So, You'd Like to Get a Job

I see a lot of my friends suffering through lay offs right now. By the grace of God I've been at Sequoia for a few years now with no plans to go anywhere, but previous to this I had a good run of faceplants, layoffs, toxic environments, stressful job hunts, and rough starts. I've been staring at the end of my severance when the job offer came through (when I started at Apple, I had literally $32 in my bank account...I had to have my manager check me in to my hotel on my first day because I didn't have money to cover the incidentals hold). That is all to say, I feel you. And I want to help if I can.

First Things First

I'm just going to share what's worked for me as someone who's been in a lot of job searches after being laid off, fired, quitting for good reasons, quitting for bad reasons, and everything in between. I will say by following what I'll share that I've never had an issue getting an interview somewhere, but that's probably also a product of this information plus many other things (being a white cis dude, the incredible luck I've had to work where I have, and so on). Just a caveat.

At the same time, I do see a lot of folks committing the same mis-steps over and over, so let me try to share what's helped me when hunting:

• First off: you can do this. There are a lot of jobs out there. Really. You just have to keep digging and applying. I and a lot of people around you believe in you. And that place that you'll fit is out there somewhere. Even if you don't think you're a 100% fit for the requirements, shoot your shot anyways. You might be surprised!
• Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. No one is shackling you to a job. If you get an interview and there's something you can live with that's not perfect in the offer, go with it. First of all, you might be surprised with the outcome (e.g., they might bump your comp up the level you wanted or they might let you move into the role you really desired). Secondly, you can quit. No, really. Not that you should take a job with the express intent of leaving, but at the same time, don't feel like you absolutely have to find The One True Job That Shall Last Forever™ (especially if you're approaching a crisis point financially).
• Always be eyes out. Always. Look everywhere. You might be shocked where you find job openings. I once got a great job off a mailing list for a slowly dying user group in an area I never actually lived in that I randomly subscribed to about eight years before the posting came across. I just stumbled across it accidentally in my Gmail while I was looking for a job. Opportunity can lurk anywhere!

Your Resume and You

I have a lot of opinions about resumes. As someone who's applied to a lot of jobs, interviewed a lot, and been heavily involved in hiring nearly everywhere I've worked, I've learned two things about resumes.

1. One, your sole goal with the cover letter and resume is to get to "I want to talk to this person" as soon as possible. That's it. They're busy, they're inundated, and you want to cut through that to get a conversation. Anything that detracts from that or slows it down needs to be eliminated.
2. Secondly, you are a real person seeking to make a connection another real person. Keep that in mind when writing everything.

Those two maxims will make your cover letter and resume higher impact than at least 80% of the resumes they will see (trust me, I've seen a ton of resumes).

Here are some tips to help to get your resume in shape to make an impact:

• Talk like a human. Please, don't let a "resume writing service" con you into using words like "technosocial open source maven and changemaker" or "high-producing synergistic people operator" (no lie, these are real things I've seen on friends' resumes). Talk like a real person. It's like a restaurant menu. You might see some overly fluffy description of a dish as "a scrumtrulescent filet of cod caressed with wheat and ovum dredge enveloped in searing corn oil accompanied by crisped potato clouds." The stupid description might put you off ordering your favorite dish of fish and chips, right? But a plain, honest description communicates the true value there. Do the same thing. Be the fish and chips, not the delicately enveloped cod.
• Summarize your value in plain language. I always recommend starting a resume with a "summary" section of just a few bullet points backed up by concrete results from previous employement or education. I recommend this section especially if you have a long career or extensive education. If they can get to "let's talk" in the first two sentences rather than the end of the first page, that's what you want.
• Lead with your strengths. If you have a lot of education but not so much work experience, list your education first. If you have a long or impressive job history, put that section first. Again, you want to get them to "yes" on the interview as soon as possible.
• Write a cover letter. There's "wisdom" out there today telling you to skip cover letters, use ChatGPT (don't), etc., but let me repeat: you are a real person connecting to another real person here. You don't have to customize it totally but you should write a cover letter that is personal *to you* and at least acknowledges the position and its requirements.

