5 ms·

We’re familiar with the art of the job search: day after day, scanning the classifieds, Monster, Indeed, Craigslist, etc. for open positions; forever touching u

We’re familiar with the art of the job search: day after day, scanning the classifieds, Monster, Indeed, Craigslist, etc. for open positions; forever touching up résumés to appeal to specific job requirements; writing endless cover letters that never seem to sound quite right; applying to dozens, maybe hundreds of jobs per week; staring vacuously at the familiar monitor glow at 3 a.m. This sounds horrible. I've never gotten a job that wasn't through personal or professional connections, so for most of them even handing over a resume was essentially a formality. I work in a specialized field, which I think accounts for why this is possible. But I do only have a humanities education, and most of my day to day skills have been developed since leaving school (without a degree, mind you). It's just a matter of finding a niche.

johnobrien1232 14y ago
For people who don't have personal or professional connections, sometimes applying to job postings is the only route. I'd also note that to get above the other 626 resumes, you need to use other avenues of attack (like phone calls, etc.). Probably relevant to mention job-buddy.com here, a site I manage to help people track this kind of activity, and keep on keeping on with this arduous cycle.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  If you happen to have a Resume/Cover Letter that when read, has a high chance of making inroads at a company, then snail mail works surprisingly well. (obvious downside is that it takes a very long time to research companies and tailor the documents to each one) Snail mail is the route I took back in the Fall of 2010. The response rate was roughly 20% for me.
  - Retric 14y ago
    That's rather high, I once had a 3 hours of interviews and then zero contact after that.
    - justincormack 14y ago
      Some companies are just incompetent. I had that too, although I had decided I was not interested by hour 2.5 so was not so bothered. They still advertise on HN sometimes...
- patdennis 14y ago
  I didn't start out with personal and professional connections. I developed them as I went. The key is getting your foot in the door - be it through an internship, a temp job, or making a name for yourself as an amateur. The point is to develop specific valuable skills. Then, make the right people aware that you have those hard to find skills. Assuming that what you learned in college is enough to build a career is a mistake, in my eyes.
  - mynameishere 14y ago
    be it through an internship, a temp job Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway. And clearly, this guy is trying to make a name for himself with his blog, to the extent that's possible. The problem is a lot of people have very general qualifications. A masters in English may mean a lot or nothing. I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. Anyone qualified would probably get hired immediately.
    - hkmurakami 14y ago
      > I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. This is very good advice and I urge anyone using the resume drop type job channels.
      - minikomi 14y ago
        This reminds me of when I was looking for a share house in Tokyo.. I kept seeing the same ones pop up over and over, and after visiting a few it became obvious there was a reason why in each case. In the end I made my case as a good share-ee, and a good share-er found me soon after (on mixi, a kind of Japanese only Facebook which has since been consumed). Perhaps, if you are looking for a great job, it makes sense now to make your case, make it visible to the right people, and wait.
    - potatolicious 14y ago
      > "Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway." It's bigger than that. The difference between internships and full-time work is that one is a lot easier to get than the other. Being a student opens tons of doors for no particular reason whatsoever. Many companies have organized internship programs not only for recruitment's sake, but also out of some sense of social responsibility. People are also willing to cut students a lot of slack, and let a lot of problems drop. The expectations are dramatically lower. The bar shoots up dramatically as soon as you leave school, even for the same type of work. IMO anyone who isn't leveraging their student status to get at these opportunities is wasting time. You will never again be in this good of a position to be automatically given the benefit of the doubt. I know many humanities majors from college, and the ones who have not have trouble finding employment have always been the ones who leveraged internships and other student-only opportunities to their maximum.
notJim 14y ago
I've always heard it's the only way to go, but I've never gotten a job through personal or professional connections. I believe my last two jobs have been through either StackOverflow careers or HN.
dennisgorelik 14y ago
What's your niche?
- patdennis 14y ago
  I specialize in opposition research. [1] I investigate and analyze political vulnerabilities. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_research

johnobrien1232 14y ago

For people who don't have personal or professional connections, sometimes applying to job postings is the only route. I'd also note that to get above the other 626 resumes, you need to use other avenues of attack (like phone calls, etc.). Probably relevant to mention job-buddy.com here, a site I manage to help people track this kind of activity, and keep on keeping on with this arduous cycle.

hkmurakami 14y ago
If you happen to have a Resume/Cover Letter that when read, has a high chance of making inroads at a company, then snail mail works surprisingly well. (obvious downside is that it takes a very long time to research companies and tailor the documents to each one) Snail mail is the route I took back in the Fall of 2010. The response rate was roughly 20% for me.
- Retric 14y ago
  That's rather high, I once had a 3 hours of interviews and then zero contact after that.
  - justincormack 14y ago
    Some companies are just incompetent. I had that too, although I had decided I was not interested by hour 2.5 so was not so bothered. They still advertise on HN sometimes...
patdennis 14y ago
I didn't start out with personal and professional connections. I developed them as I went. The key is getting your foot in the door - be it through an internship, a temp job, or making a name for yourself as an amateur. The point is to develop specific valuable skills. Then, make the right people aware that you have those hard to find skills. Assuming that what you learned in college is enough to build a career is a mistake, in my eyes.
- mynameishere 14y ago
  be it through an internship, a temp job Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway. And clearly, this guy is trying to make a name for himself with his blog, to the extent that's possible. The problem is a lot of people have very general qualifications. A masters in English may mean a lot or nothing. I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. Anyone qualified would probably get hired immediately.
  - hkmurakami 14y ago
    > I keep an eye on job postings and you sometimes get used to the same very specific job showing up week after week. This is very good advice and I urge anyone using the resume drop type job channels.
    - minikomi 14y ago
      This reminds me of when I was looking for a share house in Tokyo.. I kept seeing the same ones pop up over and over, and after visiting a few it became obvious there was a reason why in each case. In the end I made my case as a good share-ee, and a good share-er found me soon after (on mixi, a kind of Japanese only Facebook which has since been consumed). Perhaps, if you are looking for a great job, it makes sense now to make your case, make it visible to the right people, and wait.
  - potatolicious 14y ago
    > "Well, those would count as jobs themselves, so you would have to send out resumes anyway." It's bigger than that. The difference between internships and full-time work is that one is a lot easier to get than the other. Being a student opens tons of doors for no particular reason whatsoever. Many companies have organized internship programs not only for recruitment's sake, but also out of some sense of social responsibility. People are also willing to cut students a lot of slack, and let a lot of problems drop. The expectations are dramatically lower. The bar shoots up dramatically as soon as you leave school, even for the same type of work. IMO anyone who isn't leveraging their student status to get at these opportunities is wasting time. You will never again be in this good of a position to be automatically given the benefit of the doubt. I know many humanities majors from college, and the ones who have not have trouble finding employment have always been the ones who leveraged internships and other student-only opportunities to their maximum.

notJim 14y ago

I've always heard it's the only way to go, but I've never gotten a job through personal or professional connections. I believe my last two jobs have been through either StackOverflow careers or HN.

dennisgorelik 14y ago

What's your niche?

patdennis 14y ago
I specialize in opposition research. [1] I investigate and analyze political vulnerabilities. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_research