41–50 of 98 posts
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 i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you expand on what you do for adding content to linked in every day? And how does that help?
I'd also like to know why, mainly because I decided to finish off my LinkedIn profile during a lazy afternoon and for the past couple of days I've had recruiters from Google, Microsoft and loads of other companies sniffing around my profile and on my website/github profile. Perhaps it was coincidence, or perhaps putting the right things in your profile tends to get you noticed?
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 i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd also like to know why, mainly because I decided to finish off my LinkedIn profile during a lazy afternoon and for the past couple of days I've had recruiters from Google, Microsoft and loads of other companies sniffing around my profile and on my website/github profile. Perhaps it was coincidence, or perhaps putting the right things in your profile tends to get you noticed?
Would you give me an example of "putting the right things in your profile" ? Might be far-fetched but, if I could see an example of "Mr.X"'s profile, that would be great starting point.
I added people that I had interacted with at my previous companies as connections, I listed any articles I've written, put up links to personal projects/sites and reduced my skills to a small list of strong skills. I also joined a few small but known groups related to my work and made a couple of posts. Nothing too special, just a few posts here and there to answer some questions. Finally, I added my Stack Overflow reputation and any "out-of-work" stuff I handle. Basically, going from 30% completeness to 100% completeness on my profile.
A few days later I checked back on my profile and found that my profile views had gone from zero to around 10-15 a day. I tend to get a lot of recruiter spam on there but have had a few EMEA recruiters from Google, Microsoft and Facebook stop by my profile. No offers, but always nice to see people interested in reading about me.
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 i…
The list of questions is good, too. It shows that you care about both the system and the work. Too many only care about their little piece of the pie and make everyone else's lives harder.
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 i…
Can you be more specific about this part: "Then, I contact those companies. I set up meetings when I can" How do you contact them, how do you pitch the idea of meeting with you?
I pitch the meeting as an informational interview to learn about the industry. I let them know I'm active / looking to enter the industry and I have a few questions for a 15-20 minute meeting.
I'll check LinkedIn / my personal network / company website to find the name and title of the person that I want to meet. It's generally the owner (smaller companies) or project director / department director.
If their email address is public, I'll send them a short (~5 sentence max) email. If it's not, I'll use LinkedIn / Rapporative / Spokeo / calling the company to dig out their email address.
I'll send a short email saying something like:
(I do marketing consulting, but this has worked for my buddy who is a Python Developer, and my ex-girlfriend who does front end design)
"Hey,
Do you have 15-20 minutes free this Friday for a short informational interview? I'm a Marketing Strategist in town and I'm curious about the skills you look for in marketers in your industry.
Would you be free to meet this Friday at 1:00pm? (If that time doesn't work, just let me know when a good time for you would be).
Thanks!
Kai"
If I don't hear back from them in 1-2 days, I'd do a quick follow-up call.
"Hey, this is Kai. I sent you an email a few days ago about setting up an informational interview. I'm curious, would this Friday at 1:00pm work or would there be a better time?"
If the meeting is set up, I'd write down the top 10 questions I have about the industry and bring the notes + a notebook to the meeting with me.
My goal is to keep them talking. My goal is to learn what problems they're facing as a department / as an industry, what skills they look for in new employees / freelancers, and who is the best person to know to find about open positions.
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 i…
Can you also elaborate on how you find the companies that fit those criteria?
I use a combination of Google Maps, LinkedIn, Googling, Virtual Assistants, and my friends.
Let's say I want to work for software development companies in Eugene, Oregon. I'd go to Google Maps and search for those (and similar) keywords. I'd make a list of companies in a Google Doc.
I'd go to LinkedIn and search for the industry in my area and see what companies match the size / description.
I'd Google for the industry and the location I want to work in. (Sites like http://siliconshire.com/ are great for Eugene).
I'd talk to my 10 closest friends and tell them the exact type of company I want to work for ("Hey Adam, I'm looking for a freelance Internet Marketing role with small (5-10) person businesses. I'm looking to work on Search Engine Optimization, Content Creation, and Social Media. I like companies that are focused on selling products, like organic soaps. Do you know of anything like that?)
I'd use a Virtual Assistant (like Fancy Hands) to automate some of this research.
Then I'd go through the list of companies I generate, visit their websites, read their blogs, and see 'Is this a company I want to work for?'
If it is, I contact them. If it isn't, I'm the wiser for researching.
Any tips for new grads? Currently in my last semester of undergrad.