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Reach out to people you've worked with in the past. After having five years of experience, you should have worked with at least a handful of people who need som

Reach out to people you've worked with in the past. After having five years of experience, you should have worked with at least a handful of people who need someone to fix another broken website. These could be managers, people on your team, people on OTHER teams, vendors, salespeople you've spoken to, anyone. Ideally, you should ALWAYS keep in contact with people you've worked with, even if it's just emailing them "Happy Birthday!" every year for the rest of your life, but the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the second best time to do it is now. A warm referral is the best way to get a job. It's tough doing cold outreach. Good luck!!!

a_t48 3y ago
So much this - nearly every job I’ve gotten in tech has been due to knowing someone working there, or knowing someone who knows someone.
- mattigames 3y ago
  I have around 13 years in the business but I suck at socializing and I'm thankful this hasn't been the case for me, I would be broke if I depended on acquaintances to find work, instead I just have landed positions by applying to offers found at LinkedIn and elsewhere.
  - JackFr 3y ago
    You don’t need to socialize - a recruiter reached out to me and I let him know that I wasn’t in the market, but the guy who had sat next to me for 3 years (open plan offices FTW!) at my last job would be perfect. We weren’t terribly friendly but certainly got on professionally.
- tomp 3y ago
  Interesting. Literally every job I’ve gotten was either through a recruiter or cold outreach.
  - JackFr 3y ago
    How far along are you in you’re career? The first 15 years I was recruiter or responding to ad, but after 20 mostly network.
    - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
      > after 20 mostly network. I suspect the importance of networking and the likelihood of ageism are often related.
      - a_t48 3y ago
        It might also be related to industry size. I've done games and robotics - both relatively small industries compared to "web".
    - tomp 3y ago
      13 years so maybe
  - deathanatos 3y ago
    And I'm 2 cold outreach, 1 recruiter, 1 from network. Everyone's experience is different?
- xlbuttplug2 3y ago
  The problem being that when you muck up the interview, you get outed as a quack to someone you know.
  - jpadkins 3y ago
    flopping interview != quack Everyone knows that interviews have high false negative rates (depending on your hiring criteria). You have to mentally guard yourself that interviews are not a complete judgement of you; they are at best a small pinhole view into your capabilities.
    - bdcravens 3y ago
      Early in my career I was an ace at learning just enough to talk the talk in an interview (I was playing the risky game that I'd have the chops to learn the skills when I needed them, which thankfully I always did)
      - disgruntledphd2 3y ago
        I had a boss who was incredibly good at this strategy. She would take the time between the interview and job start to learn what she needed to know.
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > The problem being that when you muck up the interview, you get outed as a quack to someone you know. The downvotes you got were undeserved. For most job markets: If an ideal candidate is interview-disabled, their odds of being hired are dismal.
  - a_t48 3y ago
    For me personally - if I refer someone and they mess up the interview, I wouldn't take it as them being a "quack". If I referred someone it's likely I thought they could do the job fine, it's just that they didn't do a great job convincing my coworkers - and that's okay.
fhaldridge7 3y ago
I would it very strange to get happy birthday messages from former colleagues. Do people really do this?
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  Yes, but in my limited experience it's been former managers who are looking to see if they can re-hire you (at either your previous job or wherever they moved onto themselves).
  - fnordpiglet 3y ago
    I think that’s just selection bias. Managers became mangers because they’re the type of person that keeps in contact with their prior coworkers and associates.
- sanderjd 3y ago
  I'm not really a birthday person in general, so no, not that specific thing, but I definitely have a set of like five to ten past coworkers who I really respected and enjoyed working with, some as peers and some as managers and mentors, and maybe about once a year I'll think "I wonder how XYZ is doing" and reach to them.
herbst 3y ago
I would be totally weird out if some of my past co-workers suddenly reaches out to me with bullshit smalltalk to ask for a job. Or random people from my past sending me happy birthday ever year. I am probably not social enough to understand that, but that sounds like a lot of work just to stand out as kinda weird.
- icemelt8 3y ago
  Yes you are not social enough to understand this, I regularly get mails or messages from past colleagues who I've never talked to in years suddenly ask me that they are looking for a job and if I know an open position. I absolutely understand their quandary and go out of my way to help them out, cuz we're humans.
  - herbst 3y ago
    Well ok that's one thing. But op was suggesting to cold reach sales people, vendors and anything you had contact with plus basically creating a list of 'humans you might have use for in future' and their birthdays for your personal benefit.
    - sanderjd 3y ago
      > But op was suggesting to cold reach sales people, vendors and anything you had contact with No, it's not "cold", the point is that you had contact with them, they know you. It is totally normal to say, "hey not sure you remember me but we worked together on XYZ project in 2017, and I noticed you're at a company now that is interesting to me, can we grab a coffee to catch up?" > plus basically creating a list of 'humans you might have use for in future' and their birthdays for your personal benefit. No, keeping track of people you enjoyed working with and reaching out to them periodically is not "keeping a list of humans you might have use for in the future", it is having a network of professional connections that you haven't lost touch with. I think something you might be missing here is that this is not a unidirectional selfish benefit. You know what I love? When people I enjoyed working with reach out to me. I'm glad they kept track of me and I'm glad they thought to reach out, and I'm glad to both catch up personally and see if I can be helpful to them professionally. This is what makes the world go 'round, and it's not weird distasteful or nefarious, it's a very good system.

