How to get a technical interview?

In this video, Code Drip talks about some creative methods he used to get developer job interviews which eventually led to success.

Here, you find what Code Drip talks about and what tips he gives. (PS: If you have a better summary, send it to us.)

Before we show ways on how to approach this, we talk about what most people do:

Cold applying through job boards:
Most people go to job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster and others like that. And what they do is: They just start blasting out applications - like even 5-10 per day. That is a lot. You will be feeling pretty good about doing that. But the bad news - without experience - for 99,5% of these jobs, you are never going to hear from them. The math is: 1 out of 100, you might hear back from. Spending 5 hours a day doing that - you will burn out pretty fast. In addition, you are getting lumped in with people who have literally zero experience - like that haven't even done projects. They apply and think that the company is supposed to mentor them from scratch. So chances of being filtered out are high.

Applying for jobs in the cold job board way is like using tinder for your dating life. You need to have a really good product - like you went to Stanford.

There are more effecitve ways to get the first job than just cold applying through job boards.

1. Apply directly on company websites:
- You get put in a smaller bucket than all the job board people.
- You get access to jobs that are not offered to job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster and others like that.
- You send a signal to the employer: You just want to work there.

Check out JOBS AT DEVELOPING STARTUPS
Check out JOBS AT ESTABLISHED COMPANIES
Check out JOBS AT HIGH PERFORMING TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

2. Use a service that puts you in front of companies:
- You create a free profile to unlock the opportunity for companies to apply to interview you with salary details upfront.
- You get put in front of companies and they will offer to interview you (if you get accepted).
- You have to look appealing enough to get accepted (that's the catch!)
- You make yourself look more appealing if you talk about experience in your resume that cover:
a. Automating tasks through scripts (like recording Excel macros).
b. Put the projects you were working on most prominently on your resume.
Signal success and competency.
(HIRED is like dating when you have a nice car and a little bit of money.)

Check out HIRED

3. Use a service that puts you in the final interview round of companies:
- You need to pass a programming test.
- You get put in final round interviews at different companies.
- You pass the interview, you most certainly get a job - so therefore the programming test is hard.
- You do the following:
a. Figure out what is on the test to see where the gaps are.
b. Don't be afraid to take the test - it is hard - you probably fail. But you can take it again in 3 months. (It is basically a mock technical interview that you can do for free.)
Signal success and competency.
(TRIPLEBYTE is like dating when you have a nice car and a little bit of money.)

Check out TRIPLEBYTE

4. Get referrals:
- You get put into the short stack of a recruiters inbox.
- You have priority over the people who didn't get referred.
- You do not get a guaranteed interview, but your resume gets looked at and not thrown out.
- Ways to get referrals:
a. Contact people you already know. Contact also friends of friends. People do not have to work in tech. Talk to your extended network - friends and family. Be honest about your intentions.
b. Contact people through meetups. Flex your social skills if you want to do this. Meet people who work in tech. Tell people what you are doing. Ask people what they are doing. Afterwards, connect through Facebook or LinkedIn. Ask them out to buy them coffee or lunch. Then go and hang out with them under the premise that you want to learn what they do - trying to get into this industry. Ask if they can refer you. If they deny (e.g. because you haven't worked in the past - that is fine), that is fine.
(MEETUP is like dating.)

Check out MEETUPS.

5. Connect through LinkedIn message method: - You make a LinkedIn profile - LinkedIn is not an evil social media like Facebook or Instagram that is going to addict you. It is actually a useful one. You add everyone you ever knew - peopl you went to school with, people you went to university with and people you worked together with.
- You use the search feature in LinkedIn and find people you have something in common with who work at a company with a job you might want. You can filter by your school, your bootcamp, your college, your university or your company. Then go through and start messaging people. Just find something that you can connect with someone over (like interests, sports, etc.). You then can also message to second degree connections and you can ask the person you do know to introduce you.
- Bad messages are:
a. Life story with 3 or 4 paragraphs.
(Keep your first message short - you can tell about your life later!)
b. Do you mind talking to me and let me pick your brain about a company?
(Do not ask for a lot of time and effort in advantage. You ask for a favor from someone you don't know. Who long will this take? It is too open ended.) c. I noticed you work at a company.
(No clear intention of what you want. Be clear about your intention in your first message for some degree.) - Good messages are:
a. I noticed you did xyz (the thing you have in common with them) and know you work at the company. Do you mind if I buy you a coffee in person? Coffee Emoji. I can come to you.
(You are asking as little as possible. You are asking them to buy a coffee - so it is a free coffee for them. You are coming whenever they are free and whereever they are. You are asking for very little. You are only offering them value.)
b. I noticed you did xyz (the thing you have in common with them) and know you work at the company. I am just getting into abc. Can I send you 3 bulleted questions about working at company? If you have time. I would really appreciate it.
(If they say yes, then follow up with the 3 bulleted questions - keep them really short. You can say something like: You can send really short answers - anything will help. So you keep the pressure off. You are asking as little as possible. If the person is really resonsive to this. What you can do after is say: Can I get you on the phone for like 15-20mins with a few more questions? If not, that is fine too. What you said already has really helped me. If you can get them on the phone you are pretty golden. Ask about their life. Talk 70% about them. Make sure to sneek in what you are doing too. Depending on how this call goes - either at the end or after the call when you send the follow up - assuming this didn't come up - you can then ask for the referral. Ask in a very polite way: I am not sure how it works at your company. I am looking to apply for jobs right now. If you are comfortable with it, would you be willing to refer me? Say someting like that. Even if you don't get the referral, you are getting good information out of this conversation. You are leraning how a programmers day to day goes. You are gaining career insights if you have ask about their journey as a programmer. At the end of the day, you are not losing anything by doing this.)
(It is kind of like dating - you are getting practice with people and doing this method.)

Check out LinkedIn

Last tips:
a. Apply to 2) and 3) ASAP.
b. Wait with 4) until you feel ready. Those are valuable. You don't just want to use them up and then fail all the interviews once you get them. So make sure you are ready for the interview before doing the referral method.
c. Do not stop doing 1). Just have in mind that they statistically don't pend out for you.
d. Best strategy: Use a blend of all the above.