You can apply to hundreds of jobs and hope something sticks. That is spray and pray. It can work, but it wears you down, scatters your effort, and leaves your results to chance. There is a steadier way that keeps you consistent inside a scope you can actually sustain. It is not a secret, but a system.
With no US work history and no network to inherit, this targeted approach landed me interviews at Meta, Palo Alto Networks, TikTok, and IBM. The system is simple: build a short list of target companies, rank them by what genuinely matters to you, and work the list from least-preferred to most-preferred so every interview becomes practice for the one that counts.
Whether you are an international student, a career changer, a bootcamp grad, or early in your career trying to level up, you will leave with:
⚬ Target List Framework: How to build, filter, and score a manageable 30–40 company list.
⚬ Bottom-Up Strategy: Using early interviews for deliberate practice to eliminate nerves before top-choice interviews.
⚬ Frictionless Networking: Leveraging conference scholarships, meetups, and quick-connect pitches that get responses without asking for favors.
⚬ The 10-2-1 Action Plan: A concrete, weekly execution cadence to start immediately.

This talk was accepted and delivered to an engaged, standing-room audience at BSides Las Vegas 2026. The content and timing are polished, and the delivery is fully dialed in for a high-impact 30-minute session tailored to BSides RDU's Career Village.