hi everyone when people think of
applying for jobs they often think of
simply applying online first but it's
not always the best strategy because
that's what pretty much everyone else
does so I think instead there are
actually four other ways of applying for
jobs that are particularly effective
they are using LinkedIn in-person
networking getting referrals and using
career fairs or recruiting events I
think there are you know really
effective for software engineering jobs
but I believe that they're you know
effective for other types of jobs too
personally I've used a combination of
these strategies to get job interviews
with companies like Facebook and yo and
job offers from companies like Microsoft
and Google in this video I'm gonna walk
you through exactly how to use you know
each of these strategies and I'm gonna
give you some tips and tricks along the
way too but first one thing to keep in
mind it's that the best strategy for
applying for jobs is gonna be actually
different depending on the size of the
company that you're applying to so if
you're applying to small to medium sized
companies then the best strategies are
using LinkedIn using in person they're
working but if you're applying to more
popular larger companies let's say
Google or Facebook then the best
strategies are actually using career
fairs using referrals on top of simply
applying online so with that in mind
let's go through all of those four
strategies in my opinion LinkedIn is the
best way by far for applying for
software engineer positions at small to
medium sized companies so I'm just gonna
walk you through how to use it exactly
step by step so let's say you found a
position that you're interested in
applying to for example this one for
deployed engineer in New York at this
company called Palantir then instead of
simply applying online with this button
right here I would go to LinkedIn and
find recruiters of this company you can
just search for them by typing in
recruiters and then a company name this
company is called Palantir if you're
targeting a small to medium-sized
company you should
be able to find you know at least about
five to six recruiters once you find
them I would just add them all by
clicking these connect buttons you can
add a note but you don't have to just to
save time here so you know keep clicking
connect on let's say you know six to
seven recruiters or so and once you send
those connectional requests just wait
for one week or so and if some of them
are your back that's a really good sign
because that means that there are at
least somewhat active on LinkedIn and at
that point send messages to only those
people who added your back because I
think it's just more efficient that way
you're only trying to you know sort of
contact people who are active on
LinkedIn that way and those messages can
be pretty simple I sort of wrote a
template message here that you can use
it says hi first name and then thank you
for accepting my connection requests I'm
thinking of applying to this position I
found on your website and then copy that
position URL to right here and then
explain your situation in one sentence
for example I'm about to graduate from a
six month coding boot camp program that
covers full stock development in
JavaScript and then say something like I
was wondering would I be qualified
enough for this position if not is there
anything I can do to better prepare
myself regards your first name so
basically with a message like this you
know you know how qualified you're for
the position you want to apply to and if
you're not qualified yet that's okay
because with the second question you'll
have sort of a better idea about what
skills to work on next and then after
you send this message to let's say two
to three recruiters if one of them says
you're qualified enough then go back to
the website and then just apply here and
after that if you don't hear back from
them go back to LinkedIn and send a
follow-up message actually I have a
template for the full up message right
here - that one can be pretty simple
it's just how first name as you
suggested I applied to the position name
position about two weeks ago I was just
wondering what the status of my
application might be regards your first
name so this way if they forget about
your application or something you'll be
able to follow up with them and sort of
remind them about your application I've
personally used this particular strategy
in the past to get interviews with
companies like Yelp and this company
called xamarin so it actually works and
I think the best way to use this
strategy is to go through this strategy
at the same time for several jobs so in
the first step you know fine five or six
jobs at five or six companies and then
go to LinkedIn find recruiters at those
companies five or six recruiters each
send them a message and then follow
through the entire process at the same
time that way okay the second strategy I
recommend for small to medium-sized
companies is in-person networking for
this use websites like meetup calm and
to find events just sort of find
something that you're interested in so
let's say as an example you're
interested in JavaScript then you can
just type in JavaScript on meetup calm
with your location let's say Toronto and
then click groups here and you should be
able to find relevant groups here once
you join one of these groups find an
upcoming event and then just go there
now when you're at one of these events
you should really make sure to talk to
the people they're sort of individually
and if you're not sure exactly what to
say
I already sort of talked about it in my
in a video about how to learn to code
but you should basically find someone
who is not talking to anyone else and
then sort of wave at them get their
attention somehow and you know say
something like hi how are you
what brings you here and then if you
don't feel comfortable with that person
you started talking to you should just
find someone else and eventually if you
explain that you're looking for a job
based on certain technologies chances
are they'll know someone else who's
looking for someone to hire with those
technologies so that way you know you
might be able to get a good lead with
one of these events okay the third
strategy I recommend is getting
referrals so if you know friends who
work at the companies you want to work
out you know that's great you
just past them if you can get a referral
from them but if you don't you still
might be able to actually use this
strategy all you need to do is you need
to connect with someone who is working
at the company you want to work at
LinkedIn so use the same type of
strategy as the one I explained earlier
about LinkedIn you know add them first
and then send them a message if they add
you back and then instead of just you
know asking them if you're qualified
enough for the position you want to
apply for just ask them for advice and
over the course of let's say a few weeks
or a few months if you feel like you've
built you know a solid enough connection
with them then ask for a referral after
that now the fourth strategy I recommend
particularly for large companies is
using courier events and recruiting
events so these events are usually held
at universities but sometimes they are
held at you know public places too so
find one near you and just go there and
I think your goal at one of these events
should be to give out at least ten
copies of your resume if there are ten
companies there so you know bring about
20 copies of your resume just be safe
and when you're there try not to spend
too much time on any single company and
then just keep giving out your resumes
okay and if you want to talk to a
company there you know nothing about you
can actually just ask them what they do
by saying something like you know hi
could you explain where your company
does exactly and by the way when I was
at my university I noticed that these
events usually don't check for your
students IDs so I think if you're not a
student at the University where you know
this kind of event is how that you can
probably just sneak in and then start
giving out your resumes and actually I
don't see anything wrong with that
because you're looking for a job and
they are looking for someone to hire
okay that's it for this video thank you
as always for watching my videos and
I'll see you guys in the next one