But my perspective from the opposite side of the table. Build something that can't be ignored. Something I would share with clients or colleagues.
A recent example is the wind visualization map Ventusky. I had a lot of fun passing around that link during the recent "bomb cyclone". It not only serves as an eye-popping demo of what is possible with WebSockets, Canvas2D on mobile web. It represents a level of polish that commands your attention.
Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for in 2018!
It's not enough to just be the best. You have to be (one of) the first applicants. I wrote a simple scraper for a bunch of job-aggregators (indeed... jobserve...) that would send me a SMS and e-mail when a job matching my keywords was posted.
On the subject of keywords, sometimes jobs are posted with bad spellings. I work in 'telecommunications'. But there would be jobs posted under telecoms... telecomms.. telecomunications...
Sometimes you were a near perfect fit for a role, and sometimes you're a perfect fit. If you're a perfect fit, spend an extra few minutes finding the recruiters direct email and phone number. Then apply both via the website and then communicate directly with them.
Make the recruiter's life as easy as possible. In any e-mail you send, attach your CV again. Make sure you finish your email with your contact details.
Try to get good at understanding what an employer wants. Sometimes it's unwritten (someone hardworking.. someone loyal..) and sometimes it's written between the lines (e.g. 'experienced xyz needed' = 'we currently don't have skilled people or have too little of them'). Sometimes it's these unwritten requirements that are more or just as important as the written ones.
And finally, if you're unsuccessful, do your part in contacting the recruiter to thank them for their time.
1. Find your local job boards. A large number of agencies in my local area post on a local media job board, even though in my experience on the other side of the hiring process not many people use it. When going for senior roles this is a huge advantage, as many agencies I've worked with will pay 15% or more of a candidates salary as commission to a recruiter.
2. Go to user groups. It's by far the best way to know who is hiring, who you want to work for, who you don't, etc. Being a part of the "community" is also a great way to get "in" with an employer on the outside. It's shocking how many employers will hear that you regularly attend or talk at user groups, and think "wow, this guy must be an expert!"
3. This is kinda a mixture of the two above, but follow dev leads on Twitter for local companies. It cuts out the drivel from company accounts, and more often than not if their employer is hiring for a dev role they'll either retweet or tweet the job post themselves. There's probably some cool filtering you can do with a Twitter list and a few search queries.
Typically your connection will redirect you to the colleague in charge of your role, and you ho from there.
Every time I tried the fried/friend of a friend/connection route, I ended up wasting a ton of time.
It is very surprising how poor the average person is at selling themselves in their resume (i.e. not using action words and displaying leadership.) I would suggest looking at investment banking interview books/blogs for some examples, thats how I learned so well (think last time I was applying for jobs I had a 20-40% interview rate.)
Success is all about one thing: Identifying a company that has a problem. > https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/ask-the-headhunter/ask-...
This is somewhat vague. Do you have specific actionable steps one could take once they have identified those companies?
Find ways you can get referred-in to someone senior (anyone) who works at the target company. Look to connect with people, network at meet-ups, conferences, industry trade events.
Finally, don't be afraid to go direct. Ping decision-makers at the target company via Linkedin (C-Level, VPs, Directors). See if they would be open to a brief phone conversation. You're interested in learning more about them, what they are working on. And explore if you can help.
Generally, avoid HR Flunkies- their job is to say no.
http://ontology2.com/essays/ClassifyingHackerNewsArticles/
so that it sucks down job listings from "Who's hiring?" and does the same classification. If it hadn't worked on the first try I probably would have modified it to scan the local job board (which is unusable otherwise because it is choked with spam, such as a place called "CyberCoders" that lists hundreds of jobs in Atlanta in other places.)