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Ask HN - Where do you look for jobs?

176 points| factorialboy | 13 years ago | reply

Here are my sources:

* HN Monthly Hiring threads

* GitHub

* Reddit

* 37Signals Job Board

Any other sources?

94 comments

order
[+] kaisdavis|13 years ago|reply
I don't look for jobs that have been posted — my feeling is that jobs that make it to Reddit / GitHub / Craigslist / Monthly Hiring Threads, are all jobs that have been picked over by people working at (or close with) the company.

I make a list of the type of company I want to work with (I want to be paid $X, they should use this technology, I want to solve this problem or work on this project) and then I backtrace it and figure out which companies match those criteria.

Then, I contact those companies. I set up meetings when I can. My goal is to learn:

  * What sort of projects they work on
  * What challenges they're facing (geez, our biggest client needs _IDEA Z_)
  * What skills they look for in new hires / freelancers
  * Other companies in the area / tech / market
When appropriate, I tell them about my background and skills and ask who I should be in contact with to learn when new opportunities open up.

Then, I do two things

If they mentioned a huuuuge problem / pain point they're facing, I send them a follow-up email talking about the problem they mentioned, what I can contribute to solving it, and suggesting a time for another meeting.

I follow up with any other companies / people they mentioned and set up a quick coffee meeting.

Periodically, I'll check in with my contact. Nothing spammy, just an update about something relevant to their industry / problem.

Rather than fight over the same jobs that everyone else sees on 37Signals / Reddit / GitHub / HN hiring / Craigslist / LinkedIn / Etc, I want to be at the top of mind with the companies I want to work with.

Every job I've had — salary or consulting - has come from someone inside of the company calling me up, telling me about a position they have, and asking me if I want to interview. This bypasses the slog through submitting a resume and fighting against 20+ other candidates for a position. This gets me the positions I want working on the problems I want to solve.

[+] wccrawford|13 years ago|reply
That's an interesting strategy. I'd expect it to work better for relatively non-famous companies, rather than famous ones like Apple or Google. Having a candidate approach your non-famous company is quite a compliment to the company and a recommendation that the person actually wants to work there, and is not just looking for a paycheck.

The list of questions is good, too. It shows that you care about both the system and the work. Too many only care about their little piece of the pie and make everyone else's lives harder.

[+] asmithmd1|13 years ago|reply
Can you be more specific about this part:

"Then, I contact those companies. I set up meetings when I can"

How do you contact them, how do you pitch the idea of meeting with you?

[+] factorialboy|13 years ago|reply
That's a nice approach. Not suitable for all situations but definitely a good way to bag your dream job.
[+] cliftonmckinney|13 years ago|reply
Can you also elaborate on how you find the companies that fit those criteria?
[+] PaulHoule|13 years ago|reply
I haven't looked for a job actively for about five years or so and I hope that I don't need to ever again. Instead, I get contacted regularly by recruiters, founders and other hiring agents who, unfortunately, I mostly need to decline. (Otherwise I wouldn't be getting any actual work done!)

Chasing listed jobs is a mug's game for two reasons: (i) you need to compete with a mountain of applications, and (ii) people often list jobs that they aren't entirely serious about filling. Even if you have a strong resume and put 30 minutes into writing a good cover letter for each applications, the odds really are against you in this case.

Factor (ii) is still a problem if you get an interview because many organizations put multiple random barriers ahead of applicants. For instance, if you don't pass some test or flub a question or one of the fifteen people who talk to you just doesn't like you on an animal level you've wasted all the time you've put into the process.

Anybody who's using a recruiter, on the other hand, really wants to fill the position. The odds are in your favor because the recruiter is going to walk if the company keeps putting candidates through the gauntlet and rejecting them.

So how do you get people to call you?

Be active on the web. For me that's meant developing a few side projects and also developing connections and adding some content to LinkedIn every day... Even when I'm not looking for work.

If you get yourself known you can quit wasting time looking at job boards.

[+] Homunculiheaded|13 years ago|reply
I've actually had pretty decent success with listed jobs. I tend to be very selective about what sounds interesting, and I believe I'm qualified for. I've found I have an over 50% interview rate for applications and between 15-25% offer rate.

Personally I find recruiters to be annoying and they don't really understand software so I've actually put a good bit of effort into keeping off recruiter radars.

[+] tocomment|13 years ago|reply
Can you expand on what you do for adding content to linked in every day? And how does that help?
[+] negrit|13 years ago|reply
I don't want to sound like a douche but I've never looked for a job on a website. Each time i needed a job i got an offer from a company or from someone in my network.

