Feeling a bit lost, please roast my plan
All my Js have been via network or serendipity so I have never gotten a regular contract from eg Dice.
Now I want to go out there and get contracts (or regular jobs and do them via C2C, anything goes). I already know a lot from lurking OE Discords etc. but there's so many tips, trick, approaches, and angles that I'm not sure where to start.
This is my current plan. I'm not 100% confident and would really appreciate constructive roasts or affirmations 🙏
The plan
I'm setting up a process where I:
1. Scrape jobs
2. Sort jobs by relevance
3. Generate tailored resumes for the top 10% jobs
4. Manually apply to those jobs (for now)
I'm scraping:
- LinkedIn
- Indeed
- Dice
- Cybercoders
Scraping works and 'Sort jobs by relevance' is almost ready. I expect to have everything built somewhere next week.
Why
I'm building this so I can efficiently outsource the application process. In the past this didn't work well because the VA didn't pick good jobs. My solution fixes this + adds tailored resumes.
Once I got this basic system going I will start applying and looking into improvements like 'advanced applications' where a VA hits up the hiring manager on linkedin or via email.
What do you think?
My concern was whether building this is a distraction/procrastination from actually applying but I already had a lot of code from a while back so it's going very fast.
Maybe you see issues with this plan or why it's a waste of time? Or do you think it's a good idea and I'm on the right path?
I learned a lot from this community ♥️ and am interested in your opinion
7 Replies
secure-lavender•4mo ago
For #3, have you already done AB testing between this method and hunter's magnet resume strategy ?
There was a guy here (he left but coming back January 2025) who automated this process by
1. Having a VA apply for jobs for him
2. Having another VA proxy his interviews
3. Land the job
4. Outsource the job to other VAs.
All of which could be done by building a team building relationships with VAs, rather than automation
So.... As long as you're making tailored resumes and it's proven to work that would solve automating a VA for getting the job and landing the job
But hunter's magnet resume has been tried and true already without the need for tailoring
So I'd be cautious trying to make a tailored resume each time unless you've already proven it works
In my experience and from seeing practical success stories, we've already seen
1. Lazy apply being the defacto mass applier for lead generation
2. Coupled with the magnet resume
3. Often leads to landing a number of interviews a week already -- which for one person can saturate the entire week as it stands
If you can do better than that with the complex process you have, you might be inundated with interviews
But if you can't do better than that... Why not just buy and execute (lazyapply) rather than build ?
Sometimes , like in engineering, the decision to buy vs build is a valid decision especially if it saves you time for the effort it takes
No, I didn't think of the magnet resume concept. The goal is kinda similar in that I'd expand a regular resume with skills and experiences to match the job posting to make sure everything is covered. But maybe a magnet resume is better / more simplistic
ok, I didn't know https://lazyapply.com yet. I confused "lazy apply" with LinkedIns "easy apply" feature
magnet resume + lazy apply seems to cover what I'm building
so it definitely seems better to go that route instead of build
secure-lavender•4mo ago
Definitely don't take my thoughts as a direction to go! In many environments, let's say you're leading a team or you're building a saas product from scratch, you take in ideas, they get challenged, and you can come out with an augmentation or new direction lol
If you feel strongly about this approach I don't think it's a bad idea
There'll always be competing ideas for everything lol
Heck even hunter is building a saas product to try to compete with lazyapply too.
haha don't worry I get that and agree with everything you're saying! I was looking for a roast because I don't feel strongly about my approach. I couldn't think of existing/better solutions to achieve my goal but building one from scratch is not my n1 choice if I can avoid it right now
I also had the thought that if my job funnel delivers good results I can offer it as a SaaS or even start a 'reverse recruiter' service
but at this point I think it's good to pursue the 'lazyapply + magnet resume' angle to get more experience in the field. Because for example, I don't get how lazyapply can offer 750 job applications / day forever a one time $129 fee. Even if they're able to apply with AI, there's a cost...? My current job funnel approach is +- the same concept but would not be able to compete on $/application
So I'm going to check that out and see what I can learn. Maybe lazyapply + magnet lead is all I need
@totaldev thank you! I genuinely appreciate it
optimistic-gold•4mo ago
FWIW, i've found searching for C2C on LinkedIn doesn't lead to much. At best, it's just links to Dice roles.
My thinking with LinkedIn is to use that for outbound sales and creating a funnel around that.
with outbound sales, do you mean messaging hiring managers for roles that you found elsewhere or ?
optimistic-gold•4mo ago
kind of. More ignoring if a role is available or not and selling your services in hopes that it aligns with a problem that a manager or someone with budget is looking for help on.