Looking for a new role can feel like a full-time job in itself. Not only does job hunting take up an incredible amount of time, but summoning up the mental energy to apply for jobs can be draining too.
This is especially true for organizations that require you to not only upload a tailored resume and cover letter, but also ask you to fill out application forms on clunky software. However, organizations of all sizes are struggling to fill tech roles at the moment.
So much so that job site Indeed has launched a new Tech Network, allowing companies to reach passive talent to build in-person or remote teams of developers, engineers, analysts and more.
Considering this, finding a tech job should be like shooting fish in a barrel, but for many job seekers the amount of work required to apply for roles is off-putting.
If you’re already frustrated in your role, logging on in the evenings to spend a few hours identifying suitable jobs, researching the company, editing your resume, writing a cover letter and preparing for job interviews, psychological assessments or prerecorded digital interviews is a slog.
However, there are methods, tools and tricks that can help streamline your search.
1. Know what you want
This one sounds obvious, and aren’t we all chasing higher salaries, better benefits and greater flexibility? But it helps to go niche here.
In Richard N. Bolles’ seminal book What Color Is Your Parachute?, he invites readers to focus on seven petals of a flower to define what your next role should look like, and this includes a focus on values, special knowledge, people, environment, location and transferable skills, as well as level of responsibility and salary.
Look at the whole picture — or flower — and consider if you want to work in-person, remote or hybrid, if you’re interested in relocating and where’d you’d go if so, if you want to pivot to another industry or stay in the same one, what size organization you’d prefer to work in, what value alignments are priorities, and so on.
From here, you can make a list of the top 10 or 20 organizations you’re interested in. By looking at job postings these companies are currently hiring, you can see which ones are a fit with your skills and experience, and you can make a list of job titles that make sense for your experience and career goals.
All this will minimize the companies you look at, and will stop you wasting time on organizations that aren’t a fit for your now very tangible priorities.
Make the most of online resources to reduce the time you spend on job applications:
VentureBeat Job Board: New roles are uploaded to the Job Board constantly, from tech titans like Amazon Web Services, Netflix and Adobe, plus smaller startups and scaleups. Sign up to alerts and schedule time in your calendar for a weekly browse.
Enhancv: This site lets you use AI scanners to see if your resume is ATS-optimized, and helps you rework your applications in line with what organizations want.
Mailtrack: Install this free email tracking tool for Gmail or Outlook and you’ll know when hiring managers open your emails. Now you’ll know at a glance when to nudge, and when to hold off.
ChatGTP: Applying for roles sometimes feels like speaking another language; there is an art to it. Use ChatGPT sparingly. It can be helpful to write a first draft cover letter or analyze a job description, but never send something you haven’t reviewed.
3. Learn to network
Nobody likes networking. However, networking in a digital age can be a lot less painful than hobnobbing in-person at conferences and events.
If you have a college or university education, start opening those emails and tap into the alumni network. Next, find shared communities virtually on places like Reddit and Discord, where you can learn and chat with experts and peers.
And if you have your list of organizations you’d like to work for, visit their websites and attend webinars and seminars they conduct as part of their marketing efforts — a little engagement can go a long way.
Ready to streamline your job search? Visit the VentureBeat Job Board today, and find roles suited to your career goals. Try these three to start.
Senior Kubernetes Engineer, Fanatics, New York
Join Fanatics as it builds a global digital sports platform as a Senior Kubernetes Engineer, and you’ll have a broad scope of engagement with cloud technologies, site reliability practices and CI/CD tooling. As part of its betting and gaming team, you’ll design and build large-scale distributed systems, identify and drive optimizations of the platform, and improve reliability by driving adoption of best practices across the organization. Five or more years’ experience in Java, Python or Go development is required, as is expert-level knowledge of Kubernetes control and data plane components. Find out more here.
Senior Tools Software Engineer (Apex Legends), Electronic Arts, Redwood City
The Academy Award-winning studio behind acclaimed multi-platform games like Titanfall, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Medal of Honour, Above and Beyond, is now hiring into its Apex Legends team. As a Senior Tools Software Engineer, you’ll be a subject matter expert (SME) on a team of talented engineers focusing on the core features of different tools for Apex Legends, and will design and implant tools and features. At least a decade of experience working on shipping large-game projects is required, as well as over three years’ experience as a Tools Engineer, excellent C++ skills and an understanding of legacy C code is also part of the job spec. Read more here.
Data Scientist, SciTec, Huntsville
SciTec is seeking highly skilled Data Scientists to join its analytics team, where you’ll be working on an innovative machine learning operations (MLOps) workload, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and supporting a government customer in Huntsville, Alabama. You will be responsible for delivering automation to key national security missions interacting with petabyte-scale data on supercomputing resources. To be considered, you’ll need significant experience as a data scientist or in an advanced analytical role, expertise in Python, R, SQL, statistics, and data mining, as well as a deep understanding of ML and deep learning techniques. Apply here.
New jobs are added to the VentureBeat Job Board every week, browse those opportunities here.
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