How it took me less than 4 weeks to land a job in San Francisco
It started with a cold email:
When writing a cold email do 3 things:
- Write a short email and assume people read emails on their phone first.
- Get to the point.
- End your email with a question (or call-to-action).
Since founding my first company, Blinkness in 2008 — I’ve DREAMED of moving to the Bay Area. I spent countless hours reading TechCrunch and Hacker News to stay abreast of all things technology, and becoming an expert in building startups.
In 2014, my former co-founder, Zaid, moved to SF and offered me these faithful words: “I have a couch waiting for you.” In my gut, I wanted to take him up on the offer, but could not. I was in a serious relationship, secure in my job, and I didn’t want to leave my mother (I’m a momma’s BOY!). IT WASN’T Happening!!!
In March 2015, I booked a 10 day vacation to visit Zaid in San Francisco. Before my trip, I left my job. The trip took on another meaning: “Can I land a job in SF in 10 days?”
Two weeks before leaving for SF, I found out about the Tech Inclusion (TI) conference. Tech Inclusion was started by Wayne Sutton and Melinda Epler, with the goal of increasing inclusiveness among underserved communities within the tech sector. I bought a ticket and then cold-emailed all the speakers via email and LinkedIn.
My rationale behind emailing the TI speakers was to see if they really cared about inclusiveness. I was able to catch their attention and a few of them replied in 2–4 days. After various emails exchanges and phone conversations, some were willing to assist me with landing a job in the Bay Area.
For the record, almost no one but recruiters consistently check their LinkedIn messages. One of the few people to respond,Rachel Williams, Yelp’s Head of Diversity/Inclusion, answered my email and we met for lunch. She referred me for an Account Executive role, and after 5 Skype interview calls, I landed a job at Yelp.
Actually, it took me almost a month to land a job in SF.
The moral of the story: Go for your heart’s desire
Also, click the ❤️ below to help me inspire more people to break into tech.
