Application Process

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Mentality

1. Track your applications.
2. Tech Companies, specifically, care more about real-world work experience than your Degree/s. Watch this hilarious Social Experiment to prove the point.
3. Never take rejection personally. It doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. It just means that you’re not the right fit for that particular role.

OR the HR team is broken.

This is a numbers game. You’re competing against thousands of other applicants for a limited number of jobs.

You need to be persistent and patient.

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Done-for-you Packages

If you prefer to pay for a service and let the experts handle the heavy lifting, we only recommend the following two services.

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Wonsulting Package

• Build your ATS-friendly CV with expert guidance
• Create tailored cover letters for each application
• Learn effective networking strategies
• Access a comprehensive job application tracking system
• Practice with realistic mock interviews
• Get access to a curated Job Board with positions matching your skills and experience
• Receive ongoing support and advice throughout your job search process

Their best deal: £532

Their all-in-one platform streamlines the job search process and provides professional resources to maximize your chances of success.

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Crushing Digital Package

Work with David - An ex-software engineer turned recruitment consultant with 20 years of experience.

Receive:

• Personalized 1-on-1 support throughout your job search
• Resume and LinkedIn profile optimization
• Interview preparation and mock interviews
• Job search strategy development
• Networking guidance and referral strategies
• Negotiation coaching for job offers
• Access to exclusive job opportunities
• Weekly check-ins and accountability

His best deal: £1000

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Self-Help Strategies

Landing a job in the current job market is hard. There’s no denying that. A lot has changed over the past few years.

Prepare for interviews and land a job without the headache by optimising the following areas:

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Your Job Search Strategy

When looking for tech jobs, consider focusing on remote-first companies with great cultures. These companies typically offer:

• Transparent and fully remote hiring processes
• Competitive compensation packages
• Genuine work-life balance
• Strong engineering cultures
• Clear career progression paths

Here are some top remote-first companies known for their excellent work cultures:

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Engineering-Focused Companies

• GitHub
• GitLab
• Stripe
• Automattic
• Zapier
• InVision

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Fast-Growing Scale-ups

• Deel
• Revolut
• Hotjar
• TestGorilla
• SafetyWing
• Recharge

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Developer Tools & Infrastructure

• Close
• Toptal
• Arc.dev
• Shogun
• TaxJar
• OnTheGoSystems

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Productivity & Collaboration

• Atlassian
• Buffer
• Doist
• Help Scout
• Toggl
• Float.com

When applying to these companies:

• Research their engineering blog and culture
• Understand their core values and mission
• Tailor your application to align with their remote work style
• Highlight any previous remote work experience
• Demonstrate strong written communication skills

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Job Boards

Here are some of the best job boards for finding tech opportunities:

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General Tech Jobs

• LinkedIn Jobs - Largest professional network
• Peerlist - Curated developer job board with ATS CV generator
• Indeed - Aggregates jobs from multiple sources
• Glassdoor - Jobs with company reviews and salaries
• AngelList Talent - Startup-focused job board
• Hyrd - Curated developer job board with ATS CV generator

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Remote-Specific

• We Work Remotely - Largest remote work community
• Remote.co - Curated remote jobs
• RemoteOK - Remote jobs with salary transparency
• Working Nomads - Digital nomad focused

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Tech-Specific

• Stack Overflow Jobs - Developer-focused positions
• GitHub Jobs - Tech roles from GitHub’s network
• Wellfound - Formerly AngelList, startup-focused
• Dice - Technology-focused job board

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Europe-Specific

• EU Remote Jobs - Remote jobs in European time zones
• Landing.jobs - Tech jobs in Europe
• Berlin Startup Jobs - Tech jobs in Berlin
• Work in Startups - UK startup jobs

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Job Board Aggregators

• Otta - AI-powered job matching
• Levels.fyi - Jobs with salary information
• Tech.EU Jobs - European tech jobs
• Arbeitnow - EU-focused job aggregator

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CV/Resume

You have 7.4 seconds to grab a recruiter’s attention with your resume. Here’s how to make them count.

Build an ATS-friendly CV with one of the following:

• Hireflow - ATS-friendly CV builder
• Hyrd - Generates tailored CVs based on job descriptions
• Novorésumé - Premium resume builder
• Wonsulting - Build your ATS-friendly CV with expert guidance

Get free resume feedback from Wonsulting:

1. Fill out a quick 3-minute form
2. Receive tailored, actionable feedback
3. Apply changes to boost your resume’s impact

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Essential Components

Your CV must have these three elements to stand out:

1. Content Focus

   • Experience
   • Education
   • Projects That’s it. Keep it focused on these core areas initially. Save your hobbies and volunteer work for the interview phase.

