Love that you emphasized being direct when asking for a referral.
I’ve been asked for a referral many times, and it’s always obvious when someone is asking for one indirectly. A lot of times, I think they feel like they have to ask questions before asking for a referral (like, how is working at X?).
But if the questions are just generic, then it’s a waste of time! I’d rather people ask some specific questions about my work (which is a huge plus!) or just be direct when asking for a referral from the beginning.
💯 couldn’t agree more. I feel the exact same way. I’m sure some prefer to be “warmed up a bit” but it’s always so hard to do right, it’s better to just avoid the time sink and be direct.
If you’re actually qualified for it, you have a decent shot at the referral partially due to referral bonuses
Your tips on negotiating with the hiring manager are great. I love thinking about these scenarios like a game of chess. I've found that taking negotiation class on LinkedIn and researching best responses on YouTube have driven my own conversations. Thanks for a great article!
Thanks for the article and sharing your own resume, Jordan!
I really liked the format, is what I use for my own: Concise bullet points, just 1 page, emphasize the relevant experience over not-relevant (e.g. your education now that you have multiple work experiences).
I think the Outside of work section is a big differentiator. When I finished my studies, I saw that most people didn't have anything. My resume indicated I wasn't "just another new grad"
Thoughts on cover letters? Almost every application has an upload field for it, so it assumes you'd need to write a custom one, and save it out as a PDF. This has been very time consuming for me — look at the company culture, find aspects of the listing and how it applies to my experience, write one paragraph or so to stick between a common intro / outro.
Thanks for sharing, Kehinde. Best of luck with your interviews and getting some more. Hopefully this post provides good guidance for you in the upcoming weeks :)
Love that you emphasized being direct when asking for a referral.
I’ve been asked for a referral many times, and it’s always obvious when someone is asking for one indirectly. A lot of times, I think they feel like they have to ask questions before asking for a referral (like, how is working at X?).
But if the questions are just generic, then it’s a waste of time! I’d rather people ask some specific questions about my work (which is a huge plus!) or just be direct when asking for a referral from the beginning.
💯 couldn’t agree more. I feel the exact same way. I’m sure some prefer to be “warmed up a bit” but it’s always so hard to do right, it’s better to just avoid the time sink and be direct.
If you’re actually qualified for it, you have a decent shot at the referral partially due to referral bonuses
This is a very good point. Thanks for sharing.
What are good specific questions you’d like to be asked?
Anything that shows you did at least a little bit of research into the person or company. Make them personalized!
Examples:
How is the work culture and tech stack at (current company) compared to (previous company)? (Just check their LinkedIn history for this one)
Is it true that it’s hard to onboard onto (current company) because of all their internal tooling?
I saw that your team recently released this: (news article or product feature announcement). What went into building it?
These are good pointers. Thank you.
Your tips on negotiating with the hiring manager are great. I love thinking about these scenarios like a game of chess. I've found that taking negotiation class on LinkedIn and researching best responses on YouTube have driven my own conversations. Thanks for a great article!
Thanks so much, Jordan. Yeah, the LinkedIn courses are surprisingly really high quality (when you might expect them to be a bit generic).
Thank you for taking the time to read and your compliment 🙏
Thanks for the article and sharing your own resume, Jordan!
I really liked the format, is what I use for my own: Concise bullet points, just 1 page, emphasize the relevant experience over not-relevant (e.g. your education now that you have multiple work experiences).
I think the Outside of work section is a big differentiator. When I finished my studies, I saw that most people didn't have anything. My resume indicated I wasn't "just another new grad"
Exactly. That's a good summary of how and why to structure it like that. Thanks, Fran
Excellent article, Jordan. So much actionable knowledge packed into here!
Thank you so much, Zak!
Thoughts on cover letters? Almost every application has an upload field for it, so it assumes you'd need to write a custom one, and save it out as a PDF. This has been very time consuming for me — look at the company culture, find aspects of the listing and how it applies to my experience, write one paragraph or so to stick between a common intro / outro.
Are they even read? Does it even matter?
Hey Michael,
In my experience cover letters have not been important for modern tech companies. It may be still relevant in more traditional ones though.
For me, I optimize on number of applications but I've seen people have success the other way around too
Thank you very much for sharing, Jordan.
I just checked my Resume and realized some of the bullet points were too wordy. I’d have to fix that asap.
I haven’t been getting that many interviews but I’m gonna ensure to keep applying and applying in hopes of getting that one yes.
Thanks for sharing, Kehinde. Best of luck with your interviews and getting some more. Hopefully this post provides good guidance for you in the upcoming weeks :)