Here are 5 that some of my coaching clients are considering that really surprised us.

These may not be the flashiest, fastest-growth, highest-paying companies, but they have a few really positive things going for them.

Best of all, they are not the most competitive.

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5 under-the-radar tech companies to consider

1. Ramp - The corporate credit card company just raised a Series D at a $7.6 billion valuation from Khosla/Sequoia and are growing. The recent fundraise means they’re probably going to be hiring and jobs aren’t even listed yet. Time to do some outreach!
   (Private, New York/Miami/SF/Remote, 65 open jobs)

2. StubHub - This legacy ticket marketplace is planning an IPO this year and actually pays very competitively despite limited data on Levels.fyi
   (Private planning IPO, New York/Los Angeles, 73 open jobs)

3. Upwork - This freelancer marketplace is public, fully remote, and although it doesn’t have top-tier pay, equity refreshers and promotions can happen quickly.
   (Public at reasonable valuation, Remote, 53 open jobs)

4. Acorns - This consumer fintech pays decently well, is highly recommended as a place to work by its employees (better than 80% of tech companies), and is remote-friendly.
   Flags: The last fundraiser was two years ago, there are only a few roles open, and there has not been much big news lately.
   Pros: I saw how they treated the interview, negotiation, and hiring of a coaching client. They did it with very high integrity and respect.
   (Private, Remote or Irvine, CA, 6 open jobs)

5. Brex - Maybe not the most under-the-radar fintech, but they pay very well, are loved by employees, and are remote-first. Make sure you check how they value equity (current 3rd party estimate at $3.1B, not $12.3B).
   (Private, Remote, 38 open jobs)

BONUS!

6. Rippling - This HR software platform just raised $200m at $13.5 billion, an increase from their last round. They are growing revenues very fast and growing their teams faster!
   (Private, SF/Bangalore/Remote, 313 open jobs)

What else do you want to see? Reply to this email.

Are you tired of sending out countless job applications and outreach messages, but hearing nothing back? It can feel like your resumes are disappearing into a black hole. Trust me, I've been there.

But there is a better way. I’ll tell you my 3-Step Outreach System that has helped candidates go from being ghosted to landing interviews at top companies like Google, Meta, and fast-growing startups in just a few weeks.

I've spent the past decade working as a hiring manager, senior product director, and career coach. And during that time, I've refined this outreach system and seen it work wonders for countless job seekers.

In this article, I'm going to break down each step of the system and show you exactly how to use it to unlock the hidden job market and land more interviews.

Step 1: Find the Right People to Contact

The first step is to focus your outreach efforts on three types of people:

1. Insiders: These are people currently working at your target companies who can give you the inside scoop and champion you to the decision-makers. Think recruiters, hiring managers, and potential peers.

2. Champions: These are the people who have seen your work in action and would be glad to sing your praises. They could be former managers, colleagues, or even vendors.

3. Connectors: These are the social butterflies of your industry - the people who know everyone and can open doors with a single email. They might be former colleagues, well-respected thought leaders, or even past clients.

Side note: At more senior levels, you can find a lot of success with executive recruiting agencies and venture capital firm talent partners who connect you directly with companies looking for top talent. The leaders I coach get lots of traction here and I have personally received multiple public and startup VP, CPO, Sr. Director and Head of Product offers through executive recruiters and VC contacts. They also pay off long-term once they know you can pass loops as they’ll go to bat for you. Reply or comment if you want to learn more about these channels.

Now, you might be thinking - "Colin, this sounds great, but I don't have any of those people in my network."

1. They don't need to be in your network for you to reach out.

2. You're just not looking in the right places.

An engineer I was coaching targeted a Product Manager role at Shopify. A quick LinkedIn search showed that her former coworker had a cousin who was a Senior PM there. And a Shopify Data Scientist went to her college.

Bam! Two insiders.

Here's a step-by-step guide to finding the right people on LinkedIn:

1. Go to LinkedIn and click on the search bar at the top of the page.

2. Click on the "People" tab to search for individuals.

3. Use the filters on the right-hand side to narrow down your search:

   1. For Insiders, filter by "Current Company" and select your target companies.

   2. For Champions, filter by "Past Company" and select your previous employers.

   3. For Connectors, try searching for relevant keywords in the "Posts" tab, like "recruiting", "venture capital", or your industry. Look for people who are actively posting and engaging on these topics.

4. You can also use the "All Filters" button to get even more specific. Some helpful filters include:

"Connections":

• Choose "1st" or "2nd" to find people who are directly connected to you or connected through a mutual friend. For Insiders, also try looking at "3rd+" connections at your target companies.

