An End-to-End Checklist for Pitching for Potential Job Opportunities

Kanazawa — Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1797–1858 Tokyo (Edo)) — via The Met (Public Domain)

I’ve been applying to jobs for the past few weeks and I haven't gotten the right fit yet.

I’m now taking a different approach and I hope it works for me (and you if you're also on the job market and looking for how best to get the role for you).

This checklist assumes you have already done the work to identify:

1. your current skills, work experience, unique quirks, how you can provide value, sectors or stuff you are curious about right now, stuff you're currently learning, areas you want to grow in and what sort of work you *want* to do.
2. a growing list of companies, startups, founders etc that you admire and would love to work with.

You don't need to have everything extremely figured out — but you do need to be able to communicate your value, what you want to grow in and where/what areas you want to work on. First to yourself, and then to the lucky companies on your list. ;))

Now, the fun part.

Here’s an End-to-End Checklist for Pitching for Potential Job Opportunities to specific companies. Good luck to us. 🍷

[ ] Conduct an in-depth analysis of the company’s products and/or research. Understand what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.

[ ] Research the company’s history, mission, and values. What drives them? What are their long-term goals and short-term objectives? Check their website, stalk their founders' recent tweets, pop in the discord if there’s one, and read their blog.

[ ] Study the company’s software stack and understand its technology. Gain a solid grasp of the tools, platforms, and systems they use.

[ ] Look up all the roles they are currently hiring for. Understand the key responsibilities and requirements of each role.

[ ] From the job descriptions, infer the implicit needs the company is trying to solve. What are they looking for in potential employees?

[ ] Align your experiences and skills with the company’s needs. How can your previous existing work experience and transferable skills contribute to their objectives and mission?

[ ] Identify the areas you've been getting better at, or courses you've been taking, or stuff you're increasingly curious and self-studying and want to apply and grow in. Do any of these areas align with the company’s needs in any way? How?

[ ] Make an exhaustive list of these intersections and alignment areas.

[ ] Brainstorm a variety of roles and ways you can present yourself on a call. Prepare a list of talking points that highlight your skills, experiences, and the value you can bring to the company.

[ ] Prepare to negotiate and specifically discuss how you can provide value to the company. Create a clear, persuasive pitch that demonstrates your potential contributions.

[ ] Brainstorm further on the list of ways you could provide value based on your skills and interests that align with the company’s needs as we have done reconnaissance to infer. Think creatively and strategically about how you can be of service and add value.

[ ] Propose a virtual coffee meeting with the founder. Draft a concise and compelling email or dm that explains why you want to meet and what you hope to discuss.

[ ] Prepare a presentation on your skills, experiences, and ideas to discuss during the meeting. Make sure the presentation is engaging, informative, and tailored to the company’s needs and values. You don't even have to share this presentation, but just the process of putting your thoughts together to create it is inherently valuable.

[ ] Discuss and work through the list of ideas during the meeting, focusing on the most prescient ones. Be ready to adapt and revise your ideas based on the founder’s feedback.

[ ] Negotiate your potential role and contribution, without boxing yourself into one specific job role. Be open and flexible, but also clear and assertive about what you can bring to the table and what you want to take from it.

Good luck to us. ✨