Every job in the last 12 years that I have had in IT has been with ZERO connections. System architect positions. All hiring was based on my resume.
Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
31–40 of 48 posts
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#32Two of my current contracts are from an open source project I wrote and put on Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gpsmapper/) It's not very complicated but people really like it.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#33My first job out of college was a product manager at CNET. I applied to several jobs there over the course of a few months, but heard nothing back. I eventually got a call from a hiring manager for a position, but he didn't find me in the internal hiring database. No, he found my resume posted on Craigslist and decided to call. I interviewed and got the job. Still surprises me.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
My first job was an internship with someone I met during my short stay at college. I didn't know him very well at all, but we happened to talk a little bit and after I told him I wanted to get into the computer industry he let me know they had an internship available.
ah nice, yeah it seems like internships during college is a good first step since the barrier to entry is a bit lower ... from there you can start building your network
I think it's worth mentioning that college wasn't really the important factor; the important thing was seeking out and finding people who were doing what I wanted to be doing.
You could go the route of posting your resume to job boards, writing great cover letters, etc; but knowing people is a two-way street. Not only can they give you an in, they can also tell you if a place is any good or not to work for.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#35my current job had no connections involved. in fact, i turned down a perfectly good job in favor of this one simply because it had connections involved. i wanted the job that i earned instead of the one i was handed. but, i'm kind of hardheaded about that type of thing.
Think about it from a company's perspective. They can hire somebody because he performed well for a few hours in an interview, or they can hire somebody who performed equally well in that interview, and comes highly recommended by a respected staff member.
The staff member probably knows the applicant very well, so its basically like having the applicant be interviewed for months instead of just once. Sure the staff member could be recommending them just because he's a friend, but I'm assuming most people would not risk their reputation recommending someone who was incompetent.
So the job could have been just handed to you, or you could have actually passed the equivalent of an interview that lasted years.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#36me
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#37I got my current job as a Software Developer without any connections. Sent in my resume, came in for the interview, and brought my laptop to show off some of my personal projects on top of whatever we talked about.
Having experience that isn't related to work or school seems to be key.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#38I got my first job without any connections. Saw an ad and applied and get through the interview. If you see the job description and feel that you can do that job perfectly most of the time it should not be a problem
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#39I've gotten two jobs that way. My first job out of school, and 7 years later when I was laid off. Most of my jobs, however, have come through personal contacts with other engineers.
Re: Ask HN: Who has gotten a job with absolutely no connections?
#40my current job had no connections involved. in fact, i turned down a perfectly good job in favor of this one simply because it had connections involved. i wanted the job that i earned instead of the one i was handed. but, i'm kind of hardheaded about that type of thing.
A job that you got via connections who know and trust your technical ability is an earned job.
It can also often be a ticket to bigger money because they'd rather pay someone they know and trust than take a risk with someone they don't.