My World

I have spent my career mostly at early stage startups. A notable exception was a stint at the research division of a hospital, so basically healthcare. My expertise is in data and backend development. My current role is in Product, but prior positions are in engineering management. I have had stints in full-stack development, and can do it again if pressed.

If I click “Jobs” on LinkedIn, here is what I get:

  • 25 Jobs total in the first pagination.
  • 6 product manager positions, 19 engineering manager positions.
  • 6 in healthcare, 3 in supply chain.
  • 22 technology startups. 3 in non-technology retail.

In other words, the results are overwhelming customized to my background. How do the results know my background? From my LinkedIn profile, of course.

Recommendation systems work in two fundamental ways. First, they can look at my network, assume I have similar interests and backgrounds to my connections, then aggregate recommendations based on their background and preferences. The second way is to look at my preferences and background, and give me recommendations based on my interests and background. LinkedIn has a complete profile of me, so they will use the later, or a blend that is heavily based on the later.

Reality

Now, let’s take a look at the Fortune 500 List, which we at Don’t Bother Applying have half in our database.

  • In top 10, there are three technology companies - Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet - three out of the five MAANG companies.
  • Ever heard of Cencora? Neither have I. They are the 10th largest company by revenue in the US.
  • Numbers 10-20 only has one technology company - Microsoft at number 14.
  • Meta is outside of the top 20 at number 22.
  • The last MAANG company, Netflix isn’t even in the top 100. They sit at number 116.
  • Other technology powerhouses are Nvidia at 31, Dell at 44, HP at 82, Cisco at 83, Intel at 86, Oracle at 87, Broadcom at 88.
  • Uber is at 101, but that’s the only unicorn tech company.

That’s it for top 100 technology companies. A little over 10% of the Fortune 500 companies are tech companies and out of those, none are startups.

You are Being Kept In Jail

Do I ever get see those Fortune 500 jobs in my job searches? No. I only get small tech startups, in particular health tech. Here’s the problem. Fortune 500 companies are large employers. However, LinkedIn will bury those jobs in their recommendations to me.

Job seekers are missing out on a lot of jobs unless they keep scrolling. With so much application fatigue and jobs being reposted, will anyone really scroll any further than the first few page or two of results? Research done by Google on search results say no.

If you are relying on LinkedIn or other sites that work similarly, (Looking at you, Indeed) remember they all have an incentive to keep you looking. One way is limit what you see. You need to break out of the world created by algorithms.

  • Maintain a list of companies you are interested in.
  • Visit the companies’ own careers page, not through LinkedIn/Indeed.
  • Rely on traditional agency recruiters, not algorithms, who have connections to more companies.

Don’t rely on algorithms. You need to break free and control your destiny.