Somebody DM me about how I'm getting interviews um and I was writing out a response. I sent it off and then I thought actually this would be a pretty good video because I've been in this process for a while and currently I think I'm more stuck at the interviewing stage. So I'm not like passing interviews enough to actually get a job, you know, offer. Um, however, when it comes to getting interviews, I think I do have some things that I can share with you guys that I've learned along the way. So, um, first though, I want to say, okay, like don't get it twisted. I do not get a recruiter in my inbox for every single application that I sent off that that's very very far from the truth. Um I get ghostd plenty of times, believe me. But at the end of the day, I mean, you really only need one job offer, right? And so you only need a handful technically of companies who reach out for interviews and all of that, right? So, as long as you apply to enough positions, as some point the math is hopefully going to be in your favor. You know what I mean? That being said, um, I do I I have noticed that the uh recruiters that reach out to me regarding job listings that I applied to are those where I truly have matched every detail in that fucking description on my resume. That's something I've really noticed. I want to highlight this because often with job listings, the description, right, of what they want, they'll have requirements And then they'll have like nice to have or something like that. To be honest, I found that the nice to have are also requirements. I'm not going to lie. That's just been my experience. Okay, the um the the the jobs for which I've even gotten to like final rounds and what not, I've qualified for everything that that was that was uh included there. Okay? Like basically often it'd be a job that sounded exactly like the job I just came from. You know what I mean? So, um those were the instances where the recruiter was really excited. Those were the instances where they really pulled me to the end. And um, you know, I'm stuck on the interviewing stage right now, so that's where I have to do some more work. but but yeah, in order to actually even get the possibility, the opportunity of interviewing, right? Um, I will say that has been something that I've learned. I think back in the day you truly just needed the requirements. But now that there's just so many applicants, you know, you kind of have check off all the damn boxes to be honest and that includes the nice to have as they call it. Anyway, so there's that. Then also, of course, sticking with the resume. Um, I revamped my resume and I found that was very helpful to me actually getting responses. Um, so first off, uh, honestly, it does kind of help to just add numbers. You know, like I don't know, I'm just going to think of something like uh improved latency, no, not improved, reduced latency by like however minutes per You want minutes, you want percentage, you want you know daily active users, some shit like that. Okay? You want numbers in your resume. I had basically none. And when I added them, I think it actually did help. Like you want some quantitative stuff, okay? Um, even if you have to like get, right? I think it helps. Um, added to that also, I have no passive language in my resume. Um, and I make sure that it really communicates that I did those things, right? I wasn't just a part of a team that did something, I myself did something, right? You want to use very, very active language there. so that you really showcase to whichever recruiter or whoever is reading your your resume that you are a very capable, independent, but also collaborative um worker who can really get shit done at the end of the day. That's kind of what we're getting out here. Okay? So once I got rid of all the past shit. I think that also really helped. So, yeah. And I also think it's very important to like when you're thinking about your past experiences, really highlight things, um, that showcase that you struggled with something, found a solution for it and implemented it. Uh, something that you can really talk about at length, right? Like for example, like for me, this is a real example. So I created a cartoon pipeline. And at first, I didn't even have that in my resume really. Like to be honest, or it was like a side note. Now it's a whole bullet point. And truth be told, I talk about that so much. I can't shut up about coffee nowadays. So, you know, they want me to talk about like a technical thing that I really did, that I struggled with, that was new for me, blah blah blah. I'll talk about that. And now it's also it's own bullet point in my resume. This is really helpful if you can get another engineer also to like look through your resume. See if they understand what you're even saying, what you're getting at, right? And um, yeah, really hash out with another interview. I had a friend of mine, he spent literally like three hours with me and we just we just really got deep into my resume and girl, I'm I'm like I'm proud of that thing actually. So so yeah, it it helps to have another engineer friend um help you out there. Yeah. Anyway, so once you have your resume all beautiful looking, okay? Another thing that makes a huge deal is honestly not working. Truth be told. There's multiple things here. So First off, um, refers to still do seem to count. Um, they can get a recruiter to look at your application at all in the first place. Okay? Because I think a lot of applications don't even get get looked at. But if you have a referral, it's more likely. I think Google often is like that. Like they'll actually look at it. You know what I mean? Doesn't mean that they're going to pick you, but hey, baby steps, you know what I mean? So anyway, there's that. Um, and then also, uh, friends can internally reach out to recruiters, check with them what's going on or like hiring managers. They can like, you know, I've had friends they've like sent slack messages whatever and that's gotten my foot in the door as well. So networking, I know it's a big word but it just means you got friends in the industry and you can just be like, hey, um, you know, looking for a jobs get rough over here. Do you know of anything? Like, do you have any like, do you know if anybody's hiring whatever? Or if you, you know, let's say they work at like insert company, IBM, Amazon, whoever, you just go to the job uh so that you you pick out whatever job it is. They might have more information on it and be able to tell you who the hiring manager is or whoever. They might be able to get your name out there. You know what I mean? That's super important. I've done that too for people. I mean, we are a community, right? Um we should be helping each other like that. So, uh yeah, very grateful to my own community. That's been really awesome. But anyway, so definitely not working and that's also like realistically how it looks. Really just like texting your friends being like, yo, It's rough out here. You know. And um, and yeah, other than that, so yeah, networking, resume, and the places that I've been looking, honestly, largely LinkedIn. Uh for startups, I can recommend the website Buildin. I've also just been on Google too though. Um, kind of also just top of my head companies that I know. Um, I really keep tabs on them. I have like, I think from I forget is it Capital One or somebody or Aami. One of I I have like I I set it up that they sent me email when there's like new job listings cuz also very important is the timing of your application. You want to make sure that you're one of the first people who sends the application. I honestly think that helps. If that LinkedIn listing has been there for over a week, forget about it. Don't even I'm don't even apply. They've probably gotten like Berillion people already. You think they're going to get to you? Probably not. So anyway, I look for the like the last 24 hours if I'm honest, maybe like a day or two. Um, even then they probably already have over 100 people who have applied. But it's better than a week. So, um, yeah, the timing of your application is also very important. So this is sometimes where you need to debate with yourself when you see, let's say like meta or something. You see software engineering like uh, listing, you would be perfect for it, requirements, nice to have, everything. Do you immediately apply the minute you see it when it's still fresh or do you wait for your like friend or connection on LinkedIn? to be like, yeah, I can apply I can refer you. That's sometimes what you want to think about. How helpful is this referral going to be? If that friend's not going to get back to you, if they're like, I'm a patient or something, it's going to take them like five days to answer. Send off the application to be honest, do it. I think. Um, that would be my advice because I've had it happen multiple times, honestly, where like referrals were just too late, you know, and I was like time is kind of of the essence here. So, yeah, also if you're a student, right now please do remember. If somebody's asking you for a referral, please get it done within the day if you can. Cuz yeah, you know, it's it really kind of is like that. So anyway, I think that's all I can think of right now. Um if I think of anything else, I'll let you know. But yeah, overall, nice resume that makes you look mad capable. You got to have all the requirements and nice to have. You got to be timely. You've got to be on that shit, okay? And also use your network, don't be shy. Everyone in their mother's laid off right now. It's very normal. Okay. So, do not be embarrassed. I'm on the longer. So, there you go. And of course, as always, best of luck.
