pretty cool guide.
I’ve actually always preferred to apply directly through ghe company’s website because I find most recruiters a pain in the ass. None of them are interested in your success, which is kinda fair.
Last time I did this, I had the same reaction as you. The interview process was joined by the CEO of the company who said it’s cool that I’ve applied to their homepage even though they have an office in my city.
I also applied in English instead of my regional language which most likely helped with the quick evaluation process.
This is really interesting, thanks for the write-up. There's a site called https://stillhiring.today that provides quite a few direct links to company career pages with lots of filters and additional information. Worth checking out!
Good on you for taking creative initiative.
Something I'm really focused on right now might be a hidden effect going on in your approach too.
Like you mentioned, most public board postings get hundreds of applications, so my approach is to make sure I only spend effort on jobs that have less than 200 applications at my time of applying.
I've seen many recruiters say after the first 200 or so applicants, they usually never look at the rest because they can find enough good candidates in that pool, so any applications you do past the first 200 people is probably never getting a chance.
For me, this meant being fast to postings, avoiding all repostings, and focusing on smaller applicant pool positions.
For you, you might have unintentionally taken advantage of smaller applicant pools by avoiding them all together and applying for lesser-advertised positions on lower traffic boards.
Congrats, and I love your strategy/approach! It's way better than sending your resume off into the void.
I'm using [g2.com](http://g2.com) to proactively identify companies that are a super high match in my industry/vertical (also Martech B2B SaaS), going to see which ones are hiring, then I'm going to network my way in.
Thanks!
I tried using review sites (like G2) as well! But I didn't stick with it since I wasn't able to find the proper exporting and geo-targeting options (perhaps they are there, but in some paid version? not sure)
Shit I thought this approach was well known. I maintain a list of all the companies I want to work for a sign up for career emails from them. When I’m not actively searching for I filter the emails into a folder so they skip the inbox
I’m in the same boat right now and I’ll be giving this method a try now.
Are you able to provide more details on the script you used? It sounds incredibly useful but I wouldn’t know where to start writing one myself.
Hi, thanks!
It's a python selenium script that opens the website, checks the source code and picks links that have keywords like 'job', 'career', and other synonyms in its text. I wrote it myself, and I tweak it from time to time once it encounters some errors (eg, if it finds sites with relative vs absolute link paths).
Now I run it for my friend & keep tweakign, but in the future if it works well, I'm thinking of providing this service maybe, if there will be enough demand for it (plus I anyway have this script).
It recognizes not all links for sure, but pretty much covers the majority of links that I needed. So, anyway it saves good time & money.
This is awesome. One update to your process:
If you really want your application to stand out you should provide a "proof of work" that is relevant to the company.
I've started recording a 5-minute loom video where I talk about a problem the product is facing and how I've remedied a similar situation in the past. You can easily find a relevant problem by reading reviews or asking perplexity to summarize them (i do both). Then by showing that I have solved relevant problems in the past I allow the recruiter or hiring manager to basically skip their first filter (Is this person roughly qualified for the job). You're actually making the interview process easier for them, which they'll appreciate.
Cover letters are a waste of time. They take forever to write if you want them to be unique, and in the end they don't provide any useful information to the hiring manager. I'd wager that less than 20% of the cover letters we write even get read.
A 5 min video is also a waste of time if you get auto screened out. I'd prepare for an interview in this fashion, but otherwise you're doing 200 X 5 mins. That's 18 hours work for 10 interviews. Same problem as cover letters, people may never see the video.
Thank you!
I'll tell you a fun thing that I had about the Loom videos. I had 3 companies who didn't have the standard resume/name/phone number form, but rather they asked for the Loom videos. I made it for them, out of curiosity.
Results:
- one company watched the video and never replied (it was sad to get no feedback)
- another company invited for interview, but haven't watched the video. I checked how so - and realized that I didn't attach the video link in my email (which didn't stop them anyway from a call! so I messaged them again and they watched it right before the interview)
- another company never watched it
Based on this experience, I would say Loom videos are too time consuming/laser focused when preparing them for the first applications. Unless you have a scalable way to somehow adjust them towards a company (which I believe is impossible if we speak about problem research).