2. Clear Structure For each experience/project:

   • Headline: Organization name and dates
   • Sub-headline: Role title and brief summary
   • 3-5 bullet points using the “Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]” format

3. Clean Formatting

   • Plenty of white space
   • Well-organized sections
   • Simple black and white design
   • ATS-friendly format

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Impact-Driven Bullet Points

Use Google’s XYZ format to showcase impact:

• “Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]”

❌ Bad example:

• “Developed features for the company website”
• “Worked with different teams and helped communicate between departments to complete work by deadlines”

✅ Good examples:

• “Increased website conversion rate by 23% by implementing A/B testing and optimizing the checkout flow”
• “Reduced page load time by 40% by implementing lazy loading and image optimization, leading to 15% increase in user engagement”
• “Saved $10K monthly in infrastructure costs by optimizing database queries and implementing caching strategies”

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. ❌ Listing only responsibilities ✅ Focus on impact and quantifiable achievements

2. ❌ Including everything you’ve ever done ✅ Show the 10% that’s most relevant to the role

3. ❌ Using generic language ✅ Demonstrate skills through specific achievements

4. ❌ Using one generic CV for all applications ✅ Tailor your CV for each role using relevant keywords

5. ❌ Over-complicated designs ✅ Use clean, readable templates

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Boost Your Chances

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Boolean Search on LinkedIn

Use Boolean search to find hiring managers and opportunities:

1. Type "Hiring" + "Company" or "Hiring" + "Job Title" to find recruiters for specific roles

   • Example: "Hiring" + "Sales" or "Hiring" + "Account Executive"

2. Refine your search by adding years of experience:

   • Example: "Hiring" + "Marketing" + 5 years of experience
   • Filter results to “Posts” to find hiring managers seeking your experience level

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Networking

By far the most effective way to get interviews is through your network.

• Effective Networking Guide (Chance: 40-50%)

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Get Real Experience

One of the most effective ways to boost your application is to get real work experience at TechFleet. They offer:

• No portfolio required
• No resume required
• No experience required
• No proper education required

You’ll work on real projects with real teams, gaining valuable experience that you can put on your CV as actual software engineering internship experience.

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Referral Hack

Referrals are the most reliable way to land a job. Companies are more inclined to hire folks that have been referred by someone they know and trust. A referral can 10x your odds.

A powerful way to boost your application success is to get a referral from an employee.

To get a referral, you need to:

1. Search LinkedIn for “[role] + referral code”
2. Search “Referral + [position]” and filter by company in posts
3. Use NetworkAI by Wonsulting to:
   • Find work emails
   • Generate personalized outreach messages
   • Track responses

You can land interviews within 30 days by leveraging employee referral programs.

The other option is Job Fairs. You can meet people and companies face-to-face and secure interviews on the spot.

For UK-based folks, you can register for the following Job Fairs:

• Tech Jobs Fairs
• Job Fair X

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Direct Outreach to Hiring Managers

A highly effective strategy is to bypass recruiters and reach out to hiring managers directly:

1. Find Hiring Managers

   • Identify the specific team/department you want to join
   • Look up the hiring manager on LinkedIn
   • Use NetworkAI by Wonsulting to find their email

2. Email Process

   • Go to NetworkAI’s “Cold Emailing” feature
   • Input the hiring manager’s name and company
   • Get their verified email with confidence score
   • Use NetworkAI to generate a personalized outreach email

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Interviewing

Getting interviews is the hardest part of the process. But once you get an interview, don’t waste them. Prepare well for the interview so that opportunities don’t slip through your fingers.

Before you start applying for jobs, you need to prepare for the actual interviews. You need to maximise your chances of acing the interview and landing the job when the opportunity arises.

1. For frontend interviews, use the Great Front-End platform to practice and this playlist - Frontend Interview Questions.
2. For backend interviews, watch this playlist - System Design Interview.
3. For comprehensive interview preparation material, check out the Tech Interview Handbook - A curated collection of materials for busy software engineers.
4. For real-time AI assistance during interviews:
   • LockedIn AI - This tool can help you answer questions more effectively during your interview.
   • FinalRound AI - Your AI-powered interview copilot that provides real-time transcription, domain knowledge support, and post-interview analytics.
5. Junior Developer Interviews - A comprehensive playlist featuring interviews with successful junior developers, sharing their experiences and advice on landing their first tech jobs.

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Behavioral Interview Prep

Master the behavioral aspect of tech interviews with these resources:

1. Software Engineer’s Guide to Behavioral Interviews - Comprehensive guide covering common behavioral questions and effective response strategies.

2. Story Builder by HelloInterview - Interactive tool that helps craft compelling, level-specific stories for behavioral interviews based on your experiences.

3. Exponent’s Behavioral Mock Interviews - Watch real mock interview recordings with expert feedback on behavioral questions.