Ask HN: As College Grad, how to increase my chances of getting an interview call? Apart from applying on LinkedIn and the company's careers site, what would be the other ways to get my profile/application noticed by the recruiters? Shed some light on this, HNers! |
Every applicant is bombarding the recruiters with resumes, and it can sometimes be a black hole. If you directly send a message to the CTO/VP/Director of Engineering, introducing yourself, briefly describing why the company appeals to you and how your skills line up, you're far more likely to get noticed. Yeah, it's bold, but you know what they say :)
Leave it open by saying you're interested in an informational chat just to learn more about the company and his job.
He gets that you're basically applying, given your background; but this softer approach communicates "I'm also interested in you and your company" versus "I didn't hear from the recruiter, here's my application."
This will set you apart and, worst case, he says no. But you may have a new networking contact for the future.
Add their WhatsApp/Facebook, or if in APAC their WeChat. Send a polite follow-up.
If you don't know their name, like a generic group email or web application, trawl LinkedIn and click on contact details for relevant people.
When you get in contact with the recruiter, they will tell you the company name if they're decent. After they've had a follow-up call about you they should tell you the hiring person's name, so you can look them up yourself.
Dig, dig, dig.
- a small personal project was how i was able to get my first job
- LinkedIn was not my primary source of job links. I googled for job search boards PER city/area/state. this one landed me my 2nd job because I found my company via geekwire.
opensource projects on github