«Write a song about the company and send them a video of you singing or rapping it. Like to bake? Send them a homemade cake decorated with the company’s name and your contact info. Love to run? Use a phone GPS running app to draw your route on a map, then go to a large field and run a path in the shape of the company’s logo. You get the idea – anything goes.»
Seriously? I stopped reading here. What kind of company will hire a programmer, an architect or a lawyer that bakes a cake with their logo in it? I hope none, for the world's sake...
Now programmers/software engineers are in a quite special position, especially in SV and similar locations, where it is a seller's market.
For most others it is about getting noticed, if a hiring manager has 100 CVs sent to him or her, how will you stand out? Baking a cake will not help you if you don't have a good CV/qualifications but it will help you get noticed and stand out.
Another way, which is just as silly as baking a cake is to buy adwords with the hiring managers name [1]. It is a novel strategy to get noticed.
Point is that it is much easier if you have a network to rely on for introductions, weak ties are very important when job hunting. So if you don't have any network to support you, you have to become creative in order to get noticed.
My skill set consists mainly of lots of iOS (worked on over 2 dozen apps in the store, including major brands), Mac development, Ruby + Rails (more experience in the backend side of things than the HTML/CSS/JS portion), but I've dabbled in a lot of things over the years.
I don't know how often people actually Google themselves, I do sometimes but that is only to see if my 'personal SEO' efforts are paying off. Thinking back, how many times have you Googled your self? Paying for adwords on exec names are a novel strategy, just like the cake baking and song writing. It may work, it may get you noticed but it may also totally fail.
Well I googled myself just now, as a direct result of reading this thread. The last time must be well over a year ago. I don't think I even bothered the last time I looked for a new job.
Other way around :-) When you are looking you a job at a particular company, put up google ads for all relevant executives and hiring managers names, so when they google themselves, they find you. That came out zen.
> What kind of company will hire a programmer, an architect or a lawyer that bakes a cake with their logo in it?
A company that bakes cakes.
> I hope none, for the world's sake...
So you think bakers should be hired without actually seeing if they can bake?
Or are you saying that a programmer, architect, or a lawyer shouldn't be allowed to bake cakes?
Or that they shouldn't be allowed to switch careers and bake cakes?
Or are you saying that if someone well qualified for a job bakes a cake, they shouldn't be hire?
Or maybe, just maybe, you missed the point. Considering you stopped reading, I'd venture a yes. Especially considering some of the things people have done to get jobs. Creating videos and websites specifically targeting companies.
Also giving their website a facelift can be extremely insulting.
"Your website sucks, and I can make a better one, even though I don't know anything that went into making it, or the reasons why it looks like it does".
Programmers, designers, etc., should follow her example. I don't mean create a site about yourself dancing...but create something of interest about something you care about...web devs have a huge advantage here in being able to disseminate their work in a cheap, creative medium.
- Find someone who works for the company (on their website, or linked-in, whatever). Tell them who you are, and ask if there's any jobs available. They'll probably send you to a hiring manager, along with some kind of recommendation. If you've already been vetted by a team member, you're streets ahead of all the anonymous resumes the hiring manager gets.
- Go to a meetup, conference, or some other industry event. Talk to people.
Everyone with a job knows a hiring manager, and the hiring manager will trust them more than all the job seekers banging on their door.
This might fail if you want to work for Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc. I've heard Apple employees tend to get stalked a lot by people who want to work for Apple, so they've got the same kind of defences that hiring managers have. You'd probably need to really stand out to convince them you're the kind of person they should introduce to their boss. But these companies already have pretty active recruitment. You want to target the companies with poor recruitment (i.e. most companies).
Most companies kind of know they need more staff, but can't be bothered going through the process of advertising, weeding out hundreds of unqualified candidates, then having to pick between the 2-3 good candidates who get on the shortlist. It's almost as stressful for them as it is for the applicants. If a good candidate presents themselves before they've bothered advertising, they'll often take them without bothering to advertise (expensive), weed through the chaff (time consuming), and picking from the shortlist (stressful) ... all of which creates the risk that they'll either not find the right person, or hire someone who doesn't quite fit simply because they felt they were the best of a bad bunch. And if they don't like you, it's easy enough to say "sorry, no positions are currently available".
> Find someone who works for the company (on their website, or linked-in, whatever). Tell them who you are, and ask if there's any jobs available. They'll probably send you to a hiring manager
Have you actually tried that? Did it work?
