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Looking for a Job Is Tough

(blog.kaplich.me)
184 points skaplich | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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friggeri ◴[] No.42132623[source]
One piece of advice I usually give is to avoid applying to jobs through company’s career websites or LinkedIn. Instead, tap your social network: see if there is someone you know/have worked with who either works at the company you’re interested in or is connected to it someone (as an advisor, investor, personal friend of someone in a leadership position) and ask them for a warm intro. Social proof gives you an advantage over the legion of anonymous online applicants.
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OccamsMirror ◴[] No.42132685[source]
> Instead, tap your social network

Do you have experience with doing this in a way that doesn't come across as desperate or too forward? How close do you need to be with this network? Is Linkedin connection enough, or would you only do this approach with people you've worked with?

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herbertl ◴[] No.42132782[source]
I like to think of it more as being intentional, and less as desperate/too forward. You want to know what you're looking for and, just as important, what you're not looking for.

In terms of reaching out, here are some things I did when I was job hunting:

1. The classic referral

Find the job post and work backwards from there (e.g., is there somebody I know (1st connection) or somebody who knows somebody I know (2nd connection) on LinkedIn who works at the company?).

If I knew the 1st connection, I'd reach out and ask if they were comfortable referring me.

2. The forwardable email

If it was a 2nd connection, I'd reach out with a forwardable email (https://also.roybahat.com/introductions-and-the-forward-intr...) and ask if they'd be able to forward an email and make an intro if they received a positive response.

3. Job hunting as an occasion

I made time to catch up with good friends. It felt energizing to get the moral support, with the added bonus that sometimes they knew people working at companies looking to hire. For example I would eventually get a job offer from Figma and that was because a good friend's partner worked there and was glad to refer me. I hadn't even heard of the opportunity before we talked.

4. The weak ties

I also made time to catch up with people I didn't know that well. There's some research on "weak ties" that suggest that people who you don't know well probably are exposed to a very different network to you, and will come across very different opportunities. The convo would be an opportunity for us to catch up and I'd talk about being open to job opportunities.

I hope this helps!

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1. skaplich ◴[] No.42137801[source]
This is really great advice. Thank you!