How to find a job through networking?
As is known, in order to get a job in IT, you need to go online, pick any vacancy and get an offer for 300K$/nanosecond. I somehow missed the moment when it actually worked. Today everything is different.
Today’s job market is experiencing unprecedented turbulence. Demand has fallen. Many companies have frozen hiring. Internal optimizations are taking place. Big layoffs are on everyone’s lips. If previously the IT market was a market of candidates, now it’s 50/50, and companies can now boldly choose candidates.
The situation has changed, but you can adapt to it. Today, you need to become more noticeable to the company that suits you.
In a year of job search, I have used several approaches, but networking has proven to be the best.
What is networking and how to develop it?
Networking is the development of your contact network. The key element of this network is people that you already know or meet along the way.
How to develop network? Talk to people about what you need. Ask people about job positions. Be open and direct. Talk to the right people. And speak with a positive attitude!
Does it really work?
The recruiter’s task is not just to find a specialist, but a successful addition to the team/company. Someone who will fit in with the team, get along with colleagues, share the company’s values, and not leave with a laptop under their arm in two months.
Currently, the workload on recruiters is quite high, even with the automation of initial screening. I can imagine that in just 5 minutes, a recruiter must understand if you are a good specialist, your language level, your soft skills level, and how you will fit into the team.
And here’s the magic: if there are people in the company who have heard something about you, you get a couple of extra points. If someone has already worked with you in this company and has pleasant impressions, your resume is already being printed and taken for approval.
As a pleasant bonus, if something is already known about you in the company, the technical interview will be much easier and more pleasant.
Where to find contacts?
Friends/former colleagues
Think of your former colleagues and employees. With whom did you goof around at corporate event? And with whom did you have good relationships? Maybe you worked with someone who knows how good of a specialist you are? Find them on social media and see where they work. If they work for a company that is suitable for you, ask them to pass on your contact information. You will get the job, and your friend gets a bonus!
Recruiters
The task of recruiters is to find a suitable candidate. Why not outplay them and find recruiters yourself?
If you know the company you want to work for, feel free to search for recruiters within the company. Keep in mind that in large companies, there may be recruiters by direction or by department. But don’t worry if you don’t know which department you need — recruiters will direct you to where you need to be. And if they don’t, then most likely you don’t need to be there.
In case you are unsure which company you want to work for, you can search on LinkedIn using the words “Talent”, “Recruiter”, “HR”. Also, you need to specify the country where you want to work.”
Events
I discovered that there are recruitment events that resemble small conferences. These events often take place online. Employers present their companies. After that, you can meet with the employer one-on-one to arrange a future meeting.
Meetings at these events were some of the most effective. Eight out of ten recruiters I spoke with offered me an technical interview.
You only have five minutes for a one-on-one meeting. So try to fit in a three-minute speech about yourself, what you know about the company, and a couple of jokes. The other two minutes will be spent adjusting the microphone and talking about the weather.
Chats/group pages
I found many job vacancies in these chats/groups pages. Often, the contact persons were ordinary employees of the companies.
Glass door, indeed, monster
For some reason, I hardly received any invitations from them. Perhaps I just don’t know how to use them properly. In the end, I only used Glassdoor as a source of company reviews.
How to initiate contact?
I am not a very sociable person and certainly cannot charm a whole stadium of people like Tony Robbins. But it’s not necessary. To write well, it takes a lot of practice and patience. At first, there will be a lot of rejections and ignore. But at some point, you will come up with an idea of how to write properly.
However, I still want to give you a few templates to start your first letters with.
General recommendations:
- Be concise, don’t beat around the bush. Write clearly and directly about what you want.
- Research all available information about the company, their projects, and reviews about them.
- Determine why you want to work for this company. However, don’t lie to yourself or the company. If you don’t share the company’s values, don’t like the product or applied field, but still go for this job, you’ll shoot yourself in the foot right away.
- Skills must meet the requirements. If you don’t speak a foreign language and will write to a foreign company, the chances of passing the recruiter are extremely low. You’ll just waste your time.