I tried getting an introduction 2 foreign tech companies in Japan. One from an ex-coworker and another from a friend of a friend. In both cases the position was not in their team, and they told me there was nothing they could do for me, I'd have to apply by sending my resume via the company's website. Which I did, and then got no response.
And these were people I know and am in good terms with, e.g. I have met person1 several times since he left the company, and have been to person2's place. I wouldn't even bother contacting a random person.
To be fair, I have managed to get introductions at 2 other companies, but in both cases they weren't highly-sought tech companies.
My (admittedly limited, but not null) experience with Japanese business culture suggests that things may be a bit different there. From my understanding, it takes a very long time for trust between businesses (in my case), or between businesses and employees to be forged. The people you talked to may not have had enough pull yet to make anything happen outside of their own teams.
Sorry if it wasn't clear, but I'm talking specifically about Japanese branches of foreign tech companies like Google and Facebook (though the actual companies were different).
> My (admittedly limited, but not null) experience with Japanese business culture suggests that things may be a bit different there.
On the contrary, if a Japanese company is hiring and I know someone who works there then I'm 99% sure my resume won't be redirected to /dev/null. Very likely I'll get an interview, otherwise at least a polite but human-written refusal letter.
Japan I think might be tough for that. As an example of culture shock for me, I remember being introduced to X where they would name the most immediately recognizable company which X had worked for. That was the default. As opposed to say, who they worked for now, or their talents or achievements.
More knowledgeable HNers can probably chime in here, but my impression is that in Japan particularly, respectability and credentialism are played very hard.
I think this is good advice with a very major footnote. You can't reach out to somebody the first time inquiring about introductions or jobs. That will piss them off and they will ignore you.
I had an acquaintance from college write me one day and ask me how I was. I wrote back to say hello, thinking he wanted to reconnect. In his next response he started asking me about connections for summer internships. I didn't respond. Not intentionally, just because I realized he was trying to leverage me for connections and I had no interest in talking further. In retrospect I could've been more helpful as I've been helped a number of times by people I did nothing for, but realize that most people don't like to feel used.
Of course you ultimately want to help yourself, but to be effective, you've got to start further upstream. Spend time getting to know the person, what their interests are, and see if you can first help them. Once their barrier is down they are going to be a lot more helpful.
Sure you can. Just don't reach out to an old friend who you've lost contact with. That just seems sketchy.
Being upfront ("I'm looking for a job, and I'd like to know what kind of platform you guys are using / what kind of skills you are looking for ...") is also good. As long as you're polite.
If a stranger asks you for help, your first response will be "sure, why not?". You're not trying to leverage a friendship by cold calling some guy at a company - it's just business. Cold calling friends, on the other hand, can seem sketchy. If you do want to cold call a friend, it's probably better to ask advice.
Actually, it's probably always better to frame it as advice, since the people you cold call won't want to give you a firm answer.
- Find out some info about someone influential in the company you want to work for, camp outside their office, follow them home, then make a big design of the company logo (slightly improved) on their front lawn, using gasoline, and set it on fire! It'll be memorable, take time and effort and show a penchant for fun.
- Inception, make them think that it was their idea to hire you. Ref: Darren Brown/Inception
You left out throwing a rock through their window with your CV wrapped around it. And changing their desktop wallpaper to an image of you doing something funny. And modify their cellphone ringtone to a musical piece of you singing "Hire me maybe!".
(Restraining orders and getting hired are the same thing, right?)
I got the job I have now from meeting the CEO of the company on a train to London. He was sat next to me and saw me applying for a job at one of his competitors & politely asked me what I thought I was doing. After 40 minutes of me showing him my C.V, my university work and explaining why I really wanted my job in digital marketing, he offered me an interview for an internship.
Of course I had to impress him enough to get the internship and impress the company enough to work there full time now, but it was meeting the CEO that got me the opportunity in the first place. I thank that random moment of pure chance for making that connection.
Connections are great, but most of us don't have them from the get go. So I guess we have to make them.
I love this article though. Deffo something I'd do if I was trying to break into an industry or area where I know no one.
That's a pretty awesome story, but I have to agree with dystroy on this one. It really was pure chance that you made that connection and it's unlikely to happen again. Are you sure you weren't just stalking the CEO and then luring him in by applying to a competitor? ;)
I'm surprised they didn't recommend the best job hack of all: work for free.
