Finding a job in tech can be challenging. This is especially true if you are looking for a senior manager, executive, or C-suite position online during the COVID-19 pandemic. A good portion of senior management and executive roles in the tech industry are never posted online. Additionally, the global pandemic has changed how big tech companies recruit and hire top talent. The best places to find a job in tech online have changed in recent years.
So, how do you find a job in tech? What are the best places to find tech jobs online? What should you know when looking to break into the tech industry?
7 Tips To Find A Job In Tech Online
The following seven tips will help you find a job in tech or IT.
1. Look for openings on the company’s careers pages.
Many open jobs in tech never make it onto popular job search engines like Monster, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Moreover, when roles do make it to these job search sites, it will often happen several days or weeks after the role was originally posted on the company’s careers page. Consequently, you want to be proactive and try to find open roles directly on the company’s websites.
You may find it helpful to make a list of your target companies and bookmark their careers pages (examples: www.metacareers.com or www.amazon.jobs). Then, check each page frequently for new opportunities that align with your career interests. This ensures that your application will be received as soon as new jobs are listed.
2. Make use of LinkedIn and LinkedIn Jobs.
While I often encourage my clients to avoid most job search engines as they are saturated with job seekers, I make an exception for anything LinkedIn owns. I recommend LinkedIn Jobs over most other job search engines because the platform makes it incredibly easy to find out whether anyone in your network works at your target company. You can also use LinkedIn to see if anyone in your network is directly or indirectly connected to someone at your target organization. Further, LinkedIn enables you to easily see if any alumni are currently employed at the company.
Important: If you find an open role on LinkedIn, be sure to apply directly through the company’s website. This is critical as the company’s website will not only be the most up-to-date but will also ensure your resume is added to the company’s applicant tracking system (ATS).
3. Tap into your alma mater’s career jobs database.
Speaking of tapping into your alumni network, your alma mater likely has an online jobs database available exclusively to alumni. My alma maters, San Francisco State University and the University of Washington, for instance, both have job boards available to alumni at no cost. Furthermore, many universities offer niche job boards for alumni of each college within the university.
4. Harness the power of your network.
Your network — both professional and personal — is one of the most powerful tools in a modern-day job search. Consider making a list of current and former colleagues, friends, and family who can support you. This task can often be made easier by looking through your LinkedIn connections, Facebook friends list, Instagram followers, and phone contacts to remind you of everyone you know.
Then, begin going through this list and letting people know you are looking for a new job. Importantly, not all the people in your network will know of immediate job openings, but you can never have enough friendly faces keeping their ears open and alerting you to open roles they see.
5. Give Team Blind a try.
Several years ago, a client informed me of Blind. This anonymous professional forum and community allows you to connect and network with millions of verified employees from both tech startups and giants. Simply put, I have yet to find a more helpful resource for those looking for a job in the tech industry than Blind.
Moreover, Blind’s Who’s Hiring job board compiles listings from various tech and IT companies that are currently looking for talent. I encourage job seekers to use this board specifically because it allows you to quickly sort available opportunities using various parameters, including hiring company, location, job function, and date of job posting.
6. Leverage popular tech job boards.
While Team Blind is one of my favorite tech job search sites, there are several other job boards dedicated to the tech and IT industries. The following are a few of my favorites for finding jobs in tech.
- AngelList (tech startup job board)
- Built In (startup and tech job board)
- Dice (tech job board)
- Ladders (executive job board for $100K+ roles)
- AboveBoard (executive job board for VP-level roles and above)
Again, if you find an open role you are interested in, remember to apply directly through the company’s website. You want to ensure that you are reviewing the most up-to-date job posting and that your resume is being submitted directly to the company’s ATS, rather than through a third-party search engine.
7. Connect with executive headhunters and recruiters.
Finally, an executive headhunter or recruiter can help you identify and submit your candidacy to unposted job opportunities. Below are several executive headhunters who serve the tech space.
- Daversa Partners (executive search for growth-stage and venture companies)
- True Search (executive search for investment firms, their portfolios, and public companies navigating major growth)
- Tru Staffing Partners (executive search, staffing, and contract staffing firm specializing in data privacy, ediscovery, and cybersecurity)
- Smart Synergies (IT sourcing firm serving government and commercial customers)
- Riviera Partners (executive search for engineering, product, and design roles)
- Korn Ferry (executive search for C-level executives)
Based on how executive headhunters and recruiters make their money and get paid, please know that they will often focus exclusively on executive-level and highly technical roles that are the most difficult to fill, so if you are earlier in your career, an executive headhunter may not be the best option.
Remember: Finding a job in the tech industry takes strategy, intention, and time. Based on your experience and career goals, you may find it helpful to mix and match several of these tips to increase your chances of landing a job you LOVE. You’ve got this!
