however unless I don't think they would be a good (or great) fit, I probably wouldn't mention it to them.

In that case the thing you need to ask yourself is whether you're employing the person because they're the best from a range of possible candidates, or whether you're employing them merely because they're your friend.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#76

Post by clobber » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 7:27 PM UTC

ecaron wrote: post #22

Sites like Monster are going the way of the yellow pages. And just like you could replace the yellow pages with asking neighbors who they recommend, there is a balance between finding good sources (using Google to find a plumber, using Indeed/LinkUp* to find jobs) and understanding the value of networking. There is a reason CareerBuilder drops millions on a SuperBowl ad each year and Monster spent over $1.2M at an em…

Good point about Monster and CareerBuilder.

I interviewed at CB and that was the impression I got.

It seems like they are dotcom era relics that are destined to be made obsolete by the new job search paradigm coming from LinkedIn or Indeed.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#77

Post by xyzzyz » Sun, Jul 10, 2011, 11:25 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #70

bpick wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What someone should do is create a site where you can email your resume/letter in and have it attractively handwritten on nice letterhead. Who's with me?

It's not a bad idea, but the issue is going to be to find enough people with attractive handwriting...

Quite contrary -- there are a lot of people who are able to handwrite really nicely, especially among women. Since it's so commonplace and it does not require any training (since everybody got one in primary education), you can pay really low wage for such services.