Seriously, find some business you're interested in (less than 10-20 employees ideally), work directly for/with the CEO or main decision maker and work for free for 3 months. Entrench yourself in their business & make yourself indispensable. THEN, when your time comes up to leave, they're not only going to feel the pain of physically missing you, but you'll also have LEVERAGE so you can actually negotiate a salary (rather than just taking whatever they give you).
I personally find it unprofessional to work for free. If you do not create enough value to warrant at least minimum wage, the company shouldn't bother hiring you in the first place. Working for free is exploitative and skews the job market.
That said, your strategy may work, making yourself indispensable is a brilliant strategy in general but how will you live for those three months? Especially if you are just out of school or similar. I am also not sure how it will affect your salary - compared to a person who would get hired (with a salary) straight away.
Rich people / daddy pays for my cellphone/car/rent tactic.
People find it distasteful because they can't "compete" on that level. Having even just the basics covered indefinitely goes a long way, especially if you're actually working on a career of any sort. Opens up unpaid internships and fun little entrepeneurial experiments that wouldn't be possible if you had to work a paying 9-5 to cover the rent.
I know this because there were tactics I had to pass up because I've had to pay my way (food, rent, bills, the works) since I was 17.
This is very true. If you have the possibility to do entrepreneurial experiments or similar, do it! I don't wish to begrudge anyone that, I am of the opinion that you should just any competitive advantage you have in your favour. Be it rich parents or a very creative mind. It is unfair, for those who can't 'compete' in that advantage but that is life I guess?
But I still believe unpaid internships/work for free is a bad thing, with a few exceptions such as unpaid internships in exchange for college credits. It basically benefits no one in the long run. Not companies, not the economy, not the individuals.
> This is very true. If you have the possibility to do entrepreneurial experiments or similar, do it! I don't wish to begrudge anyone that, I am of the opinion that you should just any competitive advantage you have in your favour. Be it rich parents or a very creative mind. It is unfair, for those who can't 'compete' in that advantage but that is life I guess?
Oddly enough this is a form of using existing connections and social networks to find work. You are simply using resources that aren't directly related to the company you are working for.
That said, you are displacing workers who do not have existing wealth and family connections to back their life. They cannot reasonably work for free and compete with your existing resources/wealth/support. Doing this isn't ethical and promote systemic unemployment of those who cannot work for low wage or free.
I think the difference is people going out of their way to work for free at a company they enjoy and wouldn't get a chance to work at normally, vs. the expectation that you must work for free, like the traditional interns for Lawyers.
You're right, in the latter instance, there is such a large supply of interns working for free that it becomes the expected route of entry into these firms and creates a big market distortion. You could argue these tend to be for high paying jobs requiring special skill-set, and thus could view 'complusory' internship as an extended 3-month interview.
But if you go and work at a start-up for free, you're there because you want to, not because it's expected.
I crashed at my sisters for 3 months and then lived in an apt for $300 for 9 months while making $250/month for the first 3 months.
Ended up getting a job there, working my way, getting recruited & then quitting & starting my own business.
Not a "rich person", just got tired of getting rejected from starbucks/target/caribou & figured I'd might as well spend my time being useful rather than complaining about being unemployed.
While I will say you were not supported by "Daddy" but were by your sister. Not everyone has a family member where they want to get a job. 3 months is a not a short stay.
That being said some people need to realize you have to sacrifice having your own room sometimes if you are going after a goal. Good that you did that and it worked out.
you're not a "rich person" by your definition of whatever that means, but how do you live on $250/mo when just rent is $300/mo? You're short $50/mo and you didn't eat or travel yet.
For other people's definition of "rich person" magic money from nowhere that pays your bills is sufficient.
The whole point of this isn't being hired straight away - it's about finding leverage in a situation in which you have none.
Substituting 3 months of low pay (and subsequent similarly small increases) in exchange for 3 months of free work and (up to 10k higher starting salary in my case), is a no brainer if you look at the big picture
Getting to work directly for/with a CEO or main decision maker, for free or not, is probably at least as hard as getting a real job. Most people don't have a stash of work lying around that a person with unknown credentials and no context can just pick up and execute. Bringing a person up to speed to do real work takes real effort which is wasted if the person doesn't work out - so if you need an extra person on the team, you'd rather spend some time making sure you're hiring the right person, and then we're back to square one.
Then there's the issue of unpaid labour to do indispensable work to begin with: Unless in a well-defined intern position - that is, a person that isn't actually expected to achieve much besides some hands-on learning - it's culturally poisonous to have unpaid labour around. As a boss, you're telling your employees (the ones that get paid to do indispensable work) that there are people who can and will do their jobs for free. If that's not the case, then what you're doing isn't actually indispensable, and won't give you much leverage.
