What I learned today: Never apply for a job
venturebent.com
venturebent.com
"YCW11 company hiring front end dev! New office space! We <3 Django! Fridge stocked w/beer! "
There are a only couple YC companies I wouldn't want to work for, period. Mainly from the recent crop, but those bad seeds kinda ruin the whole "work for a random anonymous YC company!" recruitment tool.
The only occasion I've ever found justified for hiding the company name is when you're hiring in a town where the unemployment rate is > 25% and you can't manage the unemployment mob that inevitably forms outside the store.
There is only one reason those anonymous job postings exist - lazy hiring managers. I really wish pg would put his foot down and tell people to start standing up for their brand rather than hiding from it.
If an organization expects me to send a detailed resume to them without knowing the first thing about them, that starts the entire relationship off in a profoundly asymmetrical way.
I.e. Techcrunchs only reason for existence is to suck their own dick.
Now, YC companies seem the least likely to have anything to hide about themselves. That said, when I see an ad like this, my first reaction is to shy away - because even if they do have some legit reason for staying stealth (competitiveness, hiding YC funding, etc), they could also be doing this just to hide some fact that I might find negative later in the interview process. I've been burned one too many times by non-YC companies doing this to me, that I'm concerned to see YC companies doing it too.
What you're suggesting is that it's perfectly reasonable for someone to post a help-wanted ad in the classifieds saying "I need help! Call me to find out what with!" and to expect people to call you instead of the ads all around yours.
When the inevitable crash comes and the supply of tech jobs tanks through the floor... then we will put up with these crappy HR shenanigans.
Anyway, I'm starting to think that current online job searching is profoundly broken. It just seems to lead back to the clueless employment agents who know nothing about IT. Not much different from 20 years ago, it's just they have access to bigger databases and no incentive not to email scatter-gun fashion since there is no cost involved. I have no idea if there is a solution to this, but at least my retro approach eliminated two sets of middle-men: the jobs boards and the agents. It also put me very much in control which was an excellent feeling.
Who's with me?
So, your idea has "legs" :) Somewhere between a virtual personal assistant, a resumé-writing and mailing service, and a campaign planner for job seekers. I want royalties ;)
And, what if you move to another country or switch to a different industry? You still need recruiters in that case, so the Monster isn't releasing it's grip anytime soon.
Getting a job via a job board and recruiter won't be all warm and fuzzy like meeting an employeer at a conference. It will be more like buying a used car, but you still don't have to apply in this market.
When jobs show up in those sites, the company already failed at filling the position through trusted references. (or so is my impression)
Doesn't have to be bad ofcourse, but propably warrants more due dilligence on the job seekers part than a good reference.
If you're looking for a job as a place to make friends and work with interesting people, fine, that's good stuff. But, many places of work are simply businesses, trying to make money for their owners. Recruiters want to find competent and experienced workers who can come in and get stuff done. It's not all lowballing and keyword bingo.
When we have openings they're usually reluctant to apply because the positions normally benefit from a solid math or sciences background, or they'd rather be working on more general-purpose software than that used for drug R&D.
That's mostly why we use job posting sites and we've actually managed to find solid team members via StackOverflow and some local job posting sites.
Personally I tend to only passively job-hunt by keeping my CV and skillset up to date. I don't think this approach has done too poorly for me, although possibly i'd be more excited to head into work for google or facebook every day.
Letting other people do the work of identifying the positions that need or benefit from your specific set of skills has its benefits and I tend to get a steady stream of contacts from the corporations I find worth while/interesting.
Now if I was dead set on gaining entry into a high quality, high-stakes start-up, I could definietly see the benefits of leveraging my network to find the best possible matches.
My first job (sweatshop consultant doing mostly COBOL) was acquired through the college placement office. My next job (a year later) was through a recruiter who found the first employer a reliable field for harvest. That second job worked out pretty well, I was there for seven years. The technology was not very interesting but it was as very good fit for me as I was getting marriage and family life underway.
After that, everything has been by referral or word of mouth from friends/colleagues. None of those have been duds.
Similarly, for an employee, there are benefits of going out of their own network to get a job -- You get to work in a completely different setting (which may be a better learning experience for you), and you get to build a completely new network.
Asking surface level questions that could be Googled in 2 seconds borders on insulting. They certainly will judge me by how much I know about their company, and how enthusiastic I am about the company. That needs to run both ways.
My wife just says I was looking for an ego-stroke. Well... why wouldn't I? I've worked hard for years both on building up my skills, but also trying to build up a reputation. To gloss over that and not do any research beforehand on someone you're planning on giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to over multiple years is just lazy.
These were people that called me, not the other way around.
The job/labor/work market is broken, and I don't know if there's a way to 'fix' it in the short term. It will evolve in to something more workable, but I don't see that happening too quickly.
Previous work is listed on the resume.
I didn't suggest stalking a twitter feed, but googling for me would indicate I do have a twitter account. And a blog. And a github account. And a podcast. And that I run a local user group.
