Good grief. I guarantee you that if anybody contacted me every week asking if I have an unadvertised job for them, I'd file them in the "stalker" folder.
Reread the paragraph before the one you reference: "Vary your message. Sometimes ask advice. Sometimes give advice. But always make it clear how much you want to work there."
Reread two paragraphs previous to that: "Ideally, you could be more specific, telling them ways you could improve one of their projects, services, or products."
In other words, don't be a stalker, but do be persistent, helpful, and interesting.
Reread the paragraph before the one you reference: "Vary your message"
Don't matter. Still annoying if you are doing it every week.
In other words, don't be a stalker, but do be persistent, helpful, and interesting.
Most people overrate their ability to be interesting or helpful, and "persistent" is just too annoying. And cold-calling multiple times is so beyond rude, I can't even begin to grasp why anyone would advise it.
The idea that I would not have an open job call just because some dude has been pestering us every week for the last year... I find this baffling.
Perhaps things are different in SV.
Edit: I just remembered where I'd found this better phrased:
Quote: "It’s not about being the most attention-seeking candidate. It’s about being the most qualified candidate. If it’s not, you’re applying to the wrong company."
dude, what did you expect? You specifically target companies who respond to the flashy one, not the talented one. If you try to side-step meritocracies, you can’t complain when you end up working someplace with no meritocracy.
My current employer once interviewed someone who brought in public photos of the departmental director and printed out webpages relating to stuff he did at previous jobs, I guess to prove that she was interested in what we do. She also made weird comments about visible personal possessions lying around in cubicles. Super creepy.
