@futurebird Federal university, so via a civil service examination. It didn't even have an interview phase, to avoid any favoritism.

@futurebird For the best jobs, I was asked by the CTO personally, if I would like to do it. The first time was an internal change, the second time was away from there by a former team lead who was then CTO at a new company.

@futurebird Every job I've had—with one brief horrible exception—I've known someone who worked there. I've worked at the same place, off and on, for coming up on 22 years. A good friend (and my office-mate throughout most of the '90s) worked there and was set to go on paternity leave in March 2004, and brought me on in February. His spouse went into labor early (because twins) and I got thrown into this new job with a week's training, for a manager who didn't ever say no to clients. I lasted 7 months, left, endured the aforementioned horrible exception, and then came back 18 months later on a different, better-managed, team, coincidentally run by someone I played ice hockey with. Laid off in 2010, rehired in 2012, just before the small company was bought by bigger company, went through growing pains, and then was bought by even bigger company. I exist in a little corporate tide pool 1500 miles away from the Main Office, working from home and reasonably content in an occupational sense. My hockey-playing manager married a Canadian woman we met at a co-ed tournament in BC, and fucked off to Vancouver Island when COVID hit. He's still at the company too.

Meanwhile, my old friend never came back; he became a stay-at-home dad to his twins as his spouse pursued her career as a climate scientist studying glaciers in Antarctica. In 2014, she was offered a position at a university in New Zealand. I visited them in Dunedin two years ago, in February, as their boys were turning 20.

@futurebird mine was kinda in between, I didn't know anyone at the company directly but I was sought out by recruiters due to social effects of my job search. I applied and interviewed at several companies with some kind of clout and that got attention at the place I ended up.

@futurebird Headhunted after speaking at a conference.

@futurebird I've been at my current job for 24 years. Before it I was consulting but I really didn't enjoy it. Someone I knew gave my business card to my current employer to do some consulting for them. While I was I doing that work for them a full time position opened up and I applied. Now I'm just a few years shy of retirement.

@futurebird

My first job out of recovery from alcoholism was at a little tiny produce place in Abbotsford, BC. I dropped off my resume, got a call for an interview that afternoon, and was hired a few days later. My boss, Trent, was incredibly generous and kind. He was one of the best bosses that I ever had. He was always there, getting his hands dirty with produce prep and stocking, jumping on cash, helping us break down shipments, put together restaurant orders, etc. He was the only boss that I ever had who felt more like a co-worker than a boss. I worked there from '14 to '19.

@futurebird I didn't know them, but they knew me. Can't really say if that was a positive or negative thing.

@futurebird

To be fair, i've only worked at one place over the past ten years, so "best" isn't really a fair way to describe it.

@futurebird Applied 'cold' for a different job at the company (which would have been a stretch for me), got an interview but not the job, and a few months later was invited to apply for the job[*] I ended up getting.

...This was like 15 years ago, since then the job has accrued responsibilities and eventually pay to match.

[*] A vacancy arising from someone getting a different job I'd also interviewed for; that company never actually got back to me to say I hadn't got it, so the phone call from my to-be-boss was how I found out lol. It would have been a bad fit for me so this was very positive all round.

@futurebird I was "recruited" back when 3rd party recruiter firms were still a real thing and not just a series of crypto scams crawling linkedin for desperate people...

@futurebird A recruiter got me an interview. I’m at 27 years and counting.

@futurebird they saw my CV and reached out to me.
This was also the only job I've had over the last 15 years that I got not by searching on job boards and applying to job ads.

@futurebird

I had a reverse cold application. 25 years ago I applied for an entry-level contract management position with a public agency. The CFO did not select me, but she said that she’d keep my résumé on file. I thought sure, everybody says that. Six months later I get contacted out of the blue for another position at the same office. Eventually I replaced her.