*Actually I can’t guarantee this post will help you get your dream job but it’ll help it’ll take you 10 steps closer than you were before

You know exactly what your dream job is.

You know exactly where you want to work.

You know exactly what you want to do.

But you don’t know how to get there.

I’m here to show you the way.

You need to know what you want. 🔗

This method of job hunting only works if you have extremely specific goals. You want to work at a company doing a specific kind of role, or there is someone you specifically hope to work with one day. Any less specific, and this method probably will not help you.

Getting started 🔗

The chance of you getting your dream job through traditional applications? Not that strong. But! There are a lot of people on the Internet. A lot of people on the Internet means there’s a lot of opportunities to get help. I propose that we should start utilizing ~ alternative methods ~ to secure your dream job. The information is out there, all we need to do is put the pieces together.

To begin 🔗

You need to find someone with your dream job. Because guess what they already have? Your dream job. This means they already know exactly what needs to be done to get that dream job.

I have a couple of friends who want to work as designers at Spotify, both for different reasons.

And when I learned, my first question to them was “have to you spoken to anyone who does design at Spotify?”

Their answers were both no. I asked “if you already know exactly what and where you want to work, why don’t you reach out and ask for advice on getting to those roles”

Seems pretty straight forward right?

This is where OSINT comes in.

What is OSINT? 🔗

OSINT stands for “Open Source Intelligence” - it’s basically the process of using publicly available (open source) tools to gather information.

OSINT stands for open source intelligence, which refers to any information that can legally be gathered from free, public sources about an individual or organization. In practice, that tends to mean information found on the internet, but technically any public information falls into the category of OSINT whether it’s books or reports in a public library, articles in a newspaper or statements in a press release. source

There are some really cool tools available on the internet if you’re keen on doing your own OSINT exploration - I’d start with checking out OSINTFramework.com for a comprehensive list of OSINT tools.

LinkedIn 🔗

I’ve said this before, but LinkedIn doesn’t mean much in the tech world. What is IS good for, is figuring out who works at what company and in what role. Using a little bit of smart searching and choice Googles (be sure you’re ready to step up your Googlefu) you can find someone who works in your dream role.

In addition, you’ll also figure out what kind of roles exist in your dream company - designer, experience designer, etc. This step help you build a wealth of knowledge about all the opportunities available at a company in the field that you’re most qualified for. Remember, at larger companies there isn’t just a designer, there’s designers for specific projects, UX designers, product designers, creative heads, etc. This knowledge building step will help you build a map… almost like an opportunity map.. or a company organizational chart of sorts.

When you find someone in your dream role, or dream role adjacent, you can see what kinds of projects they’ve worked on (depending on if they keep their LinkedIn up to date). This is important for later- be sure to keep note of these expeditions.

Reach out 🔗

Personally, LinkedIn is not a reliable way to reach me. I put it everywhere - “slide into my Twitter DMs to contact me.”

Say you find a designer at Spotify, Jane Doe, and they have your dream job. Take a gander over their LinkedIn profile - do they look active? When was the last time they posted a status or shared something online? If it looks pretty consistent and recently, this is your way in. Definitely be sure to contact them via LinkedIn messages.

Say Jane Doe’s profile is just their resume. I can say with confidence that you won’t have success with getting a response if you message via LinkedIn. Try a quick google search instead:

Jane Doe spotify Twitter

By going through the results, you might just find their Twitter account. This is an excellent entry way - but again… take a second and look at their activity. Does it look reecently? Does it look frequent enough? Are their DMs open? This could be your way in.

Remember my blog post about getting onto Twitter?

What’s even more amazing about Twitter is that it makes people highly accessible! If there’s someone in tech you look up to, there’s a good chance they’ll respond to a tag in a tweet, or even in a direct message (if their direct messages are open). The secret is that people want to help!

Ok, they don’t have a Twitter, they don’t check their LinkedIn often… what should you do? Now we can get a little bit creative. This maybe overstepping a line, but it’s your decision to do it. I’m just here to tell you how. Consider searching for someone else who also has that role, or might work adjacent to that role.

