Where to search for a tech job
If you're looking on LinkedIn, you might be looking in the wrong place
So you’re finally thinking about making the jump from your shit finance job or your monotonous marketing job at a big company to a startup. Awesome! You might need some help navigating how to efficiently look for a job. I might be able to help.
The truth is, I love looking for jobs.
It started when I was a senior in college and I just could not get a traditional job. It was so frustrating… part of it was for sure me, part of it was the typical jobs that weren’t a good fit, and maybe part of it was me just not taking enough risk. I was jobless until two weeks before graduation in May.
I had to get a bit creative. I finally got an amazing job at Earnest Research. It wasn’t through the college career portal or LinkedIn, but rather through this site called The Muse. The value prop of sites like The Muse is that they both profile the company with more context than a LinkedIn but also function as a job search aggregator. To be honest, their job search sucks, but at least you get to see “how cool” it is to work at certain companies. And for a 22 year old this was really important.
The core idea here is to look in untapped or underutilized places. It is true that everyone posts a job on LinkedIn, but their search also sucks. Since all companies post here, so you might miss a few good ones especially at small startups. And they have this stupid functionality that allows companies to repost jobs all the time - why? I bet because almost everyone searches by recency, i.e. posted in the last 24 hours or week.
There are a lot more job aggregators that might be more efficient for you.
Job Aggregators
I don’t really see forward-thinking and new companies list on old school job aggregators like Monster or Indeed. Instead, take a look at these:
Built In - has profiles of jobs/startups in select large cities. For example, Built in NYC or Built in LA. You’ll have a great selection of a lot of series B+ startups in your city.
AngelList (Talent) - the classic startup jobs page. Most startups list here. You can search by stage, salary, location, industry, role etc. I recommend searching using generic words like Operations or Data, so that you don’t miss potential options.
The Org - a public database of company org charts. But they also have a jobs page, where companies can list roles. I expect this company to grow and thus listings to grow as well.
VC firms - this is an awesome way to find a good opportunity. Most VC firms have a careers or jobs page that aggregates all of their portfolio companies’ openings. For example, here is Accel’s or Lux Capital’s listings.
YCombinator Jobs - leading startup incubator YC often lists their portfolio companies’ jobs. You won’t find really late-stage jobs here though. An awesome place to look for seed-stage opportunities.
Communitities - over the last year there’s been a lot of “communities” that have been created, and many of which have jobs aggregated on their own personal Pallet board. For example, you can look for healthcare jobs at Out-of-Pocket, VC jobs at Gen Z VC, or startup jobs at Accelerated.
Handshake - if you’re a college student, this is a jobs board central to your school. You need your school’s .edu email address to sign up.
Tip: Once you have your set of roles that you’d like to apply to, make sure to apply via the company’s jobs page and not via the aggregators. I wouldn’t be surprised if applications on those aggregators get lost in the process.
Alternatives ways to find a job
It takes time to search and find the right job. Instead you might find these new services helpful:
RippleMatch - if you're in college/early career then this might be a good thing to explore. It’s a service that matches you with relevant jobs that might be a good fit.
Hired - instead of the traditional model of you applying to a company, the company will apply to you.
Searching and finding the correct jobs can be a point of advantage in your job search. If less people apply to the job, and/or if the job is a better fit for you, you might have a higher chance of success.