Comment by ericmcer
1 month ago
I had a really nice job hunt this time around because:
- I quit my job to work on a side project in a specific space (voice AI for me).
- Spent three months shipping a few things and sinking into the area.
- Apply to jobs in that space, custom cover letter if applicable.
- Reach out directly to hiring people/engineers on LinkedIn for those companies, if it is engineers I usually say things like "did you also struggle with 'x'", "I solved 'Y' by doing __"
- Be genuinely interested in that space.
~50% reach out to interview rate using that strategy.
What did you put on your resume for that time period? “Sabbatical”?
It was only 3 months so I didn't put anything.
In the past I took a 18 month break and played around with leaving it blank or putting side projects. It definitely doesn't help but it wasn't a killer either.