Companies have consistent naming schemes for their emails. It could be [first initial][lastname]@company.com or [first name].[lastname]@company.com but generally there is a pattern. There’s a couple of ways you can find this pattern - through choice internet searchers - but also tools exist to help you, like hunter.io.

A search query you might use here could include phrasing:

reach out to me at [company website]

The results of this search might be interesting, because you’re not necessarily looking for the person you’re trying to contact. The message can be posted by a completely different person. Instead, you’re looking for the email pattern employed by the company. You can then pattern match to get the email of the person you’re looking for.

PS I dont recommend reaching out via their Instagram unless their Instagram is work related. Definitely don’t reach out via Facebook.

First contact 🔗

I’ve taught you how to contact them, but what do you say. Be straight forward with it:

Hi Jane My name is John - I currently work as a designer at Totally Real Company. I’ve been here for a while now (coming up on my 2 year mark!), and have been thinking about my next steps in my career. I’m super keen on one day becoming a designer at Spotify, and was wondering if you have any advice on steps I could take to improve my chances of securing a job with your team. Here’s my current portfolio if you’re interested in checking it out.

Basically, you ask for advice. Who better to learn about what the team may be looking for in the future, than someone on the team themself. I’m not saying you should ask them to refer you, but instead you’re just asking for advice.

They responded, now what? 🔗

Take this as an opportunity to learn more about the team:

Ask them what their hiring process was like.

How is working on the team?

Do you know what the future of the team is like?

Ask general mentorship questions!

Basically, hold a conversation with curiosity. Remember when I said you should take note of the projects the person has worked on - use this as a jumping point to ask about the work they did for those specific projects, and see what you can learn to help you secure the job. Seek mentorship from this person, with the goal of getting your own dream job.

Be sure to approach this conversation with tact - you don’t want to just walk in and say “Hi I want a job!” Instead, say everything but that.

Proceed with Caution 🔗

Disclaimer: Getting in contact with someone directly either via email, DMs and/or alternative means may be a hit or miss. Depending on the platform used ( i.e. Twitter, Email, LinkedIn …etc ) a message, if not phrased correctly could be seen a bit overstepping. We can adjust this by writing a message that is friendly, direct but empathetic about the person’s time and approach.

Be smart about doing outreach. Do not do this for every single person on the team. Do not message the person on every platform you find them on. If they don’t respond after a message or two, I advise not to message again.

Remember, team members talk - if you reach out to Jane, they might mention you to their coworker Brad. So don’t go spamming the entire team. Be choice about who you reach out to.

Why should you reach out 🔗

You want to be the best qualified candidate for their future roles.

Consider this a little bit of social engineering. The software and surrounding sectors are reaching a point of saturation such that a fantastic resume may no longer be enough to make you stand out from the rest. As such, reaching out may give you an advantage and visibility.

It’s a little bit of nepotism. The next time the team gets head count (the ability to hire more people for the team) or a position opens up, you’ll be in the front of their minds. They might make the role built around your qualifications(it does happen), or short list you as a potential candidate to fill the role. At this point, you’ve curated your resume, experiences, and projects to benefit this future team by taking the advice from the person who you reached out to - you’ll be perfect fit for the role.

What if your dream job doesn’t exist…yet 🔗

This is where you’ll need to improvise a bit. You know you’re highly qualified to carry out a specific kind of work that a company can deeply benefit from - but they just don’t know it yet. You can still use a similar approach to one outlined above for getting in contact with the company, but instead of aiming for a specific role, aim for someone who works as a manager or high level in the department that you would benefit.

In this scenario, it’s important to curate your outreach message to demonstrate your potential value add to the company. Talk about how you’re really excited about the product and that you’re keen to know how you can one day be involved with the company. Hold an open conversation, ask what they’re working on, and what their plans are for your area of expertise.

Securing the Contract 🔗

It’s a highly competative world out there, and there’s always going to be amazing people who are also qualified for your dream role. I hope this blog post helps push you out of your comfort zone and gets you the mentorship and guidance from real world people to get your dream job.

If you’re just starting your job search, and don’t know what to do - I’ve got you covered. Check out this series of blog posts I wrote here.

Also, I wrote this while live on Twitch - shout out to @j3sus_h for ghost writing a paragraph. :)