Michael Yan, a Gen Z computer science student at Stanford University, secured internships at Microsoft and Meta by using a clever strategy on LinkedIn. Yan shared his strategy in a recent Business Insider interview, where he revealed how applying early gave him an edge. He modified LinkedIn’s URL to filter job postings from the last hour instead of the last day, which placed Yan’s application among the first received, which boosted his chances significantly.
What is Yan’s strategy to be the first one to apply for jobs?
Yan’s strategy showed the maximised use of LinkedIn’s sorting feature, changing the URL’s time parameter from 86,400 seconds (24 hours) to 3,600 seconds (1 hour). This allowed him to get an internship before the other applicants applied. His proactive hack led him to get offers from big tech companies, from which he chose the Meta internship. Career experts note that applying early can be a game-changer in today’s saturated job market
Andrew McCaskill, a LinkedIn career expert, has also suggested that if you are looking for a job then set up alerts for according to your role and using alerts/notifications try to apply as quickly as possible, He added that applying to a job on LinkedIn within the first 10 minutes of receiving an alert can increase your chances by four times of getting a reply from the company.
The broader picture here highlights Yan’s unique move in applying for any job. Internship and job applications on platforms like Handshake increased by 21%, while postings dropped by 15%, which shows how the market is so crunch for Gen Z. Internship opportunities are very crucial for career progression. Yan’s success shows us how innovative strategies stand out.
While Yan’s LinkedIn trick highlights the cleverness, the experts suggest that early applications must be filled with strong qualifications. For Gen Z, Yan’s story surely brings inspiration to solve the problem creatively.