[andrewfarah]

>How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire.

If it was flattering for 37signals (read: influential company) to see this -- http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/ it will be even more flattering for not-yet-famous-company-X to see something similar.

1. pick a company that solves a problem that's interesting to you. or who's founder said something that resonated (in a talk, interview, or essay) 2. research their founding team 3. write / build / hand-craft / hand-deliver something (website, message in a bottle, anything, things non-digital like hand-written letters are particularly effective). 4. offer or do something unsolicited (logo, find a new customer, write effective copy for a campaign) 5. don't attach a resume. just write clearly, use nice paper, and expect nothing in return.

bonus: follow up if / when you don't hear back.

There is a line between irritating and hungry. You won't always be the latter but aim for it.

Do this 2 or 3 times, to companies that aren't yet big names (look through http://angel.co), and you'll floor their founding team with your level of effort and at least land an in-person.

Don't pick the job, pick the people and the problem. You'll find sufficient motivation later.

[richsin]

Brilliant.

First, I want to thank you for the thoughtful reply. Just like many of you here on HN, I love the internet. It's my life and I've seen it evolve since I was 8. That feeling of never getting the opportunity to even interview for companies you're passionate about is hollowing. I'm glad to see that I am approaching this all wrong.

I really like this approach, I don't mind putting in the work to do some building for each company I choose to apply to. Will start this immediately.

[bhaumik]

Second everything here. Mark, also an entrepenuer, built a website [1] for his application. After each interview, he produced another piece of content to illustrate his ideas as a follow-up. This dedication certainly played a big factor in joining our team.

[1] http://www.hithinkfulimmark.com/

[csmdev]

I'm going to be that guy and say that this is a bad idea. When you're jumping through hoops to get attention, people get used to it. And they start expecting it by default. Especially when it's for a job.

[andrewfarah]

That's especially true in the case of 37signals. It was novel the first time someone built a website just to get hired. The 2nd time it was probably still cool. By 5th, 6th or 10th time, the gesture likely lost its novelty.

There isn't a playbook for doing something worthy of a company's attention (sans warm intro). But there's something to be said for non-traditional, creative outreach.

[richsin]

I agree with you, setting expectations is an art.

However, I am ready to go above and beyond at any position I am at for my own personal reasons, so it won't be much of a stretch, just a taste of what's to come.

Good point, though.

[zhte415]

I agree with all tgese points, especially 2: reaearching a team can be a great way to find inspiring people to learn from (and with)