Ask HN: How do you find hiring managers to talk to when job hunting?

13 points by wildlingjill 9 years ago | 9 comments

Hi all,

I'm a fairly new developer in the Bay Area -- I've been self-teaching for about a year, I attended a bootcamp to try and get a running start, and I've been trying to learn everything I can since I completed it.

I've tried to specialize in JavaScript, which has enabled me to pick up odd bits of freelance work. That provides a little income, and gives me some extra focus to my learning.

I'm looking for full time job opportunities, and so far I've found the Hacker News hiring thread has been the most fruitful in terms of leads, since it enables me to actually chat with hiring managers and engineers. That gives me (and them) a much better idea of whether I'd be a good fit.

The problem I'm having is, the vast majority of the posts are for roles in SF, and I'm based in San Jose and looking for opportunities a bit closer to home. I'd love to be able to find more people to talk to, rather than just submitting my resume for job postings without a good idea of what roles are like or whether I'm well suited for them.

How do you all find contacts and real people to talk to when you're job hunting? I'd appreciate any advice!

FullMtlAlcoholc 9 years ago |

Easy. Find the xompany you want to work for, do a little sleuthing for the org structure via LinkedIn, the company's about us page, calling the company and asking for the hiring manager, etc. Once you have a name, use a chrome plug in like Nymeria and/or rapportive to find their email address or contactt them via LinkedIn.

As a web dev, basic social engineering should become an essential part of your toolkit.

richardknop 9 years ago |

You need to build up your network. Go to meet ups, get involved in open source projects, make sure to keep your online presence up to date (linked in, github).

If you're quite new, it will take some time to build a strong network of people in the industry that can refer you to current job openings.

When looking for actual jobs to apply for, I'd recommend sticking to recruiters at least at the beginning of your career. There are some good recruiters out there that will help you get jobs to advance your career.

So just send your CV to some local recruiting agencies, search for jobs online (LinkedIn, stack overflow careers and other job sites) and submit your CV there. This should generate a lot of leads, you should get some emails and calls from recruiters. Take it form there.

Later in your career when you will have built a strong network you will often be sent leads for good jobs by people from your network (ex colleagues etc).

gamechangr 9 years ago |

" I'd love to be able to find more people to talk to..."

The age old problem. Every future employee would like to beat the paper system, while employers want a process that let's them not waste so much time talking with unqualified people.

You really need to attend MeetUps. Hiring managers need to get a recommendation from someone to take you seriously. The fact that you're "self-taught" is against you as well, so getting a few developers to Vouch for you is critical.

Go to Meetups. The rest will take care of itself.

jamesmp98 9 years ago | |

Whats sucks is when there are no Meetups near you.

natekupp 9 years ago |

Have you considered just applying through the jobs pages of the larger tech companies? Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn are all on the peninsula and more accessible than startups in SF.

techman9 9 years ago |

I have a friend who goes through a list of most common first names and tries emailing them all @<companyname> for companies he's interested in working at. There's bound to be at least one person with Michael or John or Robert or Mary who works at the company and is hiring, right?

(While I really do have a friend that does this it should go without saying that I'm just sharing this story because I find it humorous, and this is in general, probably a terrible idea.)

mod 9 years ago | |

How many jobs has your friend landed with this strategy?

bsvalley 9 years ago |

Here is the "how to find a job?" answer for you:

1. Build a network in the bay area

2. Ask details about their employers, work, teams, projects, etc.

3. Apply through referral

ParameterOne 9 years ago |

The easiest way to find the right person is to call and ask. Even better if you can find out who his/her boss is and then mention to your target that so-and-so told me I should contact you about a position.....see what I did there :-)