• "Location": Look for people in your city or region.

• "School": Find alumni from your alma mater who might be more willing to help a fellow grad. This can also surface Insiders at your target companies.

Then, do your research on each VIP.

Closely review their LinkedIn profile for:

• Common connections, interests, or hobbies

• Posts or articles they've written to understand their perspective

• Clues about current projects or initiatives they're working on

• Recent job changes or promotions that could open up new opportunities

Check their other social profiles, website, or blog for:

• Insights into their personality, communication style, and values

• Additional context about their professional journey and accomplishments

• Specific challenges or goals they've shared that you could potentially help with

Look for creative ways to engage and add value, like:

• Sharing their content with a thoughtful comment

• Asking a question about a recent post or project of theirs

• Offering a relevant resource, article, or introduction that could help them

Make a list of your top 10-20 prospects for each category (Insiders, Champions, and Connectors). The more people you can reach out to, the better your chances of landing an interview.

Share

Step 2: Write Messages That Actually Get Replies

Now that you have a list of people to contact, it's time to start reaching out.

Example 1: Connecting with an Insider at your target company

Here's the thing: as a hiring manager, I got dozens of outreach messages like this in my email and LinkedIn inbox.

Nik’s message could get some responses, but it’s clear he could have sent this to 100 other people. I also have dozens of others in my inbox that look the same and have no reason to click on Nik’s over all of the others

For good roles in competitive markets you need to do more to even get your note read.

So here I’ll give the 5-step outreach framework that I have seen land many interviews…

Let’s look at a different outreach that could have got him an interview.

Here is a short LinkedIn connection request version:

Hi Colin - With 4 yrs launching 50+ experiments at Amazon and a passion for podcasts, I think I’m a great fit for Patreon’s Senior Growth Product Manager role. Happy to chat or you can forward my note to a recruiter if you think I’m a fit.

And here is a longer email version or a 2nd LinkedIn message after they accept:

If you sent me these…

1. You got me to open the note with a relevant and impressive Hook

2. You quickly showed me you did Research on me and the role so this isn’t some canned template - Mentioning my social posts, blogs, or our shared backgrounds can also work.

3. You showed Credibility with achievements specifically ****relevant to this role - Mentioning mutual connections is another way to build credibility.

4. You added Value with the customer feedback you put together - Sharing and engaging with my content would also work here or create a mini work sample or presentation to go the extra mile.

5. You made an Easy Ask that I could do in 15 seconds, but also let me opt into a call

There are many ways to craft an Irresistible Outreach message, but candidates consistently find that including these 5 elements will get them the most replies and interviews.

Example 2: Reaching out to a Connector

Most people's outreach for referrals goes something like: "I'm looking for a job, here's my resume, please let me know if you have any leads."

Instead, try something like this:

Hi Ariel,

I shared your post on experimentation and left a comment. It reminded me of a project I led at my last startup where we had to fix a similar measurement problem. I'd love to share more about my approach and also get your advice on making my next career move.

Would you be opposed to a quick call?

Let's break this one down:

1. First, they warm up the contact by engaging with their post so it's not just another faceless candidate.

2. Then they offer value on a relevant topic with their own story, or even doing some quick and scrappy research online for them.

3. They make a clear ask for a call to add value, while being transparent that they also want advice on their job search.

Example 3: Asking a recruiter (Insider) to intro you to the Hiring Manager or someone on the team

Recruiters get inbound messages all the time when they post jobs. One unique way to stand out is by asking them to connect you with someone internally. This works because:

1. They don’t have to spend time on a call with you

2. You are vetting your own fit for the role - doing their job for them

Hi Sabrina, Before taking up your time, I want to see if I would be a great fit for the Sr. Product Manager role with my 4 years of SaaS experience. Do you know anyone on the team I could chat with to understand the position? I saw Gabriella Stewart was a Group PM, but wasn’t sure he was the right contact. I have a good feeling I could succeed in the role, but want to learn more about the product team culture.

Thanks!

Mark

1. Hook: Immediately states the purpose of the message (the Senior Product Manager role) and captures attention with relevant experience (4 years in SaaS product) and passion for the company mission.

2. Relevance: Demonstrates they care about making sure they are the right fit and signaled that they already did research.

3. Easy Ask: Politely requests an introduction to a team member for an informational chat, showing respect for the recruiter's time.

4. Value-add: Mentions they already thought of someone to make their life easier, but also showing they are taking initiative and respect the team’s time.

5. Gratitude: Expresses appreciation for the recruiter's time and consideration.

6. Clear and concise: The message is short and to the point, making it easy for the busy recruiter to read and respond to.

