A person who wrote asking about how they can get someone’s attention to the top tech firm. They went to an average to a mediocre school and they really want to work for such a firm.
On this podcast,I answer this from the perspective of a recent grad as well as the vantage point of an experienced professional.
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You attract the attention of recruiters from top tech companies? I’m good answer this for new grads and experienced professionals alike. I’d but I want to read the sub question from the original question I read.
“I’m going to be graduating with a bachelor’s degree next year and I’m looking to get into software engineering. I did not go to a well ranked school for computer science. I’m looking for some ideas of how to attract the attention from recruiters.”
Let me answer this one, then go to the general computer science grad and then come to experienced people. So the first part is, I didn’t go to a great school. How do I attract the attention?
The answer is – – it’s probably too late. What you’ll need to do is invest some time and do some great work that you noticed in order to get into that top organization. Why? Because they are not there to satisfy you. They are trying to find exquisite talent for their organization. They’ve come up with criteria that works for them.
You are a stretch at best and probably a loser from their previous experience. That’s not a criticism of you; they just come up with formulas that dictate who is going to be successful in their organization. It is not the person who went to the “C” school (by that I mean, like A, B, C, D school; I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt; you went to a mediocre school at best).
They are not there to do social work and make you happy. They are there to solve a problem, right? You are going to have to up your game and instead of doing the mediocre work that caused you to be in the “C” school, you are going to have to step up your game. That’s going to be on you.
You can do that in your next job. You can do that by working on projects on the side. However you do it, you’re going to have to step up your game so that they want to talk to you.
That’s for that person. For the new grad, for this person who hasn’t really played big yet, you will have to step up. If you’ve gone to a top school, you have it easier, not easy because you come with that brand with you. So if you attended Stanford you have a certain amount of recognition that comes with that. They have a positive halo but you have got to deliver the goods (positive halo means that the people that they’ve hired from that school in the past have been successful in their organization). Think of it from that perspective.
Find the alum from your school who really going to work there and see if you can develop a relationship where they want to refer you. That’s the easiest way to get in. From there, it is having a profile that causes them to want to reach out to you. Talk to your career services office to see how they can set you up, IF they can set you up (I’m going pass Stanford at this point, obviously).
Again, previous grads who’ve gone to work at these firms. Career services. Creating a profile that’s attractive that calls attention to you in your work. Reaching out to HR and hiring managers (HR I only bring up from the standpoint of new grads because, most of the time, unless you are being referred by a previous grant or someone that you know there, that’s going to be your only way of getting it).
Lastly, for the experienced person, if you’ve done great work if you are marketing yourself beyond, “I’m in my job. I’m in my silo doing this task. If you are out promoting yourself because your career is part what you do and part market (after all, you know of these firms for a variety of reasons including how they’ve granted themselves from a career standpoint, right). You have to follow their model and brand yourself and market yourself and promote yourself outside of the cubicle that you work in for your current firm.
Your LinkedIn profile is a small piece. Your public persona. Where you put yourself out is going to be part of this. Where can you connect with people who work at these firms? Where are the speakers from these organizations appear in? Can you get introduced to them there or introduce yourself to you there?
There are lots of different ways to market and promote yourself but the big thing is making sure that the world knows about you. I want to make sure you hear that again – – making sure that the world knows about you… And doing it consistently..
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Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.
The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.
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