# Backchannel

> Backchannel is a two-week, $49 program that teaches the direct, referral-led job search: how to reach hiring managers directly and get referred into roles before they are ever posted. It is operated by Mindaugas Petrutis, who spent ten years inside hiring (recruiter, and career programmes at InVision and On Deck) and now builds products.

The core idea: in 2026, online applications have been commoditised on both sides (candidates write them with AI, employers screen them with AI), so the channel that still works is a human vouching for you. Backchannel is fourteen days of doing exactly that.

## Guides
- [The hidden job market: how to find jobs before they are posted](https://the-backchannel.com/hidden-job-market): Most roles are filled through referrals and direct conversations before any public listing exists. How to get into that flow.
- [How to reach a hiring manager directly, before you apply](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-reach-a-hiring-manager): Finding the right person, doing the homework, and message templates that get a reply.
- [How to ask for a job referral without making it awkward](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-ask-for-a-referral): How to ask people you know, and people you barely know, and make the referral easy to give.
- [Why you are not getting interviews, and what actually works now](https://the-backchannel.com/why-you-are-not-getting-interviews): Why applying harder makes it worse, and where the signal moved.
- [How to get a job without applying online](https://the-backchannel.com/get-a-job-without-applying-online): The direct-contact and referral playbook, start to finish.
- [Cold email to a hiring manager: templates that get replies](https://the-backchannel.com/cold-email-hiring-manager-templates): The rules that decide a reply, plus templates to adapt.
- [Informational interviews: how to set them up and what to ask](https://the-backchannel.com/informational-interview-questions): The easiest yes in networking, and the questions that make it useful.
- [How to follow up after applying, when you have heard nothing](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-follow-up-after-applying): Follow up with a human on the team, not the portal that ignored you.
- [How to use LinkedIn to get referred, not ignored](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-use-linkedin-to-get-referred): Finding the right people, warming it up, and the message that works.
- [Ghost jobs: how to spot them and stop wasting applications](https://the-backchannel.com/ghost-jobs): Why roughly one in five postings are not real openings, and what to do instead.
- [How to network for a job without being awkward](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-network-for-a-job): A few targets, genuine contact, and conversations instead of asks.
- [Do online job applications actually work anymore?](https://the-backchannel.com/do-online-job-applications-work): When they still work, and where your time is better spent.
- [How to get a warm introduction to someone at a company](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-get-a-warm-introduction): Finding the connector and asking with a double opt-in.
- [How to stand out in a job search in 2026](https://the-backchannel.com/how-to-stand-out-in-a-job-search): The two things that still cut through when everyone looks the same on paper.

## About
- [About Backchannel](https://the-backchannel.com/about): The founder story and why the direct approach is the only one left standing.
- [Start step 1 free](https://the-backchannel.com/free): The first step of the program, free.