How I landed a $100k+ job I didn’t apply to

Here’s how I landed a good job without applying to any jobs.

10 min readFeb 4, 2025

At the end of last year, I landed a full-time, remote head of marketing position at a cool, seed-stage startup that had a product I liked to use and is in an up-and-coming space, with still no market leader.

The base salary was $120,000 / year with 50% revenue split, paid out monthly, with a yearly cap of $250,000 total comp.

Seemed like a dream… until I remembered how much I hate full-time jobs. I quit at about the 3-week mark. Couldn’t even do it for a month. I was miserable.

It only took me ~1 month to land it, and I didn’t have to succumb to any wild hiring process, so I wasn’t crushed over the time lost.

And that wasn’t the only opportunity that came my way.

Just a few weeks before that, I was almost hired remotely by a Series A startup that, I again, liked and used myself.

The only reason I didn’t get the job was because the founder’s investor wanted to hire someone in his network, and the founder said to me, “What can I do?” As if the investor was holding a gun to his head, which he kind-of was, because he was giving him money.

I landed these opportunities without applying to any job listings. In fact, I can’t tell you the last time I submitted a job application, aside from one really cool part-time position with a person I admire.

I don’t say this to brag at all. I’ve been where SO many of you are today — frustrated, depressed, feeling like the job search is never going to end. And to only exacerbate the mentally depleting search is the fact that many families and significant others just can’t empathize with your situation.

It’s f*cking hard out there, so I took myself out of the job search market altogether and went back to freelancing, designing WordPress websites, doing marketing for local businesses and ghostwriting for personal brands on LinkedIn.

I spent about 95 percent of my time freelancing, and randomly, without searching, I’d stumble upon a product or service I thought was really cool and would use myself, and I’d click over to their career page to see if they had any relevant open positions.

I didn’t really care if they did or didn’t, I kind-of only wanted some more fun freelance work with a company I knew I could help grow or do something valuable for.

So I’d analyze their online presence — their website user-experience, copywriting, etc. and then its metrics, like, traffic MoM and the sources of that traffic along with time on site and bounce rate. I clicked all their social media icons in the footer. I Googled their brand name to see what popped up.

I’d go to builtwith.com, and I’d look up the tools they were using. Were they using WordPress (usually I could tell without looking, but it’s always useful to verify rather than ASSume)? What email marketing tools were they using? Etc.

Then I’d visit LinkedIn to see how many employees they had, if they had any marketers as well as their about page to look for the type of skills they already had in their arsenal.

I analyzed everything — every little piece of information I could find online.

TLDR: I was searching for ways I could add immense value.

Now, you might be thinking at this point, “Damn, Lauren, that sounds like a lot of work and would take a really long time. I don’t have that kind-of time.”

Fun Fact: If you’re not using AI to shoot job application spam cannons across the Internet, which will get you zilch, the average job application takes 72 minutes to complete.

My analysis takes less time than that usually, and it’s WAY MORE FUN than applying to a job black hole that will likely result in ZERO ROI.

I love competing, but not in a game where I know I’ll lose. I like competing when I have an unfair advantage. It’s still fun because I create the unfair advantage myself.

“I don’t want to bring a gun to a knife fight. I want to bring a magic f-ing wand. I want to obliterate the competition. My goal is to rig the game so I don’t just win, but absolutely crush the competition. That’s the kind of fight I’m interested in. But what about being fair? I don’t care about being fair. I care about winning.” (can’t remember source)

This requires “lateral thinking.”

A “vertical thinker” employs conventional methods that use logical reasoning to solve problems; an example of vertical thinking is applying to “open” jobs listed online.

“Lateral thinking” on the other hand, takes an unconventional approach that uses creativity to solve problems, such as finding a backdoor to a job you created and that isn’t listed anywhere online.

This is way better for a few reasons.

For one, you have no competition.

Second, it expands your network of really cool people you want to know. That’s another cool connection on LinkedIn that could lead to more mutual connections, and you never know when they will need someone with your skills in the future or who they could potentially connect you with now.

Third, 99 percent of the time, you’ll get an email back and know why or why you aren’t getting the opportunity you created out of thin air, which makes the “rejection” way easier to stomach, since you’re not really getting rejected since there was no job to begin with.

Fourth, even if the person says “no, we’re not looking for help right now,” you have a great foundation for publishing a concept case study, which is content gold to distribute across the Internet, creating the opportunity for inbound leads.

TLDR: Regardless of the final outcome, you have something to show for your effort.

How to land a job without applying to jobs

Another thing I see job seekers wasting resources on is resume builders/optimizers, cover letter writers and headhunters/reverse recruiters. These “assets” are outdated and useless if you take my approach to the job hunt.

Here are the items you actually need if you want to succeed with my process.

Step 1: Create an impressive online presence and be active online.

Portfolio of accomplishments

**Nice to have**

While it’s best to have a standout, polished and professional portfolio website (which I’ve had my entire career until recently, because I haven’t gotten around to redoing it yet), it’s not required.

I landed these opportunities by sharing links to specific, relevant case studies or blog posts I’d written, my LinkedIn profile and a Google Doc of my writing and editing projects.

You just need to have some achievements under your belt.

Here’s a post I wrote on how to collect and organize your accomplishments, which are likely scattered everywhere online and on your computer. (It’s a time-suck the first time you do it, but it’s a fun and rewarding process that gives you self-confidence, because you take a minute to be like, “Oh, shit, I did that. I’m pretty awesome and smart.)

