Earlywork #28: How To Land A Job In The Valley 🔥

Featuring interviews with Shawn Noronha, Audrey Thehamihardja & Tom Terado + a One Minute Hustle with Justin Cheng

Hola Earlyworkers!

Delivered to your (virtual) door today is Earlywork #28, a careers newsletter providing free career resources for young Australians in the tech & startup landscape.

If you’re not already part of the crew, subscribe now to keep a pulse on our latest stories and conversations:

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💡Weekly Cheeky Tip

‘The Valley’ i.e. Silicon Valley is a geographical region in the south of San Francisco Bay, a hit TV series and a term synonymous with tech & startups around the world.

Wait but where did the name ‘Silicon Valley’ come from?

Well in the early 1900s, the area was known as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” inspired by the the myriad of orchids and fruit in the region. However, in the 1950s, a new industry emerged, manufacturers and innovators of the silicon chip.

Silicon chips were an integral part of the semiconductor industry and still to this day, they are used in almost everything that’s computerised. Despite its prosperous silicon chip industry, the region didn’t receive its name until about 20 years later.

Today, this ~120 km2 area attracts over 1/3 of the venture capital in the US, is the HQ of tech conglomerates like Apple, Google, Tesla and is home to more billionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

Seems like a pretty dope place to work eh?

Turns out, we are not unique in our view, getting a job in the valley is ruthlessly competitive and it attracts some of the best talent globally. 

We sat down and chatted with some earlyworkers, Shawn Noronha (UNSW 2019), Audrey Thehamihardja (USYD 2021) & Tom Terado (UNSW 2018) to learn about their experiences in Silicon Valley.

We kicked off with Shawn who landed a role in BD with learning management system startup WorkRamp:

Why the valley?

I’d visited SF and wider California for the first time in 2019 (4 months before I moved) on a uni trip, and instantly fell in love with the place. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but overall I loved the energy in the city, the people, events, food etc.

I’d worked for a few different small startups in Sydney and knew that SF was the tech mecca. I thought I could x10 my learning and growth opportunities so decided to try my luck.

How’d you find a job?

I spent a month in SF on a tourist visa which I used as a “productive grad trip” and I tried to meet as many people/apply for as many opportunities as I could.

I never applied for traditional job postings online, instead cold emailed my way in to the inbox of founders &  hiring managers. Also didn’t apply for any jobs at companies that were too big (100+ employees) as I wasn’t personally interested in larger companies and they often had more red tape around the hiring and visa process.

Cold emailed founders, Aussie expats, uni alumni, and any interesting folk I met or read about to for an initial chat, and then followed up by volunteering to help out on any projects they were working on.

Check out the actual emails Shawn used in his feature with UNSW

Did the experience meet expectations? Got any learnings/advice to share?

Overall the process met and exceeded my expectations. Companies and people there move at a blistering pace and the environment was just what I needed at the time.

Any learnings / advice to share?

• Know what you want, and know what you can offer when talking to any prospective employers.

• Have a specific ask, and also have your succinct elevator pitch ready for any quick introductions, coffee chats, cold email introductions, DMs etc.

• Research the E3 visa process - if you’re an Australian citizen getting an American working visa is quite a straightforward process & much easier/less costly than a H1B, good to know if anyone asks.

• It’s much harder to meet people and travel over there right now, but I’d still recommend that people cold email/cold DM anyone they find interesting and try to build a rapport via email as opportunities can arise.

• Australia’s the best place in the world right now. With a number of tech companies adopting hybrid & remote-first environments, there’s no longer a rush to race overseas imo. Instead I’d recommend you take some time to research people, companies and opportunities that interest you, and send a thoughtful email/DM to open doors.

Next, we chatted with Audrey who worked across Product Marketing & Design at YC hiring marketplace startup Landed.

Why the valley?

SF is a melting pot of top talent across the world – if you’re passionate about a career in technology, there’s no city more concentrated with founders, investors and people working in big tech.

The podcasts, articles and blogs I learned from were all written by thought leaders based here. To top it off, I was looking for operational experience at an early-stage startup at the time, and there’s no better place to get this experience than in Silicon Valley!

How’d you find a job?

I attended a one-week conference at Stanford called ASES; and the exposure to top VCs, founders who spoke at lectures, and the entrepreneurial spirit of the students blew my mind. I met a tonne of people through the network and someone was kind enough to introduce me to a founder of the startup that I interned at.

