mandytolliver's comments

Good webapp, that! You're doing something right!

Network effects always start with a small, dense network. Do you have a tight group of software developer friends? Have them sign up, share, talk to their bosses about hiring other developers. When hiring managers see that devs are there, they'll follow.

Spam could be an issue. But they say they screen contacts, so it looks like it could work.

Yes, it's just feel. A peppy intelligent response will give me a more positive feel than no response or a cold, guarded response.

That is far from a good indicator, but it is a start.

And if the communication goes well, I can schedule a call or continue the email correspondence.

Thanks! So I see that the concept exists and is considered a sign of maturity, not rudeness. Good! I think I'll do it.

As to whether it is through my network or not -- I'll try my network, but a well-phrased email that shows I am a serious professional is usually enough to get a foot in the door, even with someone who doesn't know me.

Wow, great! And the idea of getting my resume passed on is very much secondary -- the main purpose here is informational only -- I want to learn about the company.

Employers often prefer passive candidates to actives--it's the "playing hard to get" thing.

As to the informational interview -- is that also the term used when the candidate makes contact to a peer? If so, then it's good to know that the concept exists.

OK, getting a referral is good.

The link to my personal site has the role of a resume -- it is to show that I'm not sure random person off the street, I am someone who may well be worth recruiting.

The idea is that the contact will see that a serious, experienced, front-end designer/developer just made contact and may well want to pitch their company to me.

I'm not looking for them to slag off their company, of course.

I am fine being pitched to, but I'd prefer that a fellow developer does this.

Good idea!

You got the best of both worlds: Even though you didn't know anyone, you were able to contact someone who you were already "connected" to.

Thanks, and I think you could combine the two in a softball opener.

For example, you could say -- "Developing Augmented Reality apps fascinates me, and Example.com seems to be a leader. Do you really get to do leading-edge work in Augmented Reality there?"

I completely agree.

But it's still possible to respond neutrally, truthfully, and informatively.

For example, it's possible to just answer with positive aspects and leave out the negatives--that's still valuable info.

Or someone can honestly talk about whether the culture is, for example, high-energy or more laid-back -- each has its advantages.

Are you saying that it is _not_ at all worth cold-emailing a peer in a potential workplace?

Thanks. For some of these companies, I don't know anyone. Would you just cold-email someone, even if you didn't have any acquaintances there?

Thanks, that makes sense. But if you don't know anyone, why not find some developer and their email address (a bit of Google-Fu will do it) and contact them?

To me, it seems polite enough.

Wouldn't _you_ answer such an email if it was polite and seemed to come from a serious developer?

Sure thing, this is about the exploration stage when I am just wondering what workplaces are right for me.

Thank you folks. I'm still wondering though -- why don't we hear of this more often?

The job market is messed up. Why can't hackers do something about it, at least for the jobs that WE want???

Strange how employers have to dig through HN profiles or LinkedIn accounts to find the good ones -- and many of us just don't WANT any offers at all.

I wish I could say "Job's not so awful I gotta move, but I want to hack for real, please, and not just on my GitHub at night."

Right, I signed up after trying out the quiz. It was the cute idea that brought me in, not the graphic design (though that's pretty good).

I'd say that FiveYearItch exists to get people job offers. So, the graphic design is not core, and you don't need to sweat it.

Can you do more minor graphical changes, and A/B-test those?

Yes, absolutely, I specified those things and more in my FiveYearItch profile, and at least on that score it's been good -- some employers apparently don't want to contact me if they think I'm asking for too much :-) but the ones who do make offers are all quite serious.

Thanks, yes, FiveYearItch got me some other good offers. Some had significantly higher pay. But at this point, that's not my top priority. It's a choice between the comfortable job I have now and the "hot startup" in SF