Give me your best strategies for job hunting?
I’m dumbfounded when the best piece of advice I hear is that its a numbers game and probability is supreme. There’s got to be a strategy that one applies to shortlist from the ocean of offers out there.
- applying in the same domain as your current company?
- platform or regions where recruiters are more active?
- directly talking to freelance HMs and doing a deal?
If no hack, just share what worked for you? And how are you optimising the job searching?
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- Accept that it's a numbers game. Especially in this market
- Embrace that there may be a super stupid person on the other side . E.G - My CV was rejected at a big Web3 startup, but I persisted : went through a reference spoke to HR and showed her how the CV is a 90%+ Match. She ended up fixing an interview. What if I didn't have a referral? Jata na
- There is only one hack - get that CV in front of the hiring managers face : through referrals, through problem solution one pagers that I've DM'd directly to founders or hiring managers, consistently applying to the widest net, getting friendly and maintaining good relations with head hunters: I've helped so many head hunters with their other mandates unrelated to me, just for the sake of it. No expectations.
DESPITE throwing such a wide net, it still is roughly taking me 9-10 months for my next gig. Sure I'm looking at leadership mandates and woh roles by default halway mein nahi khatam hote.
But play the numbers smartly is the only way. Send a 100 tries out (but customized and personalized not spam) and tab hi kaam karega.
How do you politely follow up without sounding desperate?
Just follow up , no problem . If you want still think you are sounding desperate then in 2-3 conversation mention something like - In the interest of both of our time if you think I shouldn’t be following up , let me know .
Keep at it. Ghanta farak padta hai. Desperation sirf offer ke time pe lagta hai. There it's a classic Mexican standoff. The person who can afford to walk away from the offer is the one that carries all the cards.
What has typically worked for me:
- Making a list of all companies I am keen about
- Using Voila Norbert to find emails of people at these companies
- Writing really good cold emails across, because I have mostly been interested in startups, the reply rate has been great
- Setting up good filters on LinkedIn and Google Jobs to find suitable roles
- Coming off as really passionate in interviews, because I think I am
Can you share a template for the cold emails which have worked for you
Assuming you have shortlisted the right role with a good match, getting the resume seen by the right person is the key. Even highlighting the resume in the crowd helps.
Something that worked for me:
- Use any contact for referral, need to be a bit shameless here. Follow up a few times.
- DM the recruiter, follow up a few times
Does anyone feel that hirect , instahyre, cutshort is actually helpful? I found most leads through LinkedIn only
Cutshort is the worst place to look for a job, i would recommend removing your account from there, hirect i have been using it for a few weeks the only thing you get notified about is that who viewed your profile and even if you applied you wont hear back for sometime or never. I have had good luck with instahyre previously but not now
Same I've heard instahyre is good buyt haven't seen it in practice so far. Maybe it's not so good anymore.
Nothing worked for me. Really
Linkedin Naukri gets you nothing
Recruitment agencies got me my first switch. You can target them for starters
Other thing that worked was Cold DM. I had to put a besharam mask and message everyone who was hiring or not hiring.
Referrals definitely work, but I'm not someone who maintains relationships so haven't got benefit of it.
Instahyre and Naukri are real good sources. In the past 8-9 months, I've had above 20 shortlists, 7 interviews and 2 offers.
Key is to have a full profile with resume, video resume and all descriptions filled along with a professional photo and contact details.
And regular follow-ups with HRs who reach out.
- make a list of 100 companies
- shortlist 1 HR and 1 domain manager from each
- find their emails through either extensive LinkedIn stalking or trial and error with first, last and domain name
- send templated short crisp mail (personalized with name) containing CV to all
- follow up every 7 days to each mail
- rinse and repeat
Nothing is better than internal referrals. I knew the ex CISO at a company and asked her to introduce me to the current CISO. When I was looking for something at a Big4, I found a partner at the firm and asked him to forward my resume to the team. In both cases, got the job without having to search too much.
Reaching out to VCs here can help you out with portfolio roles. They will know the cash position better and help