A compelling and active LinkedIn

**Required**

LinkedIn is and has been for a while, the new resume. If you’re a serious professional, you’re on LinkedIn and posting at the very least weekly.

I know because I manage LinkedIn accounts for multiple personal brands, and they post daily.

94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. Once a hiring company receives your application, they will go to your LinkedIn. (Source: Zippia)

While my job search strategy doesn’t involve applying to jobs listed on job boards, you’re still going to need an active and polished LinkedIn profile to “prove” you’re impressive and should be taken seriously.

Step 2: Make a list of the right targets.

The second phase of my job search strategy is doing your due diligence, which entails finding a list of companies that you find interesting and look like they could use your help.

I usually find companies without even directly searching for them, by scouring design inspiration websites, like curated.design or even googling for certain types of products or apps.

Now, here’s the very key thing you need to know: Do NOT waste your time with conglomerates, like Google, Amazon, etc.

First and foremost, those jobs usually suck, and they’re continually laying off qualified people in droves. They’re also far from secure anyway. I would know. I worked at Cisco.

You want to look for an early-stage startup that was recently funded (money to spend) and has a small team, preferably with no one on their team who has your skillset. The small team part is key because the founder, the ultimate decision maker, is ACCESSIBLE.

Using tools, like ContactOut, Email Hunter or Clearbit, you can find the founder’s email address quite easily, and in the RARE chance that you can’t, then you should usually be able to find it through Google.

If not, be creative. Where are they active online, where could you DM them? It doesn’t have to be LinkedIn. Anywhere they’re active.

The added benefit? These startups hire fast, even if it’s contract-to-hire, and you can usually negotiate a better salary, even if that’s just a monthly retainer to start with no benefits.

Step 3: Develop a creative proposal.

Remember how I said earlier, “look like they could use your help?” Well, this is Step 3 — you need to find ways the companies you picked need your help and then tell them how you can add value and solve their problems.

This is my secret sauce. But it’s actually not mine. I stole this strategy from Ramit Sethi in 2015, and it’s actually called “The Briefcase Technique.”

The Briefcase Technique is a sales technique that involves preparing a proposal and presenting it to demonstrate your value and problem-solving skills.

This technique is a huge differentiator for a few reasons.

For one, founders are busy people, and they’re likely dreading having to take the time to train someone new and worry about them catching on. They already have limited time as it is, they don’t want to have to hold someone’s hand. That’s going to steal more of their limited time.

But if you go to a founder and point out the problems you can see from the outside and go on to tell them how you’ll solve them, with a fully fleshed out proposal, it’s a gamechanger.

Then, you’re no longer a time suck, you’re a proactive resource that will help their business grow with little to no time required from them. You become an asset. It’s a no-brainer.

Bonus points if you use their product or app to create your proposal or find some way to show you love their offering.

I did this with the job I landed last year. I shared the link to my proposal using the founder’s app. He loved it.

Step 4: Write a damn good email.

Elements of a damn good email

Subject line

You need a subject line that looks like a human wrote it and isn’t a spam, templated subject line.

Here’s two ideas that have worked for me:

You want to open this email =)
LOVE your app!

These won’t be clickbait subject lines either because of your intro…

Intro

Your intro should:

Address the founder by their first name (Obviously)
Compliment them
Your name (hyperlinked to your portfolio and/or LinkedIn) and an accomplishment humblebrag

Questions to ask yourself:

What has the founder written recently that you could mention?
Why do you love the founder’s app/product?
How did you find them?
What “proof” do you have that you’re someone worth responding to?
Do you have any mutual friends or connections you could mention?
Have you worked anywhere that might impress them?
What are some impressive AND relevant past achievements you could share?
Where have you been published that shows you’re an expert in your field?

Example intro:

Hi, [First Name]!

I just discovered [app or product name], and I’m in love, so much so, I decided to reach out.

My name is [Insert Full Name], and I work with companies like [insert impressive name] and [insert what you do that will interest them + include a link if you have something to show them].

Body

The body should:

Be brief
Use bullets, and make it easily scannable if it can’t be brief
Hyperlink a lot to “proof”
Explain why you’re reaching out to THEM
Make them want more by expressing your “zeal” and passion for their offering

Questions to ask yourself:

Why are you passionate about this company?
What made you reach out to them?
Is there anything cool you can mention about the founder?
How’d you get the idea to reach out?
How’d you find them?
Why you’re reaching out — this is where you introduce your proposal and link to it or attach it.

Call to action (CTA)

CTAs should:

Tell them exactly what to do.
Give them an easy way to refuse you. This is the polite thing to do.

Example templates:

Either way, good or bad, I’d love to hear back from you. :)
What do you think? Is this something you’d be interested in?
Would love to hear your thoughts!
I would love to hear back from you, but I totally understand if you’re too busy. Just thought it wouldn’t hurt to reach out and try. =)
Curious to hear your thoughts.

The End

The end of the email should:

End with your first name only, but have your full name in the footer below
Have impressive links to your online presence
Lean toward a casual, nice and friendly tone
Include a really nice and friendly sign-off
Possibly include an emoji (I always do)
Include your cell phone number (Sometimes people text!)

And that’s the entire master plan to landing a job without applying to jobs.