The Airbnb engineer who negotiated a $250,000 starting salary shares his tips on how to land a job interview
Job hunting/landing an interview is a numbers game. Meet a lot of people and apply to as many jobs as possible. “Trust in the law of large numbers,” Qureshi says.
Networking is an easy way to get your foot in the door. If networking sounds intimidating, there’s a simple way to do it: “Just buy everyone coffee,” Qureshi says.
That means buying “tons and tons” of coffee for everyone you meet in tech. The goal is to meet as many people as possible.
Other ways to meet cool people in tech: go to meet ups, local events, developer conferences, or even cold email/message people online.
There’s no shortcut to finding people. Make a spreadsheet of every single person you know. Reach out to the most relevant contact at every single company. Reach out to every single one. Ask for a meeting — and always buy.
Once you meet someone who’s in the sector you want to work in, learn as much as you can about the person/company/industry/technology they work with.
But don’t ask for a job. This is just a chance to ask as many questions as possible about the work itself. Qureshi says these meetings are called "informational interviewing."
Before you leave, ask: “Who else do you know who’d be a good person for me to talk to?” The goal is to turn every conversation into at least one more contact.
Then, just repeat this cycle: buy more coffee, ask more questions, and find more contacts. Make sure you don’t ask for jobs or referrals in these conversations. If you do it enough times, someone will eventually float the idea: “I could refer you if you want," Qureshi says.
“This might seem weird. But studies have shown that this is the most effective way to get a job. And ultimately, it’s the most effective way to generate referrals outside of your network,” Qureshi says.
This method works because people hate getting asked for a job. Quereshi calls this "the power of informational interviewing," where you’re not making the conversation about yourself but about them. People like talking about themselves, and will feel less pressure to refer you for a job.
When it comes to your resume, always keep it to one page. Make sure you highlight anything technical. And never, ever have typos.
Sign up for all the job platforms, like TripleByte, AngelList, or Hired. Refine your LinkedIn and GitHub profiles.
Make sure you mass apply to a fixed number of companies every day. Small and medium sized companies are more likely to respond. The goal is to get as much interview experiences as possible, and hopefully an offer. Having even one offer under your belt can help leverage your chances of getting into other companies.
Study hard. There are a bunch of studying resources and engineering tips Qureshi shares on his blog. "You need to study your ass off," Qureshi says.
At times, the whole process could get really demoralizing. So make sure you eat good food, get enough sleep, and just hang in there. "Keep grinding...Keep putting yourself out there, and most importantly, keep taking care of yourself," Qureshi says.
Keep a positive mindset. Treat everything as a learning experience, and set specific, realistic goals.
Last but not least, keep having fun!
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