Referrals

I must introduce this guide first with this preamble: I cannot for the life of me believe that people are not doing this. I mean that literally - I believe, and to a larger degree, I hope, that this is all useless information. However, I have helped close to three dozen friends go from getting nearly zero interviews or even responses, to getting them all the time, just by... get ready for it... this one simple trick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If your primary strategy for applying to jobs is by going to indeed.com, monster.com, jobs.linkedin.com - etc, and hitting submit on an application, then I am so happy to inform you that you're just doing this wrong. I have applied to many jobs this way, and I have sparingly seen a response. Why? Because I'm a shithead, and no one wants to hire a shithead. So, what did I do instead, and what did all my other shithead friends do instead? # What The Hell To Do Instead HAVE A RESUME THAT LOOKS GOOD I have seen so many resumes from newgrads and junior engineers with the most blegh looking resumes. I am not talking content here - by now, I hope you know how to make your resume sound, and this is not going to be a guide on how to make your resume sound good. But for the love of God, if you're making your resume on microsoft word, do yourself a favor and make yourself a resume on overleaf. Or whatever you want. Make it look good. Overleaf makes it hella easy, especially if you're a developer. Don't know LaTeX? Neither do I, and I got by just fine, and, remember, I'm a shithead. You can figure it out, I promise. Okay, have a nice looking resume? Good. ​ # Use LinkedIn to Contact People. Seriously. I have never, ever, ever, sent an application randomly through one of those crap-chute websites and expected to ever hear anything back. And guess what? Lo and behold, I nearly never hear back. So, here's what I do. Let's say I want to apply to a Spotify job. I'll go to Spotify's "careers at spotify" page, and look for two, three maximum, roles that sound right for me. Then, I go on linkedin.com and search "Spotify" and land on their company page. You should see something like this. Then, I click on the People tab. Then, I look at the filters that are immediately available. And I apply some filters! You want people in Engineering. You want people who went to your college. You want people who studied what you studied. You want people who are first, second, or even third connections. Just add as many filters as you can. The more related they are to you, the better! Then, start mass-adding people that clear the filters. If they are already a connection - great, send them a message. If they went to your school (this is very helpful) - great, send them a message. If they have your first name - great, send them a message. If they share fuck-all with you, great, send them a message! But they have to accept your connection first, of course, if you don't have Linkedin premium. A lot of them will. Some of them won't. Whatever, doesn't matter. You really just want 1-3 people. Once you have at least one person accept your connection request, send them a message! You don't want more than a paragraph. 1-2 sentences telling them why you are messaging them, 1-2 sentences introducing yourself, and 1-2 sentences to just shoot the shit. Something like: "Hey, my name is Texzone, and I am messaging you because I am interested in a job at Spotify. These roles I have sent below seem like a great fit for me (send roles after sending the intro message), and, I would love if you could refer me. I am a newgrad interested in backend development with a focus in data engineering, and I have some experience under my belt that I think would be beneficial to Spotify. [insert line about your qualifications; seriously, Keep It Simple, Stupid]. Thank you so much for everything, and have a great day!" That's it. "But u/texzone*, that's so annoying! I'm surely harassing them by doing this!"* You idiot. You know, if they refer you and you get accepted, most companies have a bonus that they offer the employee! It ranges anywhere from 2k-10k. And all they have to do is drag-and-drop your resume on some shitty internal portal, then continue picking their nose while watching whatever tiktok nonsense they were watching when you messaged them. Even if they don't get any money out of it, people like helping other people. Really, it's true. They do. And, with a referral, you are almost guaranteed an interview if you: 1. Have a clean looking resume and it sounds good. 2. You are applying to a role that matches your background/experience, at least loosely. 3. That's it. 4. Yeah that's really it. 5. I swear. Easy. I have applied to dozens upon dozens of jobs this way, and I have gotten interviews at nearly every single damn one. My resume isnt amazing. My experience isn't way out there. My friends? A lot of them had a clean looking resume, but had shit-all for experience. But they all got interviews as well. ​ I am sharing this because I am forced to believe people aren't doing this, and are instead hitting submit on some portal. This is by far the worst god damn way to ever apply anywhere nowadays. Unless your resume is filled with jargon, years of experience, and a sprinkle of FAANG, forget this ever being a smart way to apply to jobs. So, that's how I, a shithead, have gotten over a hundred (I'm seriously not kidding) interviews over three cycles of job hunts that lasted about 3-5 months each. I applied once when I graduated, once during COVID, and just finished a job hunt right now. I now have some impressive stuff on my resume, thankfully. I look less and less like a shithead, and more like a professional - much to the dismay of the world - and I still don't ever hear back (rarely) from applying to jobs "normally." I still do apply normally - I'll send out applications every month or so, even when I'm working, so I can keep interviewing and stay ontop of my interviewing game. But from, say, 50 applications I send out, I'll maybe hear one response. But when I apply the way I described above? If the person delivered, and referred me, I never don't hear back. Neither do my friends. And I will almost always find someone to refer me. So... yeah, I hope this helps. ​ Note: I guess this may not work for super small startups. Whatever. # FAQs 1. Is this method something you would recommend for internships? 1. No, not really - this method is something that I strongly encourage for full time jobs. Internships, co-ops, etc - those are a different beast and I know nothing about that. A college internship? ...Maybe. A High school one? ...Unlikely. 2. AM I SUPPOSED TO SUBMIT MY APPLICATION BEFORE OR AFTER THEY REFER ME 1. VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH AFTER! DONT APPLY, LET THEM APPLY FOR YOU! If you apply before they refer you, well, then, you applied, and they can no longer refer you. So don't apply unless they explicitly tell you to do so. 3. Am I supposed to contact recruiters? 1. Yes. They are excellent. Yes, do contact them. But honestly I've just never really had much luck with them. 4. Do I attach my resume unprompted? 1. Up to you really. I usually don't. But you can. Especially if u like it ## Edit This strategy may not be so effective anymore. Good luck, its rough out there right now.