10 ms·

Horribly annoying to whom exactly? You? A person with a tech job who couldn't figure out how to create an email filter for the words "job" and "resume". OP incr

Horribly annoying to whom exactly? You? A person with a tech job who couldn't figure out how to create an email filter for the words "job" and "resume". OP increased his response rate almost 4x. Why wouldn't he recommend this practice?

evanelias 10y ago
Yes, annoying to me. It's unsolicited, unwanted email from a stranger, interrupting my concentration several times a day, and often not even intended to be sent to me. This is the very definition of spam -- why would you consider this an acceptable practice? There's no fool-proof filter for this. I can't safely filter out all email containing certain keywords, even from external email domains. I would get legitimate email containing those words from external domains -- legit candidates, people I met at conferences, etc. I don't argue that it's good to contact a real person when trying to get a job. But at least take the effort to ensure you're actually emailing the person you intend, not some other person who happens to have the same first name! Given that the OP applied to nearly three hundred companies, I can absolutely guarantee he just sent these out blindly based on guessing the first name. And seeing as he only got phone screens out of 11% of these companies, one would assume most recipients of these emails view them the same way I do: garbage.
- gxespino 10y ago
  Well then I suppose we agree. I'd never advocate mass emailing an unsolicited email without prior research. But, if I were looking for a job you better believe I'm gonna use this tactic, albeit in a calculated way (target 5-10 companies with very tailored emails and research on the recipient up front).
golergka 10y ago
> A person with a tech job who couldn't figure out how to create an email filter for the words "job" and "resume". These filters make mistakes and can hide something that you actually want to notice. It's a low probability mistake, but the price is too high to risk it.
- gxespino 10y ago
  Price too high is subjective but I get your point.

evanelias 10y ago

Yes, annoying to me. It's unsolicited, unwanted email from a stranger, interrupting my concentration several times a day, and often not even intended to be sent to me. This is the very definition of spam -- why would you consider this an acceptable practice? There's no fool-proof filter for this. I can't safely filter out all email containing certain keywords, even from external email domains. I would get legitimate email containing those words from external domains -- legit candidates, people I met at conferences, etc. I don't argue that it's good to contact a real person when trying to get a job. But at least take the effort to ensure you're actually emailing the person you intend, not some other person who happens to have the same first name! Given that the OP applied to nearly three hundred companies, I can absolutely guarantee he just sent these out blindly based on guessing the first name. And seeing as he only got phone screens out of 11% of these companies, one would assume most recipients of these emails view them the same way I do: garbage.

gxespino 10y ago
Well then I suppose we agree. I'd never advocate mass emailing an unsolicited email without prior research. But, if I were looking for a job you better believe I'm gonna use this tactic, albeit in a calculated way (target 5-10 companies with very tailored emails and research on the recipient up front).

golergka 10y ago

> A person with a tech job who couldn't figure out how to create an email filter for the words "job" and "resume". These filters make mistakes and can hide something that you actually want to notice. It's a low probability mistake, but the price is too high to risk it.

gxespino 10y ago
Price too high is subjective but I get your point.