I'm sure the method worked well for you, but I'm also quite sure that there were specific circumstances in your case that facilitated that success, such that it doesn't translate directly to general advice. I'd even venture a guess that those circumstances, applied slightly differently, could have resulted in a regular job.
You're -surprised- they don't mention, in an article about how to get a job -without network connections- a strategy that A) requires you to know the CEO of a company well enough that they will let you just turn up at their office, without an employment relationship, and make yourself indispensible, B) generates you zero income for some period of time, which in general might be considered contrary to the primary goal of 'finding a job', and C) is not a very common way of getting a job, to the extent that I'd be surprised if you could cite more than one or two examples of it ever having worked for anyone. You're 'surprised'.
No. A free trial is different than a cheap product. When we evaluate vendors for our multi-million dollar data warehouse hardware, we expect them to come to our site and demo their product for free.
In the U.S., this could get the company in trouble, since letting you work for free violates federal and state minimum wage laws. Even interns, if they're doing work that benefits the company (as opposed to being primarily of benefit to the intern), need to be paid at least minimum wage.
I think if you find yourself in a situation where you're baking a cake to get a job as anything other than a bakery chef, you need to rethink your life.
People are starting to take the whole "creative resume" thing to absurd extremes. But there's a valid point hidden in this blog post, which is to say, standing out from the crowd isn't easy. Startups need people with hustle, and showing some hustle isn't a bad thing.
Hustle doesn't necessarily imply competence, however, which is why she suggests #3 ("Show them you can do the job").
But the thing people miss about gimmicks is that they have to be relevant: to you, to the job, to the company. Gimmicks for gimmicks' sake (logo drawing, cake baking, etc.) are just silly.
I very rarely write cover letters, but I do remember getting an interview once and being told specifically that they weren't impressed by my resume but loved my cover letter.
Even after that I still rarely take the time to do it.
N = 1, but whenever I've hired, I've definitely noticed cover letters, or lack thereof. Not bothering with a cover letter tells the hiring manager that you are just shotgunning resumes out there and didn't spend too much time thinking about the company fit.
In fact, so few people seem to write cover letters these days -- let alone compelling ones -- that they can be a strategic differentiator in their own right.
It seems pretty high payoff for people who might otherwise not get a phone screen. When I was tasked with shuffling through resumes and rating them (and seeing other engineers do the same), less than 5% of applicants had cover letters, and the presence of a cover letter almost guaranteed a phone screen. This included really weird cover letters that dedicate a paragraph or two to food or pets or something, but not cover letters that are obviously sent out to many companies with at most a few words changed.
I hope he was just trying to be imaginative, and did not litterally mean that.
As a computer vision engineer, I know that my hite rate when I was sending CVs suddenly got higher when I put a QR code on the top of the resume.
The managers would get interested, try the code with their iphone and land on my blog.
When I came to the interview, I always had the question : "but why did you do that?!", and started with a few more points than the other candidates :).
I think his point is good, just not the way he said it :)
If you "do something that obviously took a lot of effort and time" doesn't that just make an employer think that you are a bit desperate, and sacrifice any leverage you might have at a later point in negotiations?
Apply for lots and lots and lots of jobs. Make applying for jobs your job. The few times I didn't use a connection to get a job I probably applied to somewhere between 50-100 positions that I thought I might like.
Don't stop applying just because you get an interview. I walked away from a number of good jobs because I didn't like the people I interviewed with. Having more applications out there meant I didn't have to start the pipeline up again.
Don't give up on places that don't hire you within a couple weeks. In those cases where I did get a job this way, it was usually one of the earlier applications a month prior where I took that position. Some places, even fast and nimble startup like companies might take a few months to reach back.
Google usually takes among the longest in my experience. Months after I start my job search they finally get back to me.
As someone who is entering the job market for the first time with no connections to speak of, this was a nice read. I just wish it had been longer.
I think the hard part is coming up with an way of setting yourself apart. I partially agree with other readers that baking a cake doesn't make much sense, but the idea still holds. With so many resumes to go through, pretty much anything that doesn't get you trashed immediately is good.
I'd find this advice a lot more credible if it were accompanied by examples of it actually working. If someone spent a long time on some irrelevant GPS drawing of a logo it would creep me out.
Seriously? I stopped reading here. What kind of company will hire a programmer, an architect or a lawyer that bakes a cake with their logo in it? I hope none, for the world's sake...