Lynne is the creator of Key Values, a website that helps engineers find teams that share their values. She lives in San Francisco, is an Iron(wo)man, and loves meeting new peeps!
Location
San Francisco
Education
MIT'10 Brain and Cognitive Sciences, UCSF'12 Neuroscience
I agree 100%. Whenever possible, find a side door.
I always imagine a big crowd of people in front of a building, pushing and shoving to get inside through the main door. There's always a few people who, tired of the mob, decide to explore a bit and come across a side entrance. They knock, someone opens, and they walk right in.
In a tall pile of applications, there aren’t a lot of ways stand out aside from simply "being better” or “doing more impressive stuff.” Instead of competing directly with everyone else, consider redirecting your energy into finding a side door.
Report bugs and better yet, propose solutions. Make PRs to open source projects. Engage with current team members on Twitter. Attend the company's workshops, hackathons, and/or meetups. There are actually many "side doors" we can use.
Lynne is the creator of Key Values, a website that helps engineers find teams that share their values. She lives in San Francisco, is an Iron(wo)man, and loves meeting new peeps!
Location
San Francisco
Education
MIT'10 Brain and Cognitive Sciences, UCSF'12 Neuroscience
I agree 100%. Whenever possible, find a side door.
I always imagine a big crowd of people in front of a building, pushing and shoving to get inside through the main door. There's always a few people who, tired of the mob, decide to explore a bit and come across a side entrance. They knock, someone opens, and they walk right in.
In a tall pile of applications, there aren’t a lot of ways stand out aside from simply "being better” or “doing more impressive stuff.” Instead of competing directly with everyone else, consider redirecting your energy into finding a side door.
Report bugs and better yet, propose solutions. Make PRs to open source projects. Engage with current team members on Twitter. Attend the company's workshops, hackathons, and/or meetups. There are actually many "side doors" we can use.
Just realized that I talked about it here, and then later wrote a post about finding those side doors 😜
In case anyone was curious!
Can't get engineering interviews? Try the side door.
Lynne Tye