Job Hunting

(This is based on some advice I shared recently with friends on the job market.)

Unfortunately, job hunting is often a full-time job in itself. And not always a fun or fair one. I've found the approach that works best for me is steady and methodical. As you start to search, I recommend the following:

• Get all your job site alerts tuned up so anything interesting ends up in your inbox.
• Try to submit 4 or 5 solid applications a week. If I can get a couple callbacks on those, I'm satisfied that my approach is sound and my resume and cover letter are sharp enough. Then it's a crapshoot.
• Always submit a cover letter! Have a couple generic letters. Tailor one of those for the position you're applying to.

I keep a basic spreadsheet of job postings and continually reorder it (like a backlog!). I apply to no more than one job a day, whatever is at the top of my list. If I get a rejection or get ghosted, mutter a curse, cross it my off the list, and move on to the next one. I try to take something useful away from each of my rejections and keep revising and refining.

Beyond the usual suspects, here are a couple smaller job sites I'd recommend checking out:

• https://www.workatastartup.com/
• https://stackoverflow.com/jobs

For me, interviewing is largely a process for discovering the shorthand for successfully communicating my experience and abilities. Here's a pretty good idea for preparing that I've used and recommended to others:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25519718

Additional Reading

• https://www.askamanager.org/2020/07/heres-a-bunch-of-help-finding-a-new-job.html
• https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkd8j8/is-there-such-a-thing-as-applying-for-too-many-jobs
• https://www.thecut.com/article/how-to-decline-a-job-offer.html