Maybe your search looks something like this. Every morning, you open three job boards, scroll through the new postings, and apply to whatever looks like a close match. So does everyone else who wants the same role, looking at the same postings at the same time. After two weeks of this, it’s easy to think, “Nobody reads my applications. And I don’t know anyone in tech anyway.”
Both parts of that thought are worth a closer look. In this lesson, you’ll turn the search around in two ways, by choosing the companies you want to watch and by helping people who work in your target role get to know a little about you.
Pick Companies Before Postings
A target company list contains 15 to 25 organizations that hire people like you for the role you want, each with a note on why it fits and who works there. Job boards show you what’s open today. A list shows you where the role exists, so you hear about openings earlier, have someone to talk to, and have a reason for every application.
Try a quick experiment. Write down the first ten companies that come to mind for your target role. Then mark the ones that hire people with your profile, based on evidence such as a past posting or someone with your background working there. Most first lists are full of famous names and short on marks. Those companies are often the most competitive, and they may hire few people like you.
So start with criteria. Write four or five before you list a single company. They could cover whether the role exists there, how the stack or domain matches your requirements map, the size or stage you want, your location or remote work preferences, and anything that rules a company out for you. Add a company to the list only if you can write a line saying which criteria it meets.
