How to get noticed by Netflix job recruiters who can help you get hired, according to company insiders (2024)

These were their top tips.

Step 1: Craft your online persona to tell your story

Netflix recruiters think about both skillset and culture when searching for potential candidates.

One of the best ways to get noticed by Netflix is to craft your LinkedIn and other professional profiles, and social accounts, to show you have chops for the job and are enthusiastic about Netflix's culture.

Start by doing your research — read Netflix's famed culture and think about its values, like impact, passion, and courage that you can play up in your resume or LinkedIn profile. You could highlight projects, for example, that have had a measurable impact, or big risks you took that paid off.

Then, check out Netflix's "WeAreNetflix" social accounts for the skills you should highlight in resume and professional profiles. The accounts often share advice from recruiters and hiring managers. Netflix's creative-production team was a huge hiring priority for the company in 2020, and a "WeAreNetflix" podcast episode featured the team's leader, Rochelle King, who broke down some of the skills the group looks for.

Netflix also looks for people who are passionate about entertainment, which hiring hopefuls could show simply by including a favorite TV show, movie, book, video game, etc., on their social accounts.

It helps to have an active, professional presence on social media, as well.

"When our recruiters are going out trying to find the best talent, we're going to go where the talent is," Valarie Toda, vice president of talent acquisition at Netflix, told Insider last year. "If you're looking for designers, designers sometimes show their product on their social-media accounts. We go on Twitter and see who's talking about specific problems.

On Twitter, Netflix recruiters have found candidates in niche engineering fields around the world by searching for people who were tweeting thoughtfully about topics like machine learning, data science, and security, Toda said. She said recruiters also read music and other creative magazines to find candidates for an editorial writer job.

"It really is about going where the talent is and where they're showcasing their skills so that we can connect with them," Toda said.

Step 2: Work your personal and professional network

A recommendation from a Netflix employee is one of the best ways to get noticed by a recruiter.

Netflix doesn't offer bonuses or other incentives to employees for referring job candidates, so employees will generally vouch for people they really believe in.

"Usually, you hire somebody and they're a gold mine of referrals," one former Netflix employee said. "Referrals by people on your team carry a lot of weight."

Candidates who are referred by Netflix employees will often get a 30-minute phone call from a recruiter if there's an opening the person might be a fit for.

If you're interested in a referral, start with Netflix employees you have something in common with — maybe you worked at the same company in the past or went to the same college. While Netflix hires from all over, The University of Southern California; The University of California, Los Angeles; and New York University are the three top schools Netflix employees have studied at, according to LinkedIn.

If you're working on step one and are not yet ready to apply, you could also ask a Netflix employee for coffee or a phone call to get advice about what skillsets you should be building and how you can break into the industry.

Read more about how employee referrals work at Netflix: How to get a job interview at Netflix with the help of employee referrals — and what to avoid doing, according to company insiders

Step 3: Look for Netflix at industry and community events

Netflix, like many other companies, also hosts and attends industry events that it uses as opportunities to speak with potential job candidates.

It attends industry-association events where it meets candidates. It also hosts events virtually, and at its campuses around the world during normal times, like this upcoming virtual-speaker series eventabout writing for animation.

You can find out about these events by following Netflix's social channels, especially its "WeAreNetflix" handle. Netflix usually shares the details online, as do its employees.

Be sure to exchange contact information with the Netflix recruiters and employees you connect with at the events, and follow up afterward to share your work or ask about openings you might be a fit for.

This post was originally published on February 5, 2020 and has been updated.

Read more of our coverage on Insider, including our ultimate guide to getting a job at Netflix:

• The ultimate guide to getting a job at Netflix. We talked to its head of recruiting, former employees, and staffing experts to learn exactly what it takes to get hired in 2020.: We share top tips on everything from how to prepare to how to nail the interview.
• Netflix salaries revealed: How much engineers, marketers, content execs, and others made at the streaming service in 2020: Analysis of the base salaries Netflix offered for certain roles, based on US work-visa disclosures.
• How to get a job interview at Netflix with the help of employee referrals — and what to avoid doing, according to company insiders: Recommendations from Netflix employees can get prospective candidates noticed by Netflix recruiters. Former employees shared their top tips on getting referrals, and using them to land a job.
• Netflix's 5 toughest job-interview questions, according to company insiders: These are some of the job interview questions prospective candidates should be prepared to answer at any stage of the hiring process.
• The best Netflix teams and roles for entry-level job seekers, according to former employees and current listings: While Netflix doesn't have many entry-level jobs, it does have some opportunities for talented people who are starting their careers.
• What to wear to a job interview at Netflix, according to the company's head recruiter: Dress is business casual, but Netflix's vice president of talent acquisition also suggests wearing clothing that makes you feel confident.
• What to do if Netflix rejects you for a job the first time around, according to its head of hiring: Keep the dialogue going with recruiters immediately after learning you didn't get the job.
• The top 10 slides from Netflix's groundbreaking first culture deck that experts say had the most impact: Netflix's culture deck is a must read for prospective candidates. Recruiters explain what sets Netflix's culture apart from other tech companies.