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How to land Your Dream Job (Using Free Work)

How to land Your Dream Job (Using Free Work)

Jay Yang
July 21, 2024

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The job market is scary right now.

Especially with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, it feels like there’s so much uncertainty.

While I’m still at the genesis of my career, I’ve had some pretty cool career experiences.

In the past 4 years, I’ve:

Interned at beehiiv (the platform this newsletter is hosted on)
Worked at 3 more tech startups
Became head of content to Noah Kagan
Scaled a Twitter content agency to $14,000/month in revenue

How have I done all this (without having a resume, filling out any job applications, or even graduating high school)?

The TAG Method

1/ Pick Your “Target”

Ideally, you want to pick a company or person that you actually want to work with.

A target who is where you want to be in the future and someone you can learn a lot from.

Even more importantly, a target who is working on a mission you believe in and building a product you love.

I wanted to work at beehiiv because I LOVED the platform and was thoroughly impressed with how fast they were shipping new features.

2/ Do An “Audit” of Their Business

Next, spend at least two hours (up to a week) learning everything you can about their:

Goals
Strengths
Weaknesses
Current projects
And areas where you can use your experience (or hustle) to help them

Do your homework! To work with your favorite company or entrepreneur, you must show two things:

You want to work for them
You are capable of working for them

Doing the work upfront (I like to call it “Pre-Work”) shows them you’re a serious candidate, and that you can think critically about the company’s direction.

3/ Give Them A “Gift”

The last step is to send your audit to your target for FREE.

How to reach out to your target:

Reach out to your network. A warm introduction is much more effective than a cold message.
Post publicly on social media. Ask your network to tag your target in the comments. This adds social pressure for your target to at least respond.
Cold outreach on a platform where they get less attention. If your target has a huge Twitter audience but a small Instagram audience, they have a higher likelihood of seeing your message on Instagram.

Most candidates will lazily fire off their resumes to a dozen different companies.

By doing the work upfront, you put yourself head and shoulders above the crowd.

Stay in the game long enough to get lucky.

Like most things in life, the more shots you take, the luckier you get.

Chances are, you won’t successfully TAG the first person you reach out to… and that’s okay.

Each time you go through this process, you hone your skills and build assets you can leverage in the future.

You may think doing all this work upfront is a waste of time, or that they’ll take advantage of your work…

But remember:

Early in your career, it’s less about what job you land, or how much money you make — and more about WHO you become in the process.

Rooting for you,

Jay “TAG, you’re it!” Yang

Ps. Hat tip to Charlie Hoehn who first introduced me to the concept of ‘permissionless’ work.

Pps. I’ve used the TAG method 3 times, and all 3 times I’ve landed the role that I wanted (First with beehiiv, then with Noah Kagan, and now with Ayman Al-Abdullah). It works!!

Ppps. If you try the TAG method (even unsuccessfully), please email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear your story and maybe even feature you in this newsletter. Cheers!

Jay’s Finds

Some of the best content I found on the internet this week…

I constantly revisit this essay by Sam Altman (founder of OpenAI) on how to be successful. There’s so much timeless wisdom.
Saying no is hard. But it’s an important skill to master as you advance in your career. Pat Walls shares some useful templates he’s collected over the years.
One of my biggest fears is being on my deathbed and regretting the shape my life took. I’m fascinated by Bill Perkin’s Memory Dividends Framework for living a fulfilling life.