- Write to several employees of the company. If they respond, that’s great. If there is no response, it’s worth reminding them once. If no one responds, it may mean that the company is not interested in you at the moment. If there is a refusal, it’s the same. There’s no need to look for the reasons for the refusal at this stage. You need to be a little upset and continue looking for your dream job.
Friends/colleagues/former colleagues
If you know that your friend’s company is hiring for your specialty, you can write the following:
“Hi, [Name of former colleague]. I, [your name]. Saw that your company is hiring new employees. It would be great if you could pass on my information. Here’s my resume and cover letter. Also, I noticed that your company has an open-source project on GitHub. I decided to contribute by making a few commits to solve relevant issues. [Links to PR]”.
If you don’t know about such positions or if you simply don’t have any ideas where to apply:
“Hey, [Name of former colleague]. I’m finishing up a project at my current job and looking for a new one. Do you have any ideas where I could look for a job?”
The choice of words for your friend depends on the degree of closeness between you.
Recruiter
“I am looking for a job in the field of [your specialty] in your region. Here is my CV, can we discuss it?”
If it is a recruiter of some department, you should write a more detailed message:
“[Name], good day! I saw that the position of [position] is open. For the past few years, I have been working in [industry]. I have looked into [company or product name] and I liked it. I have experience in this field and I would be happy to discuss the position. What are the next steps for me to take?”
90% of recruiters will immediately set up a meeting, and the remaining 10% will respond after lunch.
HR/CEO/Head of department
In this case, you need to approach the situation more individually and carefully. Your task is to explain in detail why you are the perfect fit for this position, what your interests and competencies are. Also, if possible, describe your experience using the company’s products. The general recommendations are the same as before, but the letter should be more personalized.
NB It is worth writing to the CEO only if the company is very small.
Tools
Everything you need to have at hand during a search.
LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn is your business card. It’s important to present your basic information in a way that recruiters can immediately understand your value to the company. You can also enhance your profile with certificates, but don’t overdo it.
CV
CV is a document that presents your professional skills and experience. Unlike a LinkedIn profile, a CV should be detailed and well-written, but without excess. It’s important to choose the right layout that will pass through automated selection systems. Use the standard HH or LinkedIn layout.
Cover letter.
A cover letter should be written specifically for each company. Take the time to understand what you will do in this company and how you can be of benefit to it. Many people ignore this aspect, but most often I received responses from companies where I sent cover letters.
Github
My GitHub account is not very active. I don’t have live projects that I can show. However, after all the interviews, I collected all the live coding and homework assignments. I posted them as examples of my code. At the same time I have old code samples, but I purposely didn’t correct them. Honestly, they are in terrible condition. As a result, my account contains both old, non functional code and new code that looks normal but may raise some questions. This demonstrates the growth dynamics of my skills and is often a topic of discussion during interviews.
Calendar
Create a calendar on calendly or a similar service. When recruiter is asking about available slots, simply provide a link to the calendar. It’s more convenient than agreeing on a new slot each time.
Decision table
This is a table with subjective evaluations of a company based on parameters that are currently important to me. I often created two tables — one before communicating with recruiters and another after.
Name | CoP | CoC
Location | Asia | EU
Net salary relative to expenses | 8 | 5
Atmosphere | 4 | 5
Relocation conditions | 7 | 2
Project interest | 8 | 6
Processes | 4 | 8
Perspective | 5 | 8
Startup culture | 5 | 3
Total score | 41 | 37Each row could be rated on a scale of 1 to 10. In the end, we will add up all the ratings. The one company with the higher total score will win. Or maybe not. Ratings are subjective, and that’s not the most important thing. What’s more important is that the rating process make you think about each proposed job, its characteristics, and understand how suitable it is.
Patience
You will receive many rejections. Especially in the beginning. You will hear some vague stories about irrelevant experience or something related to technical skills. Most likely, you simply did not fit this team based on your qualities. What if you are too driven and too bright for this place? But most likely, you will never know the truth. So be patient and systematically establish contacts.
In conclusion, be proactive, but non-offensive.
Show your interest in the company and don’t wait for the job to find you. Your network and visibility can significantly increase your chances of getting hired at your dream company.
(and, of course, getting your offer for 300k/nanosecond!)
Thanks for reading And stay tuned for more!
Special thanks
