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0 pointsscarface746y ago0 comments

How’s that working out for you?

I can honestly say that I have never in over 25 years gotten a job based on blindly submitting my resume. My first paid development gig in 1990 was based on someone at another college reaching out to me based on some Mac shareware they found on the ftp Info Mac archives (yeah I’m that old).

My first job was based on an internship I had the year before from bugging the career center at college.

Every subsequent job has been based on either former coworkers recommendations or working with local external recruiters.

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4 comments · 3 top-level

cmrdporcupine6y ago· 1 in thread

So true. I've been trying to drive this home to my wife, who has been out of the job market for almost 10 years. She's getting discouraged because she is getting no responses to her applications. Her resume is strong (almost 10 years marketing/design at Apple, went back to school got highest GPA possible in anthropology, now is taking UX design/research courses, acing them), but it's just not going to get looked at without mining her networks.

But it's really hard to go knocking on the door of people you haven't worked with or talked to in almost a decade. It's easy to assume they won't be interested in connecting. Or if one doesn't respond, assuming the rest will.

Like you I've never had a job that didn't come from some kind of personal connection. It's really the key.

scarface74OP6y ago

I’ve met all three of my former managers for lunch at least once since I left the company where I worked for them just to keep the network warm. I also try to meet former coworkers for lunch when I can.

One of the questions I ask them when I turn in my letter of resignation is what do they need me to do so if I need to call them for a reference in two or three years, they will give me a good referral.

I don’t think I would have any problems getting hired by but one of my former managers.

I’ve also met local recruiter for lunch and always respond to non shady recruiters.

But as far as your wife, I would hope that most of her female former coworkers would be able to relate to the fact that some mothers take a break in their career to be caretakers and that most of her former male coworkers wouldn’t be knuckle draggers and understand too.

nonines6y ago

Well, I'm so fed up with feeling a failure after all that effort that I'm kicking my past young self in the arse for not joining the merchant-navy when I could (too old for that now too). So - no it's not going overly well(1). Yet I have had 5 jobs up to now in IT and I got them all without any network push so that probably has given me a warped view of how things actually work.

(1) I have a job atm. It's mostly the prospects that fear me out.

theonething6y ago

Wow, my experience is the exact opposite. All of my software engineering jobs have been through cold resume submission. And I've had quite a few jobs.

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