Recap: All Irresistible Outreach Messages have 3 key components:

1. Personalized and specific

2. Lead with value

3. Clear ask

Step 3: Use "Outreach Multipliers" to Turn One Connection Into Many

So you send out the outreach and the team loves you but they still pick someone else. Well what if you could turn that loss into multiple gains?

A candidate I was coaching told me he had a great call with a hiring manager. They told him he was a great candidate, but they already filled the role.

He spent a lot of time getting to that point and selling himself to the manager. So, instead of clocking it as another No Hire, he asked the hiring manager if they knew anyone else hiring even outside of their company.

They did and they were happy to introduce him to two other leaders.

Seeing that this worked, every time he missed out on a role but did well in interviews I told him to ask the hiring manager and leaders he clicked with for more connections.

As soon as you have impressed someone, they can turn into your Champion.

So ask your new Champion:

1. If they know anyone else hiring in their company

2. If they know anyone hiring outside their company

3. If they know anyone who is well connected

For great candidates, it's funny how magically a new role will suddenly appear.

But you can take this even further…

As you start getting interviews and building relationships, keep your Champions updated on your progress.

Send them a quick note letting them know when you move to the next round or get an offer. Not only does this give them positive feedback that their effort paid off, but it also reminds them that

• you're still actively searching

• you’re being validated by other companies

They might just think of a new opportunity that's opened up or make another valuable introduction. The Outreach Multiplier turns a one-time connection into an ongoing source of referrals and support.

The #1 Mistake to Avoid

But there's one fatal mistake that I have seen hold back candidates even after they learn this system:

They underestimated the amount of outreach needed.

Networking outreach is like any marketing or sales funnel.

Only 1 in 10 outreach messages at first - or 1 out of 3 when you get good at this - will get a serious reply.

And a fraction of those will turn into interviews and offers. That means you need to be sending 100s of outreach messages to ensure you're getting to offers. Especially in this market.

Many of my coaching candidates are getting amazing final round interview results, but still losing out on offers because there are 3-4 great candidates for every role.

They regret not having more opportunities in the pipeline when this happens and have to start again.

If you’re working full time, a good rule of thumb is reaching out to 5-10 per week. If you’re searching full time, there’s nor reason why you can’t do 30-40 solid outreaches per week.

Putting It All Together

To recap, the secret to effective networking outreach is:

1. Focusing your efforts on Insiders, Champions, and Connectors who can open doors

2. Writing personalized, relevant messages that lead with value and make a clear ask

3. Using "Outreach Multipliers" to turn one-off interactions into ongoing relationships and referral sources

   
   Plus: Doing enough outreach to keep your pipeline full

It's not about tricking anyone or pretending you don't want a job. It's about initiating a mutually beneficial conversation that can organically lead to opportunities down the line.

By following this 3-step outreach system, you can bypass the traditional application process and get your foot in the door at your dream companies. It might take some time and effort, but trust me - it's worth it.

So what are you waiting for? Start building your outreach list and crafting those messages! And if you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and colleagues who might also be struggling with their job search.

Remember, every career move starts with a single message. Make yours count.

Happy hunting!

But the biggest problem you see with online resume advice is that it's contradicting and not based on enough experience or data.

So I did the work for you and spent hours digging up the top 5 proven principles where all the experts and data agree, from:

• Studies of over 125,000 resumes

• Vice Presidents from Amazon, Netflix, and startups who reviewed 10s of thousands of resumes,

• Hiring managers and recruiters

• Some cool recruiter eye-tracking studies

• My own experience reviewing 1,000s of resumes as a Senior Director of Product

So whether you're just starting out or updating your resume as a senior leader, you can stop guessing and write a resume that's proven to land you interviews and jobs.

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3 Resume Templates

You can find the resume examples/templates here with DOCX and PDF versions so you can actually use them!

Get The Templates

Here's a quick list of the 5 proven resume principles where research data and experts agree.

And I'll break each down afterward with real data and examples:

#1 Show, don't tell.

#2 Be concise.

#3 Prioritize.

#4 Cut the fluff.

#5 Use (the right amount of) keywords.

So what does this mean for you and how can you start using it now?

Starting with #1, Show. Don't tell.

Every expert said missing this was the #1 mistake they see in resumes. Including specific numbers to show your achievements can make you 40% more likely to get an interview, but I've seen many candidates struggle to put numbers to their work.

But 3/4 of resumes had less than 5 metrics and over 1/3 have none in Austin Belcack's study of 125,484 resumes.

Companies want measurable results because

1. metrics are persuasive.
   If 10 videos say "Most recruiters like metrics" and I say "92% of 1600 surveyed recruiters say you need metrics", which will convince you more?

