As to the last point, I've known or been referred by someone on the inside for all my career jobs that I eventually ended up in. If I didn't, I'd try to make a

As to the last point, I've known or been referred by someone on the inside for all my career jobs that I eventually ended up in. If I didn't, I'd try to make a contact on the inside, to find out what the company and team are like, and who's the hiring manager, before applying. I think that's just good practice, call it pre-screening. No need to go through the whole lengthy (and expensive for the company) applying and interviewing process if a casual meeting discussion first doesn't go well. I did cold apply and get a job offer once. I accepted on contingency because their contract had a weird clause. They balked at the contingency and I canceled the acceptance. That was a waste of all of our time.