This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

6 months and no interviews for product role - Ivy League, founder, gold medalist - please help

Reina199·Jul 17, 2020

Hi all,Good morning :) first, I'd like to thank this community for being generous and always helping each other. I've gained a lot!Second, I'm an early career professional, currently working as a Product Manager at Salesforce (it's been 16 months now). Prior to that, I graduated from Columbia University with a Master's in Engineering Management, and before that, as a gold medalist from a university in India for my bachelor's. I've worked on various projects while at college, founded an organization, and received over a dozen awards for my academic and leadership merit. For the past six months, I've been trying to transition to a startup/small company in one of the following areas for a product role: a) productivity tools, b) knowledge management, or c) health & wellness, yet have only gotten rejections, without getting to the interview stage.My background is pretty diverse and not strictly vertical to those areas, but it's been extremely disappointing to see that companies don't even call back for an interview despite ensuring the Resume is ATS friendly and adding tailored cover letters. I also have a strong LinkedIn profile and in general, an online presence.I have a very high sense of drive and curiosity, but I'm scared these rejections are chipping that away one by one. I cannot quit my current job because of my visa status. At this point, I'd like any help in the form of reviewing resume, looking at my online profile, potentially helping with introductions/referrals, or even just having a call! Thank you in advance.

S9·Jul 17, 2020

I have a few questions:1/What are you doing to ensure your resume is ATS friendly?2/ Are you in touch with recruiters? 3/Why are you so keen on leaving Salesforce?4/Do you have a portfolio or something similar?5/ Where are you based? I'm assuming US, could be wrong.

sdeee·Jul 18, 2020

Hi OP, happy to help you. Could you email me? We are also an early stage startup that’s hiring and are somewhat in the areas you describe as being of interest. I’m [email protected]

kaylaglanville·Jul 18, 2020

Hi OP, perhaps you and @AmandaMitchell could connect?

allisonsilber·Jul 18, 2020

Are you only cold applying? Are you networking or doing anything else to get in front of the right people at the company? Have you spoken to any recruiters? I’d also be happy to review your resume if helpful. Also, did you mean for this post to be public?

cybele·Jul 18, 2020

Hello Reina. It sounds like you have really specific leadership skills, which would mean there's a spot out there for you. Companies value grit, adaptability and curiosity. You have all these things and more.LinkedIn is really an excellent resource. I found my (dream) job at a mid-level start up simply by amplifying my LinkedIn details in a way that felt authentic. Like you, my career trajectory has felt more like a game of hop-scotch. Recruiter emails just poured in. Editing and amplifying your LinkedIn profile takes little energy and gets you huge results. If you're interested I am happy to go over the "how" with you. Good luck with your career journey!

NatalieLihacova2·Jul 18, 2020

Hi Reina, have you checked out the YC Startup School? great community to meet startup co-founders https://www.startupschool.org/ We at our startup company https://mrsimon.ai also looking for people to join our team, however we cannot yet offer full-time jobs, only part-time. reach out to me if interested!

lisamanns·Jul 18, 2020

I met one of my co-founders at YC Startup school. It is a great place to find a place to belong and possibly come up with a product of your very own.

lowcy·Jul 19, 2020

Was part of YC Startup school in New York. Can confirm it was a great experience and networked with tons of cool people.

lita81gr·Jul 18, 2020

Hi Reina! I understand the struggle. I quit my job last year to travel, thinking getting the next role would be easy because: I live in Seattle (great job market), I have 16 years of experience, I have a masters, and I always exceeded at my previous roles. I was wrong. It was a struggle, and from that my advice is keep trying. Especially if you have visa restrictions because that’s a constraint for a lot of companies right now. Here’s a piece I wrote about my struggles and lessons learned while looking for work this year https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/job-hunting-time-covid-19-lita-gribben-she-her-

Gentry·Jul 18, 2020

You don't mention your citizenship status. It's really difficult and expensive to hire non-US citizens right now. Are you a citizen?

andyhappy1·Jul 18, 2020

I think this is purely because you need sponsorship. Unless you get in with a super well-funded “startup”, you’re wasting your time.I would look for jobs that are posted on Hacker News, but when the political climate is better.If you really just want to work with startups ASAP, I recommend seeking out European, Australian, NZ startups because it’s easier to get sponsorship.The US is simply not welcoming to foreign workers and Trump even put a total moratorium on hiring foreign workers during Covid.My advice is to wait until there’s a new President to make this leap.

torizhao·Jul 18, 2020

+1 on This. I'd like to add that Canada has a startup visa program and that's also something that op can look at.

Neida110·Jul 18, 2020

Reina199, If you're really targeting a small company/start-up, they rarely do a visa sponsorship (a small minority do). You need to have a GC at least. I think the Bay area is better in this than Seattle. With the current pandemic, I'm not sure how many startups are hiring and are able to do a visa sponsorship.That said, I've realized myself that being able to build a strong narrative and having a strong LinkedIn profile really is important. Please don't give up. Considering you already have a PM role, it's one less hurdle to cross. I sincerely wish you the best.

JadeA·Jul 18, 2020

Hi! Sorry to hear it’s been so long without a call back. That can be so demoralising. Reaching out here is a great idea! I’d love to recommend you look at BeApplied.com and try to find organisations that are using their platform to hire. The ‘normal’ process of quick resume scan first means far too many passionate and talented people are filtered out due to (often unconscious) bias. Maybe in your case recruiters think ‘they are overqualified, they won’t stick around’ or make judgements based on assumed gender or ethnicity - who knows. With Applied, employers are not cutting people off too early based on irrelevant info from a resume and they test candidates on skills without knowing who they are. At the least it means you’ll get some feedback no matter what happens and the process itself is actually a confidence booster unlike the usual way. I really recommend it. Good luck!!