2. metrics are eye-catching and break up the blocks of words.

3. metrics show that you know how to measure your work and improve

A simple way to showcase your achievements is by using this formula:

1. State what you achieved,

2. How you measured its success, and

3. How you did it

   

For example:

"Led the launch of 2 new pricing tiers that lifted signups by 75% by conducting customer pricing research."

If it's hard to measure your output, for example, if you were just a marketing contributor to a larger project, you could highlight the impact of your contribution:

"Designed marketing creative for the Spring launch that beat the previous year's sales by +60%, incorporating sales team feedback in designs."

Or if you're in a technical role, Alex Chiou - a tech lead from Meta - gives this example:

"Increased Android test coverage by 80%, reducing user bug reports by 50%"

And put numbers they will understand.

Ethan Evans, a former VP of Engineering at Amazon, suggests including how much money your work saved or earned for your company.

For example:

"Led the launch of 2 new pricing tiers that lifted signups 75%...resulting in +$29M in incremental revenue"

And if there is absolutely no number, find another objective signal of success, like awards, new customers, or enabling another project to be successful.

#2 Be concise. Keep your resume to 500-600 words and 1-2 pages.

Resumes over 600 words are 43% less likely to land an interview according to a TalentWorks study of over 6,000 job applications. You can see in this chart how less than 475 words also hurts your shot at getting interviews. Over 77% of resumes don't meet this criteria.

Another study tracking the eyes of recruiters as they reviewed resumes on the job showed they spent only 7.4s on average per resume and only read a fraction of each page.

Most people keep adding to their resumes, believing the next bullet or keyword is the one that will win the recruiter over.

But the more you put in, the less they will read from the most critical information.

Ethan Evans was a VP at Amazon with 30 years of experience and only has a 2-page, 700-word resume, so there's no reason you will need more.

As he puts it:

"Your goal is not to tell...your life story, it is to put your 3 best accomplishments per role...so [the hiring manager] can't miss them."

Recent surveys and simulations show recruiters prefer 2-page resumes for senior candidates, but they did not agree on advice for entry-levels, and this was not based on actual interviews and offers, so it could be biased.

The experts were more aligned, and all recommended 1 page per 5-10 years of experience.

Of course, there are exceptions in academic and medical fields.

And in some regions like the Middle East and Europe, but even then not usually for US-based companies.

But for almost all of you, just keep it short and focus on...

#3: Prioritize.

All experts suggest cutting old and less relevant points to focus on the most important ones, but what does the data say?

We know recruiters spend only 7.4 seconds per resume on average.

But luckily, recruiters scan your resume in an F pattern - and you can hack this to get them to read more.

The Ladders eye tracking study showed that:

1. First, recruiters scan down the left of the page looking for key brand name companies or role titles,

- So make sure the most important information, roles, and companies are left aligned, with company names bolded, so they're easy to find and draw the recruiter's eye down the page.

- They might not even read the bullets if they don't get hooked by the role and title

- Startup VP Aakash Gupta suggests giving context to make lesser-known companies more relevant. For example ""Tabby - $1.5B buy now, pay later platform"""

2. They then scan down and across the top of the bullets for that role, reading only the first few words per bullet and less for each bullet down the list.

- This means you need to put your most impactful and relevant bullets at the top of each section.

- It also means in the first 5-8 words, you need to put either the accomplishment with some context for why it's so impressive or swap the order and put the metric first.

- For example, start with either

"Launched the company's first ever X, resulting in..."

or

"Improved Y +30% by...”

- This stops their scanning so they will read the rest of the bullet

3. It showed that recruiters got distracted by images, graphics, and formatting like columns and colors, making them spend less time on the content of your resume.

So unless you're a designer, prioritize content over style and use boring clean templates. Maybe adding a single text color to make company names pop.

A good way to think about this is if you folded your resume so just the left 1/3rd is showing, would a recruiter be intrigued enough to want to interview you?

You should still use the chronological order of experience, but Netflix's former VP of Product, Gibson Biddle, encourages you to include more details about your most recent roles, giving them 3-4 bullets each, with only 1-2 bullets for earlier jobs.

The eye-tracking study showed that recruiters not only skip the last few bullets for each role, they barely read the later roles in the resume.

#4 Once you've prioritized, it's time to cut the fluff.

Recruiters and hiring managers all dislike buzzwords, cliches, adverbs, personal pronouns, passive or team-based words, and any subjective self-rating you give yourself on resumes.

Unfortunately, we see tons of this from even some senior candidates, and especially ChatGPT written resumes.