a_t48 3y ago

So much this - nearly every job I’ve gotten in tech has been due to knowing someone working there, or knowing someone who knows someone.

mattigames 3y ago
I have around 13 years in the business but I suck at socializing and I'm thankful this hasn't been the case for me, I would be broke if I depended on acquaintances to find work, instead I just have landed positions by applying to offers found at LinkedIn and elsewhere.
- JackFr 3y ago
  You don’t need to socialize - a recruiter reached out to me and I let him know that I wasn’t in the market, but the guy who had sat next to me for 3 years (open plan offices FTW!) at my last job would be perfect. We weren’t terribly friendly but certainly got on professionally.
tomp 3y ago
Interesting. Literally every job I’ve gotten was either through a recruiter or cold outreach.
- JackFr 3y ago
  How far along are you in you’re career? The first 15 years I was recruiter or responding to ad, but after 20 mostly network.
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > after 20 mostly network. I suspect the importance of networking and the likelihood of ageism are often related.
    - a_t48 3y ago
      It might also be related to industry size. I've done games and robotics - both relatively small industries compared to "web".
  - tomp 3y ago
    13 years so maybe
- deathanatos 3y ago
  And I'm 2 cold outreach, 1 recruiter, 1 from network. Everyone's experience is different?
xlbuttplug2 3y ago
The problem being that when you muck up the interview, you get outed as a quack to someone you know.
- jpadkins 3y ago
  flopping interview != quack Everyone knows that interviews have high false negative rates (depending on your hiring criteria). You have to mentally guard yourself that interviews are not a complete judgement of you; they are at best a small pinhole view into your capabilities.
  - bdcravens 3y ago
    Early in my career I was an ace at learning just enough to talk the talk in an interview (I was playing the risky game that I'd have the chops to learn the skills when I needed them, which thankfully I always did)
    - disgruntledphd2 3y ago
      I had a boss who was incredibly good at this strategy. She would take the time between the interview and job start to learn what she needed to know.
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  > The problem being that when you muck up the interview, you get outed as a quack to someone you know. The downvotes you got were undeserved. For most job markets: If an ideal candidate is interview-disabled, their odds of being hired are dismal.
- a_t48 3y ago
  For me personally - if I refer someone and they mess up the interview, I wouldn't take it as them being a "quack". If I referred someone it's likely I thought they could do the job fine, it's just that they didn't do a great job convincing my coworkers - and that's okay.

fhaldridge7 3y ago

I would it very strange to get happy birthday messages from former colleagues. Do people really do this?

Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Yes, but in my limited experience it's been former managers who are looking to see if they can re-hire you (at either your previous job or wherever they moved onto themselves).
- fnordpiglet 3y ago
  I think that’s just selection bias. Managers became mangers because they’re the type of person that keeps in contact with their prior coworkers and associates.
sanderjd 3y ago
I'm not really a birthday person in general, so no, not that specific thing, but I definitely have a set of like five to ten past coworkers who I really respected and enjoyed working with, some as peers and some as managers and mentors, and maybe about once a year I'll think "I wonder how XYZ is doing" and reach to them.

herbst 3y ago

I would be totally weird out if some of my past co-workers suddenly reaches out to me with bullshit smalltalk to ask for a job. Or random people from my past sending me happy birthday ever year. I am probably not social enough to understand that, but that sounds like a lot of work just to stand out as kinda weird.

icemelt8 3y ago
Yes you are not social enough to understand this, I regularly get mails or messages from past colleagues who I've never talked to in years suddenly ask me that they are looking for a job and if I know an open position. I absolutely understand their quandary and go out of my way to help them out, cuz we're humans.
- herbst 3y ago
  Well ok that's one thing. But op was suggesting to cold reach sales people, vendors and anything you had contact with plus basically creating a list of 'humans you might have use for in future' and their birthdays for your personal benefit.
  - sanderjd 3y ago
    > But op was suggesting to cold reach sales people, vendors and anything you had contact with No, it's not "cold", the point is that you had contact with them, they know you. It is totally normal to say, "hey not sure you remember me but we worked together on XYZ project in 2017, and I noticed you're at a company now that is interesting to me, can we grab a coffee to catch up?" > plus basically creating a list of 'humans you might have use for in future' and their birthdays for your personal benefit. No, keeping track of people you enjoyed working with and reaching out to them periodically is not "keeping a list of humans you might have use for in the future", it is having a network of professional connections that you haven't lost touch with. I think something you might be missing here is that this is not a unidirectional selfish benefit. You know what I love? When people I enjoyed working with reach out to me. I'm glad they kept track of me and I'm glad they thought to reach out, and I'm glad to both catch up personally and see if I can be helpful to them professionally. This is what makes the world go 'round, and it's not weird distasteful or nefarious, it's a very good system.