You can reach out to companies that interest you directly, using their career page, finding people who work there and contacting them (LinkedIn, or via Twitter but preferably through an introduction), or some combination of both. You'll usually get a message back if your online presence shows some sort of proof of skills.
Have you found a job using this approach? I just think that if I were on the receiving end, i'd be a bit creeped out if there wasn't an introduction. How would I get an introduction? Thanks for the unique tip though.
I got most of my jobs this way. It becomes easier later as your network grows and can vouch for you. If you don't have an existing network to help introduce you, find some people working where you're interested, contribute helpful stuff to their GH projects and ask them a referral. Takes more upfront work but it creates an internal ally who will be interested in helping you get in.
It's fairly easy to get someone to push your resume forward internally, if that person has some sort of (even benign) reason to think you'd be a good hire. Everyone wants to hire good people and often we're compensated for referrals who pan out.
I know my manager has had people reach out cold on LinkedIn. His profile makes it pretty clear he’s hiring so he doesn’t mind at all. If he gets a good vibe he’ll setup a call between me and the potential candidate. If that all goes well we’ll kick off the formal recruitment process.
