3 Unique Ways to Find Your Next Job (Part 1)

Job hunting can be a painful process. I get it. Hitting that “Apply” button isn’t so fun when you’re doing it for the 99th time. It’s even less fun when you’re getting rejected or worse—ghosted 👻…

Here’s what you can do about it: switch things up. Go about your job hunting journey differently from the rest of the crowd. Here’s how…

Attend industry events and conferences

Fun Fact: My journey to Microsoft started with me going to the Collision Conference!

Looking for a great place to network with people who work at your dream companies? Find an industry event or conference that your target company is sponsoring or hosting. They will likely have speakers and a booth where you can ✨ network ✨ with people who actually want to talk to you.

Although there are many virtual and hybrid options available these days, I highly recommend attending in-person because it’s way easier to build connections. Tickets can be pricey if you’re paying out of pocket, but there are many early bird discounts (so try booking these tickets months or even up to a year in advance). If you’re a student, you may get a discount code OR you could try asking your university to cover the expense.

Upon registering, you’ll probably get access to the event app. This is where you can find the agenda and most likely a list of speakers and other attendees. Spend some time going through the attendees and create a list of people you want to meet. This could be speakers or employees at your target companies. Get ahead of the game by searching these people up on LinkedIn and connect with them:

Hi XX, I saw you’re attending Conference ABC in CITY/LOCATION next week and I’d love to connect with you and learn more about XYZ. Would you be open to a quick coffee chat or meeting up?

Once you get to the event, make an effort to seek out the people on your networking list. However, conferences are super hectic and you should keep your options open. You never know who you could run into and how that connection could blossom!

Check out the booths because:

You get free swag 👚 🧦 🎒 (and who doesn’t love that)
You can learn about the new tools and technologies that are out there (this can be interesting and inspiring)
People actually want to talk to you (while trying to get you to sign up for something in the process)

Talk to people, connect with them on LinkedIn, and follow up with them for a coffee chat after. Then, keep following up. Continue the connection. Ask them to review your resume and give you feedback. This could lead to a referral, it could lead to something else. Be open, curious, and try to add value. People are busy and you want to be worth their time.