Thread by @QuinnyPig

So today's thread is on how to apply for jobs (beating out "the horrors of git" by a nose).

Scenario: you're on the job market for one reason or another. Let's begin.

Probably the dumbest possible way to go about this is to fire up some job board or another, find a job posting, slap your résumé into the system, click next, retype your entire résumé into the system by hand, hit submit, and then get auto-rejected by a robot.

You can do a LOT of those applications in a day, but it doesn't get you where you want to go.

Stop a minute. Be intentional. Pick a company you'd honestly like to work for.

Name it! I'll pick one of the responses and continue.

Okay, @stripe it is. It was mentioned repeatedly, I don't know anyone there SUPER well to the best of my knowledge, and they're not a Duckbill Group client. YET.

Let's begin!

We'll start with a cursory look at the @stripe jobs page because some knucklehead will yell at me if I don't, but a glance is really enough. Over a thousand open roles, clearly not a "no remote" kind of place.

Most of you folks who follow me tend to look like engineres, so okay. Here's a random "remote in North America" role that lays out what the baseline role requirements are. Go see: stripe.com/jobs/listing/i…

Their "apply" page is well done, but it's a trap if they're like most companies. I'm not trying to bag on @stripe; they might well be a rare exception. Close out of it.

Instead, I'll pull up @stripe's @LinkedIn page and notice that I have three connections to folks who work there.

Let's diverge for a second to talk about LinkedIn.

I've been working to prune my LinkedIn connections for a while. If I don't know who someone is, they really shouldn't be a connection. My goal is to be useful to you at the end of this thread: if you see that I'm connected to someone, I should be able to intro you to them.

Sorry, accountant I had lunch with at a company we worked at together in 2009; I can't reach out without it being weird.

I decline a LOT of connection requests.

I have three connections who work at @stripe as it turns out. For some godforsaken twisted reason they are all named "Ryan." I didn't plan this.

There's AWS Community Hero @StanfordRyan, there's "I don't have a Twitter account" Ryan McAfee who I worked with briefly and was gym buddies with for a year, and there's Ryan Lopopolo who competes with Ryan Park for not having a Twitter account.

Also, this is @stripe--let's not kid ourselves. There's no one more willing to help people with career and business stuff than @patio11, to whom I am apparently not connected on LinkedIn. The Ryans are terrific, but Patrick is probably the best bet for this particular company.

So what I'd do next is put together a quick DM-sized message. "Hi Patrick or possibly a Ryan; I'm considering my next move and was hoping I could grab a virtual coffee with you and pick your brain about @stripe; it fascinates me and I'd like to learn more."

"Attracting talent and selling the company" is in every manager's remit; I'd argue every employee's too. If someone declines this request? Screaming red flag!

Come prepared to the virtual coffee. Know what the company does. Find out what you can about their culture. And then ask good questions. You're trying to assess fit. "Would I be happy at @stripe" is the thing I'm trying to figure out.

If the answer is no, great. I've learned that for the cost of basically "sending a DM and having a coffee." If the answer is yes, I'll ask the other person for advice on applying.

Here's where it varies. Maybe they'll hand-deliver my résumé to a hiring manager. Maybe they'll tell me to apply on the website--but for SOME ODD REASON after a chat like this, I don't get rejected by a robot.

Or maybe they'll introduce me to someone else I should talk to.

The possibilities here really unfold. Don't misunderstand me--you may well not be what a given company needs. But you'll learn a hell of a lot more this way than you will sending 40 applications a week into the void.

Now before I dive into questions, a few points.

"That's great for you, Corey--but you're Corey. I'm just starting out and don't have those connections."

Right! But you know someone who knows someone. People genuinely like helping others, and they love giving advice.

This is going to get me yelled at, but I bypass recruiters and application processes until later on--because they're gatekeepers. They can say "no" but they can't say "yes," so I route around them.

Remember, I have an 8th grade education. My application gets tossed immediately.

Ever notice that executive roles aren't posted on job boards?

Ever notice that SVPs of Whatever at big companies never tweet "looking for my next role?"

These backchannel discussions are how Serious People of a Certain Level generally find roles.

"What if I don't know anyone at @stripe?"

Do you know anyone who used to be at Stripe? Do you know someone well who knows someone who works at Stripe? Introductions make the world go 'round.

"What about folks who are just getting started in their career?"

Early on in our careers, we're all commodities. At some point we ideally differentiate into "talent." This is why having multiple skills that complement each other is so valuable.

If I were starting out with no history or audience? I'd spend an evening mocking something up with the @stripe API and then see if I could find a Stripe DevRel type to ask about what I'd built. "Create an excuse to have a conversation" in other words.

"I don't know where I want to work, or don't know anyone at the companies that fascinate me."

Great! You're on Twitter! Ask for what you need. Lots of folks will help--like this guy!

https://twitter.com/bphogan/status/1364369833354215427?s=20

"What about recruiters?"

They're not for me. I have an eighth grade education, my coding skills are "meh" and "antagonizing large companies" is what I do.

I basically NEVER get cold-outreach recruiter emails.

"What if I'm not overrepresented in tech?"

This works just as well. If you reach out to someone who's shitty? Steer clear, and tell your friends. I'd like to know, too.

Okay, I wasn't expecting the former manager of the team at @stripe I randomly grabbed as an example to chime in, but it's a small internet as it turns out!

When former employees speak up about it being a good place to work, that's awesome.

https://twitter.com/umanagineer/status/1364376116547387395?s=20

Y'know, this is a great point I hadn't considered.

If you're not over-represented and want to talk to someone at a company, my DMs are open. I'll help if I can.

https://twitter.com/MayaKaczorowski/status/1364377992776937473?s=20

A point to note: many companies pay referral bonuses to staff who refer candidates who get hired. In some cases they're thousands of dollars each.

There's no downside to someone referring you in these shops; you're helping them if it works out.

Gah! Fair feedback!

That’s what I get for it planning that tweet out in advance.

https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1364387615210807297

If you reach out with a well crafted message and get a flat "go apply on the website," then it's fastest to just interpret that as "this company is not serious about hiring candidates who resemble what you do."

https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1364391155320807424?s=20