To grow your professional network I would recommend to attend to meetups, hackathons, user groups or even better to get involve in the organization. It worked pretty well for me.

I met some incredible people and got some good jobs offer.

[+] pfedor|13 years ago|reply
It's an often repeated piece of common wisdom, but, for whatever it's worth, my experience is the opposite. I've had a number of jobs in my life, some of which I got through a friend and some by replying to an online job ad, and the latter kind were much better jobs, both by subjective feeling and by objective metrics I can think of (like, how much time I spent there before leaving, or how much money I was making.) It seems strange to me that people feel it's advantageous to restrict your employment options to companies where you have some kind of inside connection.
[+] sown|13 years ago|reply
> To grow your professional network I would recommend to attend to meetups, hackathons, user groups or even better to get involve in the organization. It worked pretty well for me.

Everyone of these meetups I've been to feels so...forced? I don't know but I've never really felt comfortable at these kinds of things. It's always so contrived?

[+] 27182818284|13 years ago|reply
You're not a douche for saying that, I don't think. (At least I wouldn't be that harsh)

The problem is that people in your network are often, well, in your network so if you haven't exhausted your network already, you wouldn't be posting online asking where to look for jobs.

[+] nathan_f77|13 years ago|reply
I would have been inclined to agree with you in the past. I've had job offers as a direct result of my involvement with open source projects, and attending meetups. However, the job I'm currently interviewing for is far nicer than anything I've had before, and I just went through the standard process of applying via email. It's also nice to be able to apply for something that really interests you, instead of just relying on the opportunities provided by people in your network.
[+] eel|13 years ago|reply
I found my current position via LinkedIn. I also searched with StackOverflow Careers, the HN monthly hiring threads (which weren't useful due to a lack of posts for my area), and the job pages of local companies. I probably would have used more sources if it had taken any significant amount of time to find a job.

My previous position was via a university career fair when I was still a student.

[+] hyramgraff|13 years ago|reply
I also used StackOverflow Careers and found the position I just started.

I also tried the Who's Hiring HN thread, but I didn't find it very useful because of the small number of posts in my geographical area.

I tried LinkedIn, but found it very hard to filter down to a decent match for my skill set.

[+] imack|13 years ago|reply
I haven't used it personally, but Angellist jobs looks interesting: https://angel.co/jobs

I like that they have to disclose ballpark salaries. Makes it easier to get a sense for how the company values developers.

[+] grotm001|13 years ago|reply
We're creating a more targeted platform than AngelList called EquityLancer, aimed at providing a marketplace where equity is used as a currency. In doing so, the jobs on our site are guaranteed to offer equity.

We've seen more than 90% of the jobs posted on our site also include salary. After reading many of the posts in this thread, I'm eager to expand the functionality of our platform's tools to include many of the methods described in finding a job outside the popular platforms.

[+] azmenthe|13 years ago|reply
I can confirm this. I have used Angellist successfully. Both talking to several startups as well as getting hired.
[+] adventureloop|13 years ago|reply
When I was looking for a job I would routinely go through:

- careers.stackoverflow.com - prospects.ac.uk (Though you need to have been a student to register) - s1jobs.com (Mostly so I could have at least seen one ad a day) - talentscotland.com - workinstartups.com

[+] tommorris|13 years ago|reply
Last time I was looking for a job, it consisted of posting an update on Facebook saying that I was back on the job market. I got six promising leads to follow up from friends in about 12 hours. And in most cases, it's from someone who works there, or even the person trying to hire.

(Sadly, the same trick doesn't work for boyfriends.)

[+] kingnothing|13 years ago|reply
I found my previous job through a local Ruby User Group meetup. At least in Atlanta, pretty much every company that attends is always hiring. I currently average about three recruiters or hiring managers a week contacting me on LinkedIn, which is how I found my current job.
[+] Peroni|13 years ago|reply
http://www.hackerjobs.co.uk if you're looking for UK based work. We occasionally get some European roles posted too. Had a few Irish & German jobs in the past.
[+] jaybill|13 years ago|reply
This is going to sound arrogant and troll-y, but I assure you it isn't.

I don't look. When I want a new job, I stop ignoring recruiters and wait to see what comes along. I've never waited more than a few days to have a pile of interesting opportunities. (I also end up with a much bigger pile of bullshit talent-trawls, but that's beside the point)

I wish I could say this was a function of my being awesome, but I think it has more to do with the job market in my area (PDX). There just aren't enough senior developers to go around.

