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Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

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Re: Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

#6

Post by civilian »

Have a well connected and up to date linkedin profile, abd accept the random friend requests from recruiters.

go to offline networking events.

get to know your local group for whatever you program in. Seattle-python-interest-group has periodic job emails, and more importantly if I asked them for help I would probably get a couple responses.

Re: Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

#7

Post by kaisdavis »

I don't look for jobs that have been posted — my feeling is that jobs that make it to Reddit / GitHub / Craigslist / Monthly Hiring Threads, are all jobs that have been picked over by people working at (or close with) the company.

I make a list of the type of company I want to work with (I want to be paid $X, they should use this technology, I want to solve this problem or work on this project) and then I backtrace it and figure out which companies match those criteria.

Then, I contact those companies. I set up meetings when I can. My goal is to learn:

  * What sort of projects they work on
  * What challenges they're facing (geez, our biggest client needs _IDEA Z_)
  * What skills they look for in new hires / freelancers
  * Other companies in the area / tech / market
When appropriate, I tell them about my background and skills and ask who I should be in contact with to learn when new opportunities open up.

Then, I do two things

If they mentioned a huuuuge problem / pain point they're facing, I send them a follow-up email talking about the problem they mentioned, what I can contribute to solving it, and suggesting a time for another meeting.

I follow up with any other companies / people they mentioned and set up a quick coffee meeting.

Periodically, I'll check in with my contact. Nothing spammy, just an update about something relevant to their industry / problem.

Rather than fight over the same jobs that everyone else sees on 37Signals / Reddit / GitHub / HN hiring / Craigslist / LinkedIn / Etc, I want to be at the top of mind with the companies I want to work with.

Every job I've had — salary or consulting - has come from someone inside of the company calling me up, telling me about a position they have, and asking me if I want to interview. This bypasses the slog through submitting a resume and fighting against 20+ other candidates for a position. This gets me the positions I want working on the problems I want to solve.

Re: Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

#8

Post by negrit »

I don't want to sound like a douche but I've never looked for a job on a website. Each time i needed a job i got an offer from a company or from someone in my network.

To grow your professional network I would recommend to attend to meetups, hackathons, user groups or even better to get involve in the organization. It worked pretty well for me.

I met some incredible people and got some good jobs offer.

Re: Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

#9

Post by eel »

I found my current position via LinkedIn. I also searched with StackOverflow Careers, the HN monthly hiring threads (which weren't useful due to a lack of posts for my area), and the job pages of local companies. I probably would have used more sources if it had taken any significant amount of time to find a job.

My previous position was via a university career fair when I was still a student.

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