Applying through company portal vs Sending message to Hiring Manager
Hi all,
Recently, when I come across hiring posts on LinkedIn, I apply through the given link as well as send a message to the author of the post. Would it be better to wait for a response from the author before applying through the portal, or should I apply through the portal in parallel?
I wonder if there is any incentive for the author that they might miss when I apply through the portal, making them less interested in following up on my profile. Also, I think it could be tricky to apply through the portal later, after waiting for x days without receiving a reply. I think if the author is an engineer, they might be interested in a referral bonus. Would the same apply to managers or directors in the company, or do they care more about building a good team than the referral bonus?
Any thoughts/suggestions? Or am I overthinking this?
Thanks.
![Software Engineer [E4] at Taro Community company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgithub.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D0c34c3bb-59bb-4e4a-a62a-27081c14951e&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(2 comments)- 3
a month agoAI/ML Eng @ Series C startupBoth work. However you need to answer this question first: why should this person hire you out of hundreds, probably thousands of applicants?
Why is so so important. And the way that your "why" manifests is by doing deep work on relevant projects to the CS subfield you want to be in. It took me the longest time to put this idea together mentally
- 2
a month agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroI feel like you're overthinking this - I can't imagine applying through the portal would hurt you if you also reached out to the hiring manager directly as well. If it makes sense to do both, do both.
What I will say though is that I wouldn't try to reach out to the hiring manager behind every single job you apply to as that would be a waste of time. For a reach out, at least 1 of these criteria should be met:
- The hiring company is a small startup (100 people or less)
- You have a genuine connection to the hiring manager (you used to work with them, you met them at a conference, etc)
- There is a special resonance between the company and you. It's not just another company where you primarily just want a high-paying job from them. I see a lot of engineers delude themselves that FAANG in particular is special to them
I dig deeper into all this alongside how to send an effective reach out here: https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/cold-messages/
