Why the Job Search Sucks (2018)
I think people need to be down with how to actually get a job. It varies across industries so I can&#x27;t speak generally, but I can say how my view has changed over the years, from being naive and a bit bitter to being quite happy with my most recent search.<p>When I was young there wasn&#x27;t much choice. I had no network, I didn&#x27;t know anything about my industry, and I didn&#x27;t know anything about how hiring was done.<p>First of all, network 1. A huge number of jobs are not actually open to anyone other than a specific person who is known to the hiring manager already. Someone they&#x27;ve worked with or a second level connection. I refer people all the time to jobs now, and the hit rate is way higher than the anon rate.<p>Network 2. Recruiters. The good ones will meet up with you, ask you for advice, and generally tend to a huge number of connections. Your main thing to do here is to play the long game. Demonstrate that you&#x27;re a person who is of interest, if you&#x27;re lucky as both the product and the customer. Then keep in touch, ping them now and again on LinkedIn. You will get some calls and the hit rate is higher than anon, lower than network 1 but with way more volume.<p>As for the interview process itself, it helps you a lot to have a lot of leads. You feel bad if you have one lead and you blow it. If you have two or three you&#x27;ll be more relaxed, plus you can negotiate with ease. You can take a bigger view of processes that you don&#x27;t like, eg whiteboarding is more of a lottery when you have a whole bunch to do, and you don&#x27;t take it as personally. People who don&#x27;t get back to you, oh well, would you want to work there?<p>I guess a fair bit of it is psychological management, but that&#x27;s important to make a good impression and to be able to judge the jobs better.