[+] zbruhnke|13 years ago|reply
I have never really looked for a job honestly, but if I were going to here's what I would do.

Find the type of company you want to work for. Narrow your list down to about 5 of those companies you'd like to work at.

Now sit down and write a personalized cover letter for each of these companies and the role you'd like to play in said organization.

Now email each of the companies hiring depts, founders, etc with said letter and sit back. If you wrote a truly compelling cover letter (you should have if you are actually passionate about working for the company) you will most likely get some sort of response.

Rinse and repeat if no success.

As a multi-time founder and hiring decision-maker I always enjoyed a good cover letter and great interview more than a resume. Even when it comes to technical knowledge the most important thing to me is that if you did not know it you were smart enough and capable of learning it.

If you can knock it out of the park on a cover letter and show why you're excited to be a part of said company then they would be foolish not to hire you.

EDIT: Obviously you should still send a resume as well. But sending one without a cover letter in my opinion is the equivalent of career suicide.

[+] kevhsu|13 years ago|reply
Any tips for new grads? Currently in my last semester of undergrad.
[+] meaydinli|13 years ago|reply
I recently graduated (at the end of August 2012), and I have been looking for a full time Android Developer position in SF Bay area since then. Here is what I did:

- Cleaned up my Linkedin profile. Set my title to my desired position (Android Developer). I worked on my resume and made it as detailed as possible but still fit in 2 pages. In the Linkedin "Summary" field, I put in my objective, goal and my "Professional Summary". Then I filled in the experience, courses and projects. I got endorsements and recommendations from my former colleagues. Next; I bought "Job Seeker" membership from Linkedin, put on the "Job Seeker" badge, and opt in for OpenLink. This made it easier for people to find me and message me. After all these, my profile views and search appearances skyrocketed. The next thing I am considering is, setting my Linkedin location to San Francisco (I am temporarily in Chicagoland) so that recruiters in SF can find me.

- I built a single page resume site (http://bit.ly/aydinli_resume), put links to my Linkedin, AngelList and Github. I also have Google Analytics. Nothing fancy, and mobile compatible. I also had business cards with a QR code linked to my resume site.

- Here is a list of websites I use to search for jobs (in no particular order):

  + Indeed
  + SimplyHired
  + Startuphire
  + Startupers
  + Glassdoor
  + UseTheSource
  + DeveloperAuction
  + AngelList jobs
  + Github jobs
  + Mobile development groups on meetup.com
  + Interviewstreet
  + Dice
  + VentureLoop
  + Startuply
  + Linkedin
  + Crunchboard
  + VentureBeat jobs
  + Hacker News Who is Hiring xxxx 201x?
  + Reddit SfBayJobs
  + 37Signals Job board
  + JobScore jobseeker
  + Sometimes Quora
  + Directly from the websites of well known companies
Currently, I don't have any problems finding jobs to apply. I search for jobs, if the project seems interesting, I apply and ask for more information. The problem I have is; companies don't have to reply to your application whether good or bad. It doesn't matter if it is a giant company or a startup founder that gives out his/her personal email for applications, you rarely get an answer. Even with tools they have, like jobvite, resumator, jobscore, etc., they very rarely reply. I am getting used to it though.
[+] stonemetal|13 years ago|reply
Use your school's career center. On top of the other recommendations to network.
[+] mzarate06|13 years ago|reply
Other.

I'm a freelancer, and most of my work comes via referrals now. Not always, but it's been the case for the past few years.

Wasn't much different back when I was looking for full time work though. Even though I only worked for 2 companies, I use to get interviews through referrals, or through past colleagues that left and wanted me to come aboard.

[+] civilian|13 years ago|reply
Have a well connected and up to date linkedin profile, abd accept the random friend requests from recruiters.

go to offline networking events.

get to know your local group for whatever you program in. Seattle-python-interest-group has periodic job emails, and more importantly if I asked them for help I would probably get a couple responses.

[+] jboggan|13 years ago|reply
One strategy if you're already in SF or SV is to figure out the places that tech folks congregate and passively get leads while doing other work. When I moved to SF a few months ago and was jobhunting I would go to Four Barrel Coffee in the Mission while I was writing my cover letters and doing recruiter correspondence. I'd make a point of talking to anyone who came in the door with a startup tee or hoodie on and tell them what I was doing.

This meant that my list of places to apply to actually grew every time I went to go and knock a few off my list. I met a lot of interesting engineers this way and generated a lot of leads that I wouldn't have found through HN Hiring or other boards. In some cases I found jobs that weren't posted online until after I found out about them in person.