To then be asked "so, what's your involvement with the tech community?". Or "what sort of tech work do you engage in outside of office hours?". That's just lazy. There are 2 people on the planet with my name. This isn't a case of "John Smith"-itis.
I also hate the calls from recruiters (I don't often take) that start with "I found your resume...." and end with "... send me your resume". Umm... you have it. YOU FOUND IT ONLINE. THAT'S IT. Sure.... they may have found one from 8 years ago - I get it. I tell them - "it's updated on my website and in multiple formats". If they can't be bothered to go to my website to download it, we're off to a bad start and this relationship isn't going to work.
The last time I had to interview (being an engineer), I was sent 7 resumes on a Monday for interviews being conducted on a Wednesday. I checked out any links they put on their resume, apps in the appstore, etc. If they did not feel they could be bothered to tell me about something, then it will remain a mystery to me.
So... you did research on someone that made themselves researchable. Good job. That's what I expect, and I'd expect that you'd expect that too.
There is a reason CareerBuilder drops millions on a SuperBowl ad each year and Monster spent over $1.2M at an employer party in Las Vegas this last weekend. If all jobseekers knew what Nick discovered, there'd be no reason for these websites to exist!
Yes, I work at LinkUp - but since anyone would include it I figured I'd be forgiven for including it
It sounded easy to us when we started too, but being accurately able to directly link to a company's job is a far trickier business than it should be - not to mention being able to tell the job's title from its location from its description. If you'd like a sample, figure out how to parse CDW's career section - https://cdw.taleo.net/careersection/10200/jobsearch.ftl - which is actually one of the easier ones:)
I interviewed at CB and that was the impression I got.
It seems like they are dotcom era relics that are destined to be made obsolete by the new job search paradigm coming from LinkedIn or Indeed.
It takes quite a bit of effort, so I might not manage to pull this off. Applying for jobs and posting positions on job boards are different sides of the same lazy coin. It takes a lot of talent and effort to become a developer with such an excellent network and reputation that you can generate employment opportunities with a phone call. This is true on the other side as well - many companies just don't have the talent and/or aren't willing to put in the time to get to know who the good developers are. Both sides have to be deeply engaged in the community.
There's a practical issue here, of course - there just may be opportunities that you want to pursue, and a resume, phone screen, technical grilling, and so forth may be the best way to go. And some companies have to staff up so quickly that they just feel like the have to cast a wider net. But both cases do raise certain warning flags... if you're a developer, why aren't you generating offers that interest you from within your own network? If you're an employer, why are you expanding so rapidly that you're unable to recruit from a reliable network?
In the best case scenario, almost all of the above is unnecessary because you've already worked together, so there's no need to take estimates and make guesses about what kind of employer/employee a new prospect would be.
If all you have for work and pleasure involves sitting at a computer then you are cutting out a large part of being alive. Plus you are risking your health. You typecast yourself as a nerd but that does not mean you must handcuff yourself to a computer desk.
Edit: one other benefit, if you find a wall you can just go during its open hours and meet people after you get there. In my experience, people will see you struggle with something and swing by to give you a quick tip ("try putting your feet a bit higher", "try using your left hand over here", etc...)
*Indoor because its less intimidating and the walls often have custom made climbs for various skill levels.
You've gotten over many difficult things in life. This difficulty may require different skills to overcome, but you're probably capable of it. You'll probably find it rewarding.
I did.
I did event videography up until last fall (went away to college), every gig I got was because I knew person planning it (theatre: I knew the director, weddings: I knew the wedding planner)
I had a day job working at subway last summer. I got the job by going to the manager (whom I've known for many years) and asking for the job.
My current internship is at the same company my father works at. I went to the CTO and asked for an internship. It probably helped that my dad works there.
I've also applied for several jobs. Every job I applied for at my college I was turned down for, every other internship I applied for told me "lol, freshman".
I'd also feel really weird getting a job via acquaintance. Its like a kind of nepotism I don't want or need.
There's no real point. Don't bother trying to just do the same damn thing everyone else has done. Recruiters and hiring managers get 1k+ resumes a day.
Do something crazy, something nuts. Stand out from the crowd. The last thing you want to do is blend in because you just turn into another sheet of paper in the pile, even if you are near the top!
I'm going to put forth an example here: my cousin just graduated from high school in Grant's Pass Oregon. Small school, small town.
He's going to Oxford.
OXFORD.
Good for him! And he asked me what he should do for a graduation speech. I said "do something they'll never forget - make them remember you in your town forever"
His graduation speech was a two-parter with his best friend. The first part was an adaptation of "who's on first" and the second part was Dr. Seuss.
They'll never forget him, and they are sad he is leaving.
Do the same thing when applying for a job. You won't regret it.
(unless it isn't your style - it might be weird then and as my wife said just now, "context is king")
Sometimes you should go for what you have, especially if its highly competent, is vouched for by a valued employee and meets your requirements.