Again, this is an example of Show. Don't tell.

I hope you already feel cringy writing cliches and buzzwords like "team-player" and "detail-oriented,” but there is more fluff to cut.

Empty words fill the top of many people's resumes, like "customer lifecycle management, entrepreneurial thinker, agile, test-driven developer."

You are not demonstrating either soft or hard skills by including these words.

Anyone can put these in so they become meaningless.

So, instead of saying qualitative opinions of yourself, just show examples instead.

Instead of saying "scrappy and entrepreneurial," show with

"Brought X new product from concept to launch with limited resources."

Instead of saying "cross-functional team leadership", show with

"Hit a project launch deadline with $10M at stake by leading cross-functional partner teams to unblock critical issues."

Related: Many experts agreed that "adverbs" are "bad" verbs. Meaning they should be taken out or replaced with evidence.

Instead of

❌ "Successfully implemented X software"

use

✅ "Implemented X software, resulting in 95% daily usage by the support team."

No personal pronouns and limit teamwork words

Surprisingly, even a single personal pronoun like "I", "we" or "you" was shown to hurt chances of getting an interview.

And "team-oriented" words like "collaborated” or “assisted" hurt resumes if used too much - so replace them with leadership words like led or managed that increased interview rates."

And after prioritizing and cutting the fluff, you might be wondering how you meet the job description requirements...

That brings us to

#5 Use the right amount of job keywords

Adding critical job keywords was shown to improve hirability by +59%, but only 51% of job description keywords and skills were matched in candidate resumes.

But this isn't all bad.

Yes, Applicant Tracking Systems do filter on the important keywords, and recruiters want at least half of the requirements met, but Ethan Evans, former VP of Amazon, observed that even more senior candidates try to cram in a large number of keywords at the top of the document to pass.

First off, in 2023, Forbes reported 80% of all jobs go to someone with a network connection to the role, so you shouldn't be relying on the ATS to get your resume seen or you're limiting yourself to 20% of roles.

For that, subscribe my next videos on crafting your LinkedIn and networking.

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Second, we showed how recruiters scan resumes in an F pattern and read only part of it, so cramming words at the top will just hide your more important accomplishments.

Lastly, most experts suggest tailoring your resume to a job description by replacing bullets and words as opposed to cramming all words in for all job descriptions

I have seen 3 good ways to include keywords:

1. Include it in a skills section at the end of the resume, but only include more recent skills you can speak to at length.

2. Put a skills or technologies section as the last bullet for your most important jobs to show the technologies used in context.

3. Add the keywords at the end of the impact statement bullets themselves. "

I'll share an example resume for a Product Manager, a Software Engineer, and a Marketer here.

But you might be asking:

"What about the other best practices like summary sections or white space?"

Experts don't all agree here, but you can use our principles to guide you.

Based on the F-shaped pattern, one candidate would want their recent ""Google"" experience right up top with no distractions, but someone else who worked at Google 5 years ago might want to flag that up top in a highlight bullet or 1-sentence summary.

Want more advice? Comment below if you want to know my top 5 resume mistakes.

Leave a comment

And your resume isn't the most important part of the job search. Many candidates are getting hired with just their LinkedIn, so subscribe to watch my next videos on writing a magnetic LinkedIn profile and networking to get interviews.

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📚 RESEARCH SOURCES

• TalentWorks Study of 6k+ Resumes: https://medium.com/@erika.russi/the-data-behind-the-job-search-39065bb3cdd7

• Austin Belcak Study of 125k+ Resumes: https://cultivatedculture.com/resume-statistics/

• Eye Tracking Study 1: https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2018/10/TheLadders-EyeTracking-StudyC2.pdf

• Eye Tracking Study 2: https://www.theladders.com/static/images/basicSite/pdfs/TheLadders-EyeTracking-StudyC2.pdf

• Eye Tracking Study 3: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/optimizing-your-resume-eye-tracking-research-user-daniel-shepard/

• Startup VP Tips: https://www.news.aakashg.com/p/how-to-customize-your-resume-to-actually

• Amazon VP Tips: https://blog.bytebytego.com/p/the-top-3-resume-mistakes-costing

• Netflix VP Tips: https://askgib.substack.com/p/what-are-your-top-tips-for-a-pm-resumecv

• Engineer Resume Tips: https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/vRBmlGl7rrqlWUDolHYn/explaining-your-experience-in-a-meaningful-way-on-a-resume/

• Google's Resume Tips: https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/google-recruiters-say-these-5-resume-tips-including-x-y-z-formula-will-improve-your-odds-of-getting-hired-at-google.html