Does applying to job openings on company site ever work?
Has anybody ever applied to one of the bigger companies via their career website and actually gotten a positive reply without having already connected with somebody in the company?
I got lucky in that I applied for a job on LinkedIn, and a recruiter contacted me that I wasn’t qualified for that position but they had another that I would be a good fit for. I didn’t contact anyone at the company beforehand or anything. (Of course, this was after sending out 300+ applications, haha)
I actually did get an interview at Google via direct application. I bombed the interview and it went nowhere, but I at least made it that far.
I would recommend the book ’the two hour job search’ it’s a misnomer but it’s a really great method of finding a role you want.
It’s tough, but if you understand the data science behind applicant tracking systems then you can use it to your advantage.
I had a surprisingly high hit rate on my online applications because I was careful to review the text on the job posting and optimized my own resume to better match. Reword it to include similar terms and objectives that better reflect your skill set for that particular position. Don’t be dishonest, but pay close attention to certain verbs and semantics.
For example: If the position requires communicating a model to senior staff, then you know that your past business presentation skills would perhaps be more valuable to feature instead of touting your knowledge of k-means clustering
If the position is more geared towards data quality, then highlight your past projects that involved a great deal of data cleansing and collaboration with data engineers.
If you are qualified it will definitely work. My company is offering 4-figure referral bonuses because we can’t find any good candidates.
It obviously depends on how desirable of a company but for your average medium-sized company, it should work.
I got hired into a fairly senior data science role at a FANG company by applying directly on their website. I now manage a data science team and do lots of hiring, most of which is sourced from direct applications. Referrals help you get a phone screen if your resume sucks but if you have even semi decent qualifications you’ll get attention.
The big caveat though is don’t just apply to one role - apply to at least 5 or 6 different roles with different requirements. If you don’t hear anything after a few weeks, apply to more. Big companies have lots of open positions but they move fast. Roles fill fast. If you apply to a role that is already in the process of being filled (maybe internal candidates or prior interviews waiting for offers) your application will get ignored. The system is very fragmented and recruiters don’t search though application databases. They will only look at your resume if you apply to a role they are actively recruiting for and that’s not every role posted on the job boards.
You act like the HR structure isn’t there for when you submit an application through their internal website. ESPECIALLY if it’s a large company. The HR and recruiting departments exist for a reason.
It works. It goes through the proper channels. HR reviews it, they set up an interview, they forward resumes they like to the hiring manager.
Usually if you find a recruiter they tell you to apply through the website anyways as its an HR formality, but it at least can make sure they take a second look at the resume and you get your goals across.
My point is: even if you reach a person working internally, the process ends up starting at the internal job portal anyways in the grand scheme of things.
I do believe that it’s not working when u apply directly through the company website. I also found my job via LinkedIn. I personally think it is easy for the recruiter to understand the candidates skills after visiting both their Linkedin profile and resume.
Hence Linkedin is a must for everyone. Applying through Linkedin is easier then company website.
Ive blanked applied before and received interviews.
Whenever you apply straight through a website, just make sure your resume verbatim includes words that are literally put in the job description requirements.
Even if your resume has really similar wordings, literally change your resume and cover letter to include key words in the job description.
Literally copy/paste all programs/models/software that they want and embed it somewhere in your resume
LinkedIn is the best place to apply to get seen by the bigger places, I’ve interviewed at Facebook, Lyft, Spotify, LinkedIn all through applications there. Try to optimize your profile so that it’s suggested more often to recruiters and do try to connect/message recruiters/job posters through there.
It can work, it worked for me, but use leverage if you have it. Also don’t believe every blog you read. Even what was true last year doesn’t have to hold this year, and information on offer is often unresearched, poorly understood, or out of date.
Its a numbers game. Just apply to as many jobs as possible regardless of where its posted to increase your chances of an interview.
Ive always gotten jobs via the company website.
Linkedin is a great tool because a company gets a sneak peak into you, as a person, as well as a review of your experience.
I got my job at a relatively big tech company by cold applying to a job posting that I had seen on Linked In. I did target my resume to the company though, and talked about things I had built using the skills they were looking for in the job posting. (i.e. they mentioned MongoDB in the job posting, so I changed a description of a project I had worked on to also include the fact that I had used Mongo for the project)
Yes it definitely does. LinkedIn is what I have used but many times the LinkedIn routes you to the specific company website. It has lead to many recruiters reaching out to me. But then again the interview leads you can generate through direct application is definitely going to be a lot lower than going through your own network.
My first big break was a cold apply, but this was like 3 years ago when this field was small. Since then, I’ve had my other roles come from friends recommending me to HR
Networking didn’t pay off for me. I got interviews but no offers. And I don’t have bad people skills.
Job came from a posting I applied to and forgot about months later.
I think it’s a numbers game. Apply a lot, and get lucky.
Just make sure your resume is good.