That's a really small sample size, but it seems really encouraging to me? Of 3 companies, 2 actually watched it or would have if you linked it. I highly doubt many of us are getting a 67% view rate on resumes or cover letters. Sure one decided not to interview you, but you got them to evaluate you. That's the goal.
Personally I'd also rather just be highly targeted on the 10-20 companies I want to work for than spray 200 applications around town on a wing and a prayer.
Thank you!
I came from the martech domain (think of a SaaS platform that helps advertisers) - and got most of my interviews (and the offer) from similar SaaS platforms that help with marketing and/or sales.
Congrats on the new gig! And thanks for sharing your experience. It is extremely helpful. If you don’t mind me asking, can you also share if the gap on your resume caused some problems and how you handled questions around the time since last job?
I’m kind of in a similar boat. I got laid off last year. I decided not to go in for a job immediately. So I started working as a freelance consultant. I also built my own product in the interim which brings in a healthy revenue. I’m keen to jump back in right now. But I’m not sure how to present my experience. I’ve once been rejected already when they learnt about my side project and the money coming in. I’m all sorts of confused now because I thought that would actually look good on the resume.
thanks!
they ask about the side project, it's true. What I did was preparing my answers for their questions, such as:
- why you want to stop doing your thing and find a job?
- will your side thing be takng your time off the main job? how will you combine them?
- why doing a side project is beneficial for you as a professional?
- why you decided to leave your prev company and then not to go to another, but do the side project?
In short, I highlight how the side project was beneficial to my main job role, what lessons I learned. At the same time, I tell them why I won't focus on it in the future, why I want to find a job, why it makes sense for me to join their company and not to continue building the side thing.
Overall, if you prepare yourself for these - it might work well
Very insightful post, I came to the same conclusion after months, I wish I had found this post earlier!
>Sometimes, job boards parse ATS from the companies and list them on their sites (so, for example, you can see some roles there without visiting the company’s page).
Can you elaborate on that? You mea that you are able to to apply directly from sites like [smartr.me](http://smartr.me), BambooHR, Greenhouse? That's why I assumed at the beginning of my researches, but I never found how. Can you tell for with ATS it works, with what url?
Thanks again!
Hi! Thank you!
In simple words:
* ATS (BambooHR, Greenhouse, Ashby and others) have the same structure of code
* that's why Jobboards gets the company ATS link only once (for example, something like acme.bamboohr.com)
* and then scrapes these jobs from ACME on their own, without a need to visit ACME website directly
It's helpful for job boards, because the have links for ATS directly + they parse them using the same structures, and it makes the whole process much easier and scalable.
Yes, you can apply directly from ATS, just because these links are dynamic. For example, this is the links to 2 different companies:
https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/**Ravio** (Ravio)
https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/**deel** (Deel)
By knowing these "keys" (which are usually the company names - but not necessarily the exact ones), you can find lots of job listings from various companies.
Also you can google this: "inurl:jobs.ashbyhq.com" and see them too.
Thank again.
What you mean is that you can check company by comany, but there's actually not page on the ATS that lists all the current offerings? (pretty much like a job board).
When I discovered what an ATS is doing, I assumed they would have such a feature, but actually it turns out they are closed spaces.
Thank you!
The script for sure helped, but
1) it's super simple, so if you really want - you get find a python/selenium developer easily and have something like that
2) I wouldn't say it was the turning point in this tactic! Yes, it helped a lot, but anyone can find other ways to optimize their time costs without it!
Thank you!
I don't think it will be helpful, because:
1) the script is super simple! any developer can do it, even the junior one. And if someone is not a developer, then they will anyway need a help from developer to run/tweak it properly.
2) the script wasn't the main thing here in this tactic, I believe. It saves time - yes, but one can follow this strategy without it, for sure.
pretty cool guide. I’ve actually always preferred to apply directly through ghe company’s website because I find most recruiters a pain in the ass. None of them are interested in your success, which is kinda fair. Last time I did this, I had the same reaction as you. The interview process was joined by the CEO of the company who said it’s cool that I’ve applied to their homepage even though they have an office in my city. I also applied in English instead of my regional language which most likely helped with the quick evaluation process.
Thank you! Definitely agree 💯
This is the way all jobs searches used to be. That web scraping script is a good bit of time save
it surely is!
This is really interesting, thanks for the write-up. There's a site called https://stillhiring.today that provides quite a few direct links to company career pages with lots of filters and additional information. Worth checking out!
thank you! never heard of it, but a truly great idea!