If you feel like you're doing the right things with your resume and still not seeing results, email it to me at jeremymcanally@gmail.com with a sample cover letter with something about your resume or CV in the subject (I realize I haven't gotten back to a couple of you yet...I will very soon!). I'd be happy to take a look and offer quick feedback. Sometimes some minor adjustments can make a big difference!

The Main Event: The Interview

So, you've landed an interview.  Excellent!  Let me throw a few parting tips your way that I've found important at this phase.

• Interviews are two way streets.  Keep in mind you're interviewing the company as much as they're interviewing you.  Ask probing questions that will help you decide if you'll be able to work there effectively.  I mean, at some point, those questions may simply become "Y'all writing paychecks?" but anything that might affect your ability to work well there from policy things (e.g., how often are you paid, what healthcare benefits do you offer, can I work from home, and so on) to culture considerations (e.g., what is the meeting schedule like, how is work generated and distributed, do I have to drink alcohol to avoid being a social pariah, and so on) should be asked.
• Have the hard conversations up front.  As my career has progressed, I've learned through a lot of interviews to have a few key, difficult discussions up front during interviews.  The first is to discuss advancement opportunities.  Unless I'm entering at director level or C-suite level, I don't want to work somewhere where there's no chance to advance.  Whether the lack of advancement is because I'm coming in at the top or they have a "fLaT oRgAnIzAtIoN" (those don't really exist, but that's an entirely different post...), I want to make sure there are steps to grow into.  It's not really because I want the title bloat, but I want to know I have headroom to increase both responsibility and compensation.
  
  The second conversation is compensation.  Sure, it's awkward, but unless it's listed in decent fidelity on the job listing (i.e., not " from $100k to $375k") you're probably in for an awkward conversation later anyhow.  I have been through so many interview processes that I had to end at the offer stage because the economics simply didn't work.  This is also another "two way street" moment because if they can't offer you a reasonable salary band up front based on what they know from your resume, you may want to open your eyes a little wider to other red flags you might be overlooking.
• Have some boundaries. A lot of companies have gone off the deep end when it comes to interviewing.  I can't find the article now, but I saw one that said the average interview process has gone from something like 2 rounds to 10.  Technical interviews are getting increasingly annoying with demanding several technical tests or projects.  When interviewing, just be mindful of these traps.   First, because they signal how the culture inside the company works.  If they're asking you to do 10-12 hours of free work when you don't even work there, can you imagine the demands they'll likely place on you when you do?  Secondly, don't let them become a time sink.  I can't tell you how many times I burned way too much time on take home projects for jobs I didn't really want that kept me from seeking and preparing for jobs that I really did want.  I've missed out on a few great opportunities that way, so I don't want you to to make the same mistake!
  
  If you need to set a boundary, just be honest and firm.  "With the number of interviews I'm conducting right now, I don't think I can commit to spending 8 hours on this coding challenge.  I will spend 2 hours and send over what I have completed.  I hope that's sufficient."  Or if they want too many rounds: "My schedule during this job seeking season likely won't allow for that many rounds before I reach an offer with another company.  Can we figure out an alternate arrangement?  I really want to make sure you all can compete with other companies I'm considering when it comes time to make a decision."  They don't have to know how many interviews you're involved with right now, because the answer to "how many is too many to commit to this chicanery?" is 1.  You shouldn't be subject to it at all.  So, just be up front and firm about it.

Get to it!

I'll end off with a few places to hunt for jobs right now where I've had great luck in the past:

• Sequoia's portfolio company job board.  All of our portfolio company's open positions in one convenient spot: https://jobs.sequoiacap.com/jobs/
• Hacker News monthly hiring posts. The monthly hiring threads are amazing (I've gotten several jobs from there).  They can be a little gangly to sort through, but they're nicely aggregated here: https://hnhiring.com/
• LinkedIn and friends.  SO's job board was great (RIP), but the next best thing is LinkedIn or Wellfound. Things like RemoteOK and WeWorkRemotely are also great if you're looking for remote.

Good luck!