Stand Out Before the Interview: A 5-Step Plan With Templates

Pick 25 companies, do a small piece of real work for each, and reach out with it. Here is the tracker and the messages.

Most job seekers send the same resume to hundreds of openings and hear nothing back. A different approach, shared by Ankur Warikoo and many hiring managers, is to show a company what you can do before they ever interview you. This post gives you the 5 steps, a tracker template, three ChatGPT prompts to speed up the research, and outreach messages you can adapt.

What you need

• A spreadsheet (Google Sheets or Excel, free) for your tracker.

• A free LinkedIn profile that is up to date.

• A place to host your work: a Google Doc with view access, a public GitHub repo, a Notion page or a short Loom video (all have free plans).

• Optional: free ChatGPT to help with research and first drafts.

Step by step

1. List 25 companies you actually want to work for. Not 200. Mix sizes: a few big names, more mid-size firms and startups, where a single message can reach a decision-maker. For each, note the product, the team you want to join, and one open role or likely role.

2. Find one piece of work you could do for each. Use the product as a customer would. Look for something small and specific you could improve, for example:

   • Developer: fix a bug in their open-source repo, or build a small tool on their public API.

   • Designer: redesign one confusing screen in their app.

   • Marketer: write three ad variations or audit their landing page.

   • Analyst: analyse public data about their market and share three findings.

   • Sales or ops: map 20 potential customers in a segment they serve.

3. Do the work, and keep it small. Aim for 2 to 4 hours per company. One clear page beats a 30-slide deck. Show your thinking: the problem you noticed, what you did, and the result or recommendation. Use only public information. Never use confidential data or pretend to be a customer.

4. Find the right person. The hiring manager or team lead is usually better than a general HR inbox. Check LinkedIn, the company's team page, or the author of a relevant blog post. One person per company.

5. Reach out with the work, then follow up once. Lead with the work, not with a request for a job. If there is no reply in 7 to 10 days, send one short follow-up. Then move on.

Tracker template. Copy these columns into row 1 of your sheet:

Company | Role/Team | Why I want to work here | Problem I spotted | Work I did (link) | Person to contact | Contact link | Date sent | Follow-up date | Response | Next step

Prompt 1: research a company. Paste into ChatGPT and fill in the brackets:

I am applying for a [role] position at [company]. Based only on public information I paste below, help me:
1. Summarise what the company does and who its customers are, in 5 bullet points.
2. List 5 small, specific problems or improvement ideas a [role] could work on in 2-4 hours, with no access to internal data.
3. For each idea, say what the deliverable would look like (one page, a mockup, a small script, etc.).
Do not invent facts about the company. If you are not sure, say so.

Public information:
[paste text from their website, app store description, recent news or job post]

Prompt 2: shape your work sample. After you have done the work:

Here are my notes on a work sample I made for [company] for a [role] role:
[paste your notes]

Turn this into a one-page summary with these headings: The problem I noticed, What I did, What I found, What I would do next. Keep it under 300 words, plain English, no buzzwords. Do not add results I did not mention.

Prompt 3: draft the outreach. Then edit it so it sounds like you:

Write a short LinkedIn message (under 120 words) from me to [name], [their title] at [company]. I made [one-line description of the work] and want to share it. Lead with the work and one specific finding. End with a low-pressure question about whether they would be open to a short chat about the [role] role. No flattery, no "Dear Sir/Madam".

Outreach message (LinkedIn or email):

Hi [Name],

I've been using [product] and noticed [specific problem, in one line]. I spent a few hours on it and put together [what you made], here: [link].

The main finding: [one specific result or idea].

I'm applying for the [role] role on your team. If this is useful, I'd love 15 minutes to hear how your team thinks about [area]. Either way, I hope the doc helps.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[LinkedIn / portfolio link]

Follow-up (once, after 7 to 10 days):

Hi [Name], just bumping this in case it got buried. I also added [one small update or extra idea] to the doc: [link]. No worries if the timing isn't right. Thanks!

Good to know

• This takes time. Twenty-five companies at 2 to 4 hours each is roughly 50 to 100 hours. That is the point: few people do it, so it stands out.

• No reply is common. Some companies will not respond however good the work is. Track it, follow up once, and move on.

• Respect people's time and inbox. One message and one follow-up per person. Do not mass-message employees or use automation tools that break LinkedIn's terms.

• Use AI to draft, then rewrite in your own words. Recruiters can usually tell when a message or "project" is generic AI text, and invented projects hurt more than they help.

• Do not do large amounts of free work. A small sample shows skill; a full project for free is not expected and you should not offer it.

Sources

• Penguin India: Build an Epic Career by Ankur Warikoo

• Outlook Business: No CV or work experience, Ankur Warikoo asks these 20 questions to hire

• Peerlist: This is why you're not getting a job interview

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