> The problem is; one needs to get to the point in the hiring process where one gets the chance to demonstrate competence.
If you follow the same path as everyone else, yes. A "hack" of sorts I've done for this is to find things to improve at a place you want to work, front-load the cost of improving them via a small demo/report, and then reach out to someone in the company who'd find it valuable and start building a relationship. In a lot of cases, you end up getting plugged in directly and can skip the resume roulette.
There's a ton of wisdom in this quote that I picked up from Derek Sivers via his music teacher, Kimo Williams: "the standard pace is for chumps." There's always a backdoor to get what you want, you just have to be more creative than the other people to find it.
What about backend- reliability-, database-engineering or any other positions, where in order to propose an improvement, one would need knowledge about the companies internal systems, which isn't available from the outside?
At that point, your best bet is to build prototypes/demos of what you're capable of and show data on improvements you achieved for others. The way I'd think about it—regardless of position—is to do the thing that others are not doing (or aren't willing to do).
If everybody is sending a resume through the same channel but you're showing up with a working demo and reaching out directly to people in the company, you stand out. I've gotten gigs by just sending a thank you to people who taught me something indirectly through a blog post or interview.
You have to be human. It's not a process to automate or "game." Just be real with people and you'll be surprised how much easier things get. Very few people do that (especially in a genuine way) and the people who pull the levers know the difference between someone who's authentic and someone who's full of shit.
If you follow the same path as everyone else, yes. A "hack" of sorts I've done for this is to find things to improve at a place you want to work, front-load the cost of improving them via a small demo/report, and then reach out to someone in the company who'd find it valuable and start building a relationship. In a lot of cases, you end up getting plugged in directly and can skip the resume roulette.
There's a ton of wisdom in this quote that I picked up from Derek Sivers via his music teacher, Kimo Williams: "the standard pace is for chumps." There's always a backdoor to get what you want, you just have to be more creative than the other people to find it.