I always wanted to work in Silicon Valley. I just never thought it was possible… until I tried.

In college I looked for ways to use my design talents for entrepreneurial endeavors. The entrepreneurial things I found in Milwaukee were all heavily influenced by processes and practices being actively developed in the Bay Area (San Francisco to San Jose). I started listening to podcasts, watching videos, and listening to blogs produced by the geeks building their dreams. It really inspired me and pushed me to leave everything behind and follow my dreams.

Below are the things that inspired me most:

•This Week In Start-Ups.

•The Lean Start-Up (buy the audio book)

•The Start-Up of You (buy the audio book)

•Everything related to Y Combinator

The summer before senior year of college I came out to San Francisco and did a number of informational interviews. I got these interviews by finding people with similar interests, starting a conversation online, and asking if they would be able to meet me. Most of these connections came from LinkedIn. I basically found people who I was already connected with and searched if they had any connections to designers/developers working in Silicon Valley. I then sent a bunch of people messages and a couple got back to me. I still stay in contact with these people today.

I ended up meeting people from Apple, Google, Intuit, and a bunch of awesome start-ups. The people that were the greatest assets were 2nd degree connections (know someone who knows someone).

I also found people from a bunch of social networks. Like...

•Angel List

•Founder Dating

•Behance

And obviously LinkedIn.

6 months before graduating from college I started aggressively applying to places in the Bay Area. I carpet bombed every job board. The most valuable thing I got out of this was an understanding of what companies were looking for out here. I then skewed my work towards those angles and was able to sell myself better. I also got a company to fly me out to the Bay for an interview. Although they didn't hire me (and I never would have wanted to work there) it gave me a chance to re-connect with some of the people I had met earlier. If it wasn't for this trip I wouldn't have gotten the position I am currently pursuing.

Some of the places I looked for jobs were...

•Angel List Jobs

•Behance Jobs

•Monster.com (get your resume on here ASAP)

•Craigslist (I am actually serious about this one)

Below is some advice and helpful resources if you are interested in finding a job in Silicon Valley.

•Have a badass portfolio.

•Create a Personal Website.

•Have a badass presentation of your work showing success metrics and case studies. Show how you can help their business. Keep it short and to the point.

•If you don’t have any work to show start building personal projects that relate to the companies you want to work for.

•Know the different markets you could see yourself being passionate about.

•Know what type of jobs are out there.

•Understand what you are worth.

•Help people and provide value before asking for anything. I did a lot of pro-bono work for start-ups out here. Reciprocity is awesome.

The biggest thing I learned was that there is nothing stopping you other than yourself. Rejection is just part of the battle. Don't be discouraged by it. Most of it will come from a lack of understanding or timing.

If you’re interested in learning more hit me up through the contact info on my personal website. I would love to help.