Looking for a new job ? Here’s what I do before applying, my methodology.

Recently I’ve changed jobs and it was for my surprise, when talking to my friends that were searching for a new job as well, that I saw that I have a different approach regarding the research and how do I apply for a new job.

Keep in mind that my time is precious for me, so I do whatever I can to avoid spending 15/30m in a call, specially for things that could be clarified through a simple text message.

Also, I tend to compare finding a new job as finding a new partner, you have to date a lot before finding a fit (usually).

You will give most of your time to this job and you will only have a few opportunities to check if this is something that is a fit for you, of course, after the dating scene and you finally start to work there, you can always end the relationship.

But let’s be honest, ending this relationship after 3 months might cost a lot more than ending a love relationship after that time. So you want this to work.

I am a developer and some of these might apply only for that kind of job positions but here’s what I usually do:

1. First, I make a list of the traits that I would like my next job to have, this includes things like culture, how the company is organised, job position, salary, etc
2. I look for job opportunities that fit the current job position I’m looking for, this might be on Linkedin, Landing Jobs, etc
3. If I find a job opportunity that seems interesting, I go check the company. I will look for their website. See if they have a blog where they write about their culture and tech stack, also if their website talks about the products they build, this gives me a general feeling if the company is a fit for me or not. Because if they do this, at least these things are important for them, as it is for me.
4. If the job position and the company seem a fit, I will pass to the stalking scene. I go to Linkedin, search for the company, check who is working there and I look specially for the recruiters.
5. After finding the recruiters (sometimes they are linked to the job opportunity, when it’s on Linkedin), I will send them a text message. This text message will include some fundamental questions, let’s talk about them.

What are the questions I make to recruiters before applying? Usually.

1. What’s the salary range. (don’t need explanations why)
2. How many people are you hiring for this position. (this gives me an idea of what are my chances of being hired, there’s a difference between just trying to hire 1 person vs 10)
3. What’s the size of the company, and how they are structured. (I don’t like small companies and this also gives me an idea if they are doing agile and what departments they have inside)
4. What’s the interview process like (the most important question, for developers we usually have to go through a time consuming code challenge, sometimes even before going through the HR interview. Here I can rule out if I really want to interview with this company or not)
5. If I want to apply, what’s the best way to do it. (here usually I just send my CV to the recruiter I’m talking to, and this way I already made a connection with someone and most of the time this will be the person responsible for my interview process)

I don’t like calls and I don’t want to spend time talking to someone for it in the end lead to nowhere, so with this process I know what to count for when I’m interviewing and also can make a better usage of my time and the other person making better questions and trying to really squeeze the most information I can.

Remember, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. It’s a dating scene.

Don’t blindly apply to everything, be mindful about what you really want and also try to make a connection with someone inside the company instead of just sending your CV attached to some email and wait days for a response.

Also good things take time, so be patient. You might hear a lot of no’s, unfortunately the interview process is a matter of luck, not really about how good or bad you are, at least for developers. The interview process is a mess, but that’s a subject for another day.

Tip: if you try this, don’t send messages to the recruiters on a Friday or at weekends, the rate response will be lower.

Good luck!