Ask HN: How do I show a company that I'm worth hiring?

Here's one out of my personal playbook on both sides of the hiring process: Find a company that has an API and build something with it. Make a mashup, augment a feature that they have, or build a missing feature. This shows them that you are passionate about their company, have the ability to execute, and can deliver value.

Find a company that you want to work for that doesn't have an API? Build one for them. Scrap their website, grab some basic data, and show them that you can build a rudimentary API that gives customers access to build on top of what they want. Or build out a cool feature that they're lacking.

More than programmers, companies are looking for people who can help them improve their business. If you can bring passion, execution, and vision together you'll always find a job you want.

Also, we're hiring: http://www.globalgiving.org/aboutus/jobs/software-engineer-f...

Where do you live? One often overlooked avenue is to get contacts in the local tech community via meetups/OSS. Having an existing employee vouch for you is a big leg-up, but of course that person is putting their reputation on the line, so they have to really know your talent / passion / dedication first. Probably not what you want to hear as it doesn't help find a job today, but having people that can vouch for your skills, long term, is invaluable and takes time to build up, so starting ASAP is a good idea. One of the open secrets in the tech world is that most job qualifications are a bit overboard and can be waived entirely for a good candidate. Just realize not ticking any of the skill boxes AND not having an inside recommendation is a hard thing to overcome, so you need to attack one angle or the other.