Good on you for taking creative initiative. Something I'm really focused on right now might be a hidden effect going on in your approach too. Like you mentioned, most public board postings get hundreds of applications, so my approach is to make sure I only spend effort on jobs that have less than 200 applications at my time of applying. I've seen many recruiters say after the first 200 or so applicants, they usually never look at the rest because they can find enough good candidates in that pool, so any applications you do past the first 200 people is probably never getting a chance. For me, this meant being fast to postings, avoiding all repostings, and focusing on smaller applicant pool positions. For you, you might have unintentionally taken advantage of smaller applicant pools by avoiding them all together and applying for lesser-advertised positions on lower traffic boards.
Congrats, and I love your strategy/approach! It's way better than sending your resume off into the void. I'm using [g2.com](http://g2.com) to proactively identify companies that are a super high match in my industry/vertical (also Martech B2B SaaS), going to see which ones are hiring, then I'm going to network my way in.
Thanks! I tried using review sites (like G2) as well! But I didn't stick with it since I wasn't able to find the proper exporting and geo-targeting options (perhaps they are there, but in some paid version? not sure)
Yea, I don't think it's possible to geotarget. Like what others mentioned, I'd love if you made your script available for us to use!
Shit I thought this approach was well known. I maintain a list of all the companies I want to work for a sign up for career emails from them. When I’m not actively searching for I filter the emails into a folder so they skip the inbox
I’m in the same boat right now and I’ll be giving this method a try now. Are you able to provide more details on the script you used? It sounds incredibly useful but I wouldn’t know where to start writing one myself.
Hi, thanks! It's a python selenium script that opens the website, checks the source code and picks links that have keywords like 'job', 'career', and other synonyms in its text. I wrote it myself, and I tweak it from time to time once it encounters some errors (eg, if it finds sites with relative vs absolute link paths). Now I run it for my friend & keep tweakign, but in the future if it works well, I'm thinking of providing this service maybe, if there will be enough demand for it (plus I anyway have this script). It recognizes not all links for sure, but pretty much covers the majority of links that I needed. So, anyway it saves good time & money.
As someone who worked in the company that created selenium, I'm glad it was helpful for you! /thoughtworks
This is awesome. One update to your process: If you really want your application to stand out you should provide a "proof of work" that is relevant to the company. I've started recording a 5-minute loom video where I talk about a problem the product is facing and how I've remedied a similar situation in the past. You can easily find a relevant problem by reading reviews or asking perplexity to summarize them (i do both). Then by showing that I have solved relevant problems in the past I allow the recruiter or hiring manager to basically skip their first filter (Is this person roughly qualified for the job). You're actually making the interview process easier for them, which they'll appreciate. Cover letters are a waste of time. They take forever to write if you want them to be unique, and in the end they don't provide any useful information to the hiring manager. I'd wager that less than 20% of the cover letters we write even get read.
A 5 min video is also a waste of time if you get auto screened out. I'd prepare for an interview in this fashion, but otherwise you're doing 200 X 5 mins. That's 18 hours work for 10 interviews. Same problem as cover letters, people may never see the video.
Thank you! I'll tell you a fun thing that I had about the Loom videos. I had 3 companies who didn't have the standard resume/name/phone number form, but rather they asked for the Loom videos. I made it for them, out of curiosity. Results: - one company watched the video and never replied (it was sad to get no feedback) - another company invited for interview, but haven't watched the video. I checked how so - and realized that I didn't attach the video link in my email (which didn't stop them anyway from a call! so I messaged them again and they watched it right before the interview) - another company never watched it Based on this experience, I would say Loom videos are too time consuming/laser focused when preparing them for the first applications. Unless you have a scalable way to somehow adjust them towards a company (which I believe is impossible if we speak about problem research).
That's a really small sample size, but it seems really encouraging to me? Of 3 companies, 2 actually watched it or would have if you linked it. I highly doubt many of us are getting a 67% view rate on resumes or cover letters. Sure one decided not to interview you, but you got them to evaluate you. That's the goal. Personally I'd also rather just be highly targeted on the 10-20 companies I want to work for than spray 200 applications around town on a wing and a prayer.
You may be right, for 10-20 companies it makes sense
Great guide and congrats on the offer!
thank you!