Did it meet/exceed expectations?

As an intern, I joined the team when it was just the two co-founders. I had the chance to work on anything – from pitching, sales, marketing, design, early product decisions, recruiting and more. The experience was thrilling, and definitely exceeded my expectations of what the founder experience is like in Silicon Valley.

Any learnings / advice to share?

If you’re interning at a startup you love, prove that you’re indispensable. Pitch solutions, execute them and regularly seek feedback for improvement; this demonstrates to the founding team that you’re invested in the company’s growth.

Also, a powerful cold email goes a long way. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people if you think you can genuinely add value, the worst thing that could happen is they don’t reply.

Lastly, we spoke with Tom, who landed engineering roles at two startups, Ensu & Vibely.

Why the valley?

I wanted to become a better software engineer so picked the US / SF as that is where many gather. The environment matters a lot in where you want to grow. Came across an interesting quote about “you choose your own bubble.”

How’d you find a job?

I was a bit naïve but booked a one-way flight and hoped for the best. Had no luck in NYC for 4 weeks but landed a job in SF in 2 weeks. It was a lot of networking and thinking outside the box to get your resume through the door.

Did it meet/exceed expectations?

The pace and calibre of people I met and worked with was impressive. I learnt a tremendous amount when you are immersed in tech constantly.

Any learnings/advice to those trying to do the same

• Be willing to put yourself out there and use the Aussie card to your advantage.

• Try to land the job prior, depending on your risk tolerance.

• I would say I picked 2-3x years multiple of experience in the Valley which has been invaluable.

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What content would you like us to cover next? Anything we missed? Keen to share your own Weekly Cheeky Tip?

Tweet us, drop a comment or shoot us a message at team@earlywork.co.

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🌏 Earlywork Community

📚 Trending Topics

Our favourite reads and resources being discussed in the Earlywork community.

• Marc Andressen - Making the Future [Invest Like the Best]: Super insightful pod on how software is improving the world, discussing traditionally ‘slow’ sectors like education, healthcare, and housing + the future of a16z.

• Bill Gates predicting the future: Hindsight is 20/20 but Bill Gates predicted online payments, smartphones, social media and a lot more in 1999.

• Postmates launched Postdates for retrieving items from your ex: This team also made “ScrubHub, like PornHub for hand washing” and raised $50K for charity.

• Mariana Mazzucato: What is economic value, and who creates it? How we lost sight of what “value” means and the need to rethink our financial systems.

💼 Top Gigs

3 of our favourite roles shared in the community recently. Join here to access our job channels.
1. Strategy & Analysis Intern (Summer 21/22) @ Canva (Sydney)
2. Associate Product Manager @ Cover Genius (Sydney)
3. Engineering Intern @ Zoomo (Sydney)

If you’re not already a member, hop on over to join in on discussions with other young Aussies in tech & startups, stay up to date with industry news & events, and find/share job opportunities.

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1️⃣ 🕐 💪 One Minute Hustle

We are back once again with One Minute Hustle, a bite-sized interview with an emerging Australian young startup founder or operator. This week, let’s get inside the noggin of an Earlywork community member leading growth for one of the hottest podcasts in tech.

Justin Cheng, Production + Growth Lead @ The Quest with Justin Kan

• What are you working on? I'm currently working at The Quest Podcast with Justin Kan (Co-Founder of Twitch, Former YC Partner). We tell the human journey behind every trailblazer with guests like Mark Cuban and the Chainsmokers. I help with all things production related for the podcast from pre-production to post, as well as handling all our socials. We've grown 15x and hit the top 30 on the Spotify Tech Podcasts charts in the US!

• How did you get started? I think I've always been interested in the start-up space and journey just from seeing the personal growth in people I know around me who have gone through the start-up 'grind'. But how I got started has been a pretty random story where I connected with a mutual friend since he wanted to get into rapping and I am a music producer. Then he ended up telling me about the podcast he was working on and invited me along for the ride 6 months after meeting him!

• Why do you do what you do? Since I've always had a passion for music, I think having seen what an artist has to go through to make a living, I've always been motivated to help the underdog and to see artists/creators succeed at what they do, because I don't think their work and the value they add to society is rewarded enough. For me, this just meant I needed to find and surround myself with people who are passionate about solving these issues, and that's mostly been in the start-up scene.