How I'd Get a Job in 7 Days

Companies are always hiring , you’re just applying wrong. Everyone says the job market is bad. I disagree. Atleast not in the startup world.

There’s always room for good talent. No founder has ever gone “damn, I think I need fewer smart people here". The issue isn’t that there aren’t any jobs. It’s just that most people don’t know how to look for one. So in today’s article I’ll tell you how you should be looking for a job, or how I’d go about getting one if I were looking for a job.

First things first - who am I and why should you be listening to me. Well, that’s upto you. But hi, I’m Sarvagya. I was working on a platform that helped people get jobs for the last year-ish and because of that I’ve helped many people get roles. I’ve also gotten roles myself at top companies : Antler, Seekho, OTPLess and others using exactly what I’m going to be telling you.

People think getting a job is a numbers game: apply to more places, fill out more forms, get more interviews. I used to too. I literally built an entire platform around that, and the biggest learning I had was that getting jobs won’t really work on a “Spray and Pray” approach. Your applications need to be targeted. Instead of taking 100 shots and hoping one lands. Take 10 and make all of them land.

The next question is, how exactly do I do that? First- stop filling out application forms, ditch the job portals. What’s funny is my old platform was built around the idea of automating job applications and filling out forms for people.

But the truth is, job application forms never really work. Especially when it comes to startup hiring. I learned this the hard way. The second a company posts a role, they get flooded with applicants. Most people hiring don’t even go through the majority of them because, realistically, they can’t. If I put up a LinkedIn job post right now, I’d probably have 500+ applicants before I finish writing this article.

So what do we do? Well take the Backdoor. You don’t fill out existing opportunities, instead you create your own. The most powerful way to do this is by cold emailing. Start reaching out to people. Every role I’ve gotten has come through a cold email.

Here’s where people get it wrong: they think that sending a cold email is enough. Just write an email with what they’ve done and hope they hear back. That never works. Founders have 50 cold emails coming their way a day, how do you get noticed?

Writing cold emails isn’t the secret. Writing good ones is. When you’re reaching out to someone your goal should be how do I get a conversation with them and not how do I get them to hire me. The issue in the latter is that it’s completely transactional and transactions only work 2 ways. What are you providing to the company? Why should someone even reply to you? What do you have to offer?

If I were looking for a job, this is exactly what I'd do

1. Find companies

I’d research the internet and look for companies I want to work at. How you find this is usually different for different people, but I’d look at companies where I either like the work they are doing, I feel like the team is strong, or it’s an industry I’ve worked in before or I’m interested about.

I’d keep the list small 8-12 companies max.

2. I’d do my research

this is another thing most people get wrong. Their idea of researching about a company is looking at their website, the founders linkedin profiles, any news article, that’s just something that’s on a very superficial level. Go deeper. Use their product, research about their industry, competitors, list down changes in their products you’d do and how you’d be running the company if you were the founder.

3. How can I add value

This is the most important thing. Why are you a good addition to the team you’re reaching out to. It could either be you’re someone who’s worked in this space before and deeply know about it. Do your homework- make a plan, document, prototype etc and prepare it specifically for the company. Eg I was looking for a job 2 months ago and I really wanted to work at Wispr Flow. So I made a document on how they should be going about their India GTM and how I’d do things if I were the founder and sent it to them

Here's the link to it: wispr-sooty.vercel.app

What this does is it shows that you’re resourceful. A founder does get 50 emails a day asking for job opportunities, but none of them are showing them how they’d help the company, what they’d do. If you’re an engineer- a version of this would be vibecoding a product feature you think they should have, if you’re a growth person- it would be making the next 10 posts for them. Basically show them that if they hire you, this is the project you’d start working on the first day you’re hired. This is what I meant when I said create your own opportunities. And the good thing here is that the ball here is in your court for this- play according to your strengths. Suggest things you’d do.

4. Reach out

Once I have these things out of the way. I’d simply reach out to the team, asking them for a conversation. I’d write a good cold email. They say ask and you shall receive. It’s true. But it’s only true if you’re providing value too. As I said earlier, transactions go 2 ways. When you take out your time to use the product, find gaps, make detailed plans and then reach when you out you’re the one who has the leverage.

You lead by providing value and you shift the narrative from “I’m someone who’s looking for a job, please hire me” to “You need me on your team and here’s why”

Writing a good cold email is they key here. Don’t make it too long or talk about yourself a lot. Max like 3 very short bullet points about yourself and the work you’ve done previously , then a sentence showing them what you did for their company and close by asking them for a conversation.

This is the kind of email I send when I’m looking for roles.

Make it low effort for them to reply. It’s okay if they don’t, too. Our job was putting in the work and giving them value - that part is done. The ball is now in their court.

5. Increase Luck Surface Area

After you’ve done all of this, I’d just ensure I’m reaching out to as many relevant people as possible (relevant is a keyword here), so this would be all the founders, head of the team I want to work at and that’s it. I wouldn’t spam them a lot, but I would reach out on multiple platforms - Email, Linkedin and Twitter to make sure they atleast have seen what I’ve done.

6. Follow up

After I've sent the emails, I'd follow up every 3 days. I'd also ask them to clearly decline if they feel like I'm not a good fit. Include this in your follow-ups. It's better to know the truth than to know nothing at all.

That’s pretty much it. This is how I’d get a job if I were looking for one. I am a 100% certain this would work better than any job application you’ve filled. I’ve tried this myself and it works every time. Keep it small: find 10 companies, break their product down, find how you can add value, show them how exactly you’re adding this value and reach out to them. Doing this will take time.

Create your new opportunities. I’ve talked to 500+ founders on how they usually hire people- it’s either through cold emailing or warm intros. If you have a warm intro - good, use it. If you don’t, maybe follow these steps and get your next role.

Doing all of this manually is hard

Finding the right startups, researching them deeply, figuring out where you can add value, writing good cold emails - it doesn't have to be a grind.

That’s actually one of the reasons we started building Backdoor. Backdoor is an AI agent that lives on your phone and helps people break into startups. Instead of mass applying on job portals, it finds companies you’d be a good fit for, understands what they’re building, identifies where you can help them and help you reach out in a way that actually gets noticed.

The whole idea behind it is simple : startup hiring shouldn’t feel like shouting into a void. The best opportunities usually come through conversations, proof of work, and being resourceful enough to get yourself in the room. We’ll help you do that.

Use Backdoor today - $8/week, cancel anytime.