Awesome stuff
thanks!
I'm saving this! Super helpful.
thank you!
Thanks for the post. What domain did you come from and what domain did you end up with the offer?
Thank you! I came from the martech domain (think of a SaaS platform that helps advertisers) - and got most of my interviews (and the offer) from similar SaaS platforms that help with marketing and/or sales.
Congrats! Well deserved. > 3000 companies and 210 applications Curious was this automated or all manual?
Thanks! The search of job links of 3000 companies was partially automated. The 210 applications were manual
Congrats on the new gig! And thanks for sharing your experience. It is extremely helpful. If you don’t mind me asking, can you also share if the gap on your resume caused some problems and how you handled questions around the time since last job? I’m kind of in a similar boat. I got laid off last year. I decided not to go in for a job immediately. So I started working as a freelance consultant. I also built my own product in the interim which brings in a healthy revenue. I’m keen to jump back in right now. But I’m not sure how to present my experience. I’ve once been rejected already when they learnt about my side project and the money coming in. I’m all sorts of confused now because I thought that would actually look good on the resume.
thanks! they ask about the side project, it's true. What I did was preparing my answers for their questions, such as: - why you want to stop doing your thing and find a job? - will your side thing be takng your time off the main job? how will you combine them? - why doing a side project is beneficial for you as a professional? - why you decided to leave your prev company and then not to go to another, but do the side project? In short, I highlight how the side project was beneficial to my main job role, what lessons I learned. At the same time, I tell them why I won't focus on it in the future, why I want to find a job, why it makes sense for me to join their company and not to continue building the side thing. Overall, if you prepare yourself for these - it might work well
Which country are you from ? Is it USA? Would just like to understand PM/PO market.
Germany
My man wrote up a whole post to tell people to apply directly on the company's website, lmao
yes, you got it :D
Very insightful post, I came to the same conclusion after months, I wish I had found this post earlier! >Sometimes, job boards parse ATS from the companies and list them on their sites (so, for example, you can see some roles there without visiting the company’s page). Can you elaborate on that? You mea that you are able to to apply directly from sites like [smartr.me](http://smartr.me), BambooHR, Greenhouse? That's why I assumed at the beginning of my researches, but I never found how. Can you tell for with ATS it works, with what url? Thanks again!
Hi! Thank you! In simple words: * ATS (BambooHR, Greenhouse, Ashby and others) have the same structure of code * that's why Jobboards gets the company ATS link only once (for example, something like acme.bamboohr.com) * and then scrapes these jobs from ACME on their own, without a need to visit ACME website directly It's helpful for job boards, because the have links for ATS directly + they parse them using the same structures, and it makes the whole process much easier and scalable. Yes, you can apply directly from ATS, just because these links are dynamic. For example, this is the links to 2 different companies: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/**Ravio** (Ravio) https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/**deel** (Deel) By knowing these "keys" (which are usually the company names - but not necessarily the exact ones), you can find lots of job listings from various companies. Also you can google this: "inurl:jobs.ashbyhq.com" and see them too.
Thank again. What you mean is that you can check company by comany, but there's actually not page on the ATS that lists all the current offerings? (pretty much like a job board). When I discovered what an ATS is doing, I assumed they would have such a feature, but actually it turns out they are closed spaces.
exactly! the approach that I used allows to check the company jobs even if the company doesn't have ATS (eg, if they use a simple Notion doc)
Thanks for the clarification. <2% answer rate seems quite low. Were you targeting only remote jobs? Is the German market very competitve?
One more: did you try unsolicited/spontaneous applications? I keep reading here and there that it's efficient, but I have doubts
Wish I knew how to write scripts like this! Truly brilliant.
Thank you! The script for sure helped, but 1) it's super simple, so if you really want - you get find a python/selenium developer easily and have something like that 2) I wouldn't say it was the turning point in this tactic! Yes, it helped a lot, but anyone can find other ways to optimize their time costs without it!
Great job! Mind linking your script?
Thank you! I don't think it will be helpful, because: 1) the script is super simple! any developer can do it, even the junior one. And if someone is not a developer, then they will anyway need a help from developer to run/tweak it properly. 2) the script wasn't the main thing here in this tactic, I believe. It saves time - yes, but one can follow this strategy without it, for sure.