本文讲述了Jahnavi Shah在获得康奈尔大学硕士学位后，经历500多份工作申请的挑战，最终通过聚焦于人脉建立和关系维护，成功获得旧金山科技公司全职职位的经历。作为一名国际学生，她面临签证和留美压力的双重考验。文章详细介绍了她如何主动联系行业创始人、与招聘人员保持长期联系，以及如何精心挑选并培养三位关键推荐人，这些策略最终帮助她克服困难，实现了在科技中心的职业梦想，并强调了持续努力和建立有意义联系的重要性。

🎯 **主动出击与精准定位：** 面对毕业后严峻的就业形势和签证压力，Jahnavi Shah并未局限于海投简历，而是采取了主动联系初创公司创始人、深入了解目标公司及职位的策略，并在拿到一份临时的合同工作后，仍继续积极寻求全职机会，展现了其明确的职业目标和不懈的努力。

🤝 **建立与维护人脉网络：** 文章的核心在于强调人脉关系的重要性。Jahnavi Shah通过LinkedIn主动建立联系，即使在面试失败后也与招聘人员保持沟通，并在职业生涯早期就与行业领导者建立联系并寻求指导。这些长期、有深度的关系维护，为她赢得了宝贵的推荐和面试机会。

🌟 **精心选择与培养推荐人：** 为了获得全职职位，Jahnavi Shah精心挑选了三位能够全面证明她能力和潜力的推荐人：一位是曾直接指导过她的前上司，另外两位分别是她通过行业活动和在线社群建立并持续沟通的LinkedIn产品领导者和Microsoft产品经理。她通过分享见解、定期交流和寻求建议来深化这些关系，确保推荐的有效性。

💡 **坚持不懈与梦想实现：** 尽管经历了长达八个月的艰难求职过程，Jahnavi Shah始终坚持自己的目标，最终成功入职心仪的科技公司，实现了居住在旧金山并投身科技行业的梦想。她的经历证明了，通过不懈的努力、有效的策略和有意义的人际关系，即使是看似遥不可及的梦想也能变为现实。

Jahnavi Shah struggled to land a full-time job after earning her master's degree from Cornell in 2023.A focused networking strategy helped her land a tech role eight months after graduation.She shared how she built connections with references and recruiters.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jahnavi Shah, a 24-year-old product deployment strategist based in San Francisco. Business Insider has verified Shah's employment and job search history with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In the months before graduating from Cornell University in December 2023, I applied to over 500 jobs and secured five interviews, but none led to a full-time offer. As an international student, this put my immigration status in jeopardy.

Because I was on an F-1 optional practical training (OPT) visa, I had a limited window to secure some form of employment after graduating. Otherwise, I'd have had to move back to India.

I dreamed of living in San Francisco

In 2022, I earned my bachelor's degree in computer science from a university in India, where I was born and raised. That same year, I moved to the US to pursue a master's in engineering management at Cornell.

My goal was to live and work in the US after graduating. I grew up interested in technology, which inspired me to study computer science. Silicon Valley felt like the center of the tech world, and when I turned 18, living in San Francisco became a dream I hoped to achieve someday.

As graduation neared, I still had zero job offers. I began reaching out directly to startup founders — both those I knew personally and those I'd connected with on LinkedIn or through friends. That approach led to two interviews, and in early December — a few weeks before graduation — I accepted a part-time, 21-hour-a-week contract role as a product manager at a startup.

Landing the role helped me stay compliant with my visa while I continued looking for a full-time job. There was a chance of converting to full-time, but I didn't want to count on that.

What followed was a difficult eight-month job search.

Instead of relying on cold applications, I focused on building and maintaining relationships, reaching out to people at companies I was interested in, and following up regularly to stay top of mind. It was a networking strategy I'd started cultivating well before my search — and I believe it helped me secure referrals and ultimately land my full-time role.

I stayed in touch even when I didn't get the job

Back in October 2023, I applied to a rotational program at Persona, an identity verification startup, just minutes after the LinkedIn job post went live. The role seemed like a good fit — it would fulfill my dream of working at a tech startup in the San Francisco area, and I believed it would challenge me and offer growth opportunities.

After I was asked to interview for the position, I sent around 50 LinkedIn connection requests to relevant employees. Five accepted, and three of them were kind enough to hop on a call with me. Their insights were incredibly helpful, especially in preparing for the product case study round of the three-stage interview process. However, I ultimately didn't get the job.

In November 2023, shortly after receiving my rejection, I sent a LinkedIn connection request to the Persona recruiter I had interviewed with, hoping to stay in touch about future opportunities.

The following August, she messaged me on LinkedIn to congratulate me on landing my part-time job.

That message prompted me to check Persona's careers page, where I saw a new role of interest had been posted just a few days earlier. I submitted an application and let the recruiter know. Not long after, I was invited to interview; staying in touch with the recruiter helped make that happen.

I leaned on three long-term connections as references

Since I had previously interviewed for a junior version of this role, this time, I had just one interview call.

After that, I was asked to share three references. I leaned on strong relationships I'd built over time: my former manager at The Washington Post, a VP of product at LinkedIn, and a product manager at Microsoft.

My former manager at The Washington Post, where I interned in the summer of 2023, had directly overseen my work and knew me well.

But building the other two relationships required more time and effort.

In early 2023, I was invited to speak with LinkedIn's product leadership about Gen Z's behavior on the platform, as I've been creating tech and career content on LinkedIn and Instagram for the past few years. After the session, I followed up with everyone I met, including the VP of product.

I continued to nurture the relationship through periodic follow-ups, and by the time I asked them to be a reference, I was confident we'd built a meaningful connection.

I met the Microsoft product manager after joining Product Buds, an online networking community. I reached out on LinkedIn after I learned we were from the same hometown in India.

I continued participating in Product Buds events and regularly asked him for advice as I shaped my career path. In 2022, I asked if he'd be open to mentoring me, and he kindly agreed. By the time I needed references, I felt he could offer a unique perspective as a mentor.

There were no additional interviews beyond the recruiter call, which made the references especially important. I chose these three because I felt they could speak holistically about my background, skills, and potential.

In a follow-up conversation, the recruiter said my strong references gave the team confidence in my capabilities and what I'd bring to the role.

I landed the role and am glad I pursued it

Later that month, I received a job offer. I accepted, quit my part-time job, moved to San Francisco, and started working full time in October 2024.

Moving to San Francisco felt like a dream come true — it was surreal to see one of my biggest goals come to life.

Accomplishing this has made me realize that if you work hard, even your wildest dreams can come true. That's what motivates me to keep going: to dream bigger, work harder, and hopefully achieve even more.

Now, nine months into my role, I can confidently say I'm glad I decided to pursue this job.