100 Job Strategies
100 Job Strategies · 29 of 100
The Feature They Haven't Built
Their users are voting for a feature in public. Build a working prototype of it and send it over.
In short
Many software companies run public feature-request boards, roadmap pages or GitHub issue trackers where users upvote what they want. The most-requested items are a ranked list of problems the company already agrees matter. Building a small, working prototype of one of them — and sending it to the team with a short explanation — is proof of skill that no fresher resume can match, because it is about their product, their users and their backlog.
The situation
A productivity app has a public feedback board. At the top, with 1,400 votes, sits the same request it has had for eighteen months: calendar sync with two-way updates.
The product team knows. It is on the roadmap, below three other priorities, and nobody has had time to explore how it would work.
One afternoon, a message arrives from a recent graduate. It links to a short demo video and a repository: a working prototype of two-way sync using the app's public API, with the edge cases written up — recurring events, time zones, deleted items — and notes on what they would do differently at scale.
The product manager watches the video twice, then forwards it to the engineering lead with one word: interview?
Why this works
Freshers are usually asked to prove skill with things the employer does not care about: coursework, tutorials, generic projects built for a portfolio. The hiring manager then has to imagine how that would translate to their product. Most of the time, they do not try.
A public feature-request board removes the guesswork about what matters. The company, and its users, have already ranked the problems. Anything near the top is a problem the team agrees is important and has not had time to solve.
Building a working prototype of one of those items does several things at once. It shows you can read an unfamiliar product and its API. It shows you can scope a problem, handle the edge cases and communicate the trade-offs. And it hands the team something concrete they can react to, about a subject they already care about.
It also changes the dynamic of the conversation. Instead of asking a company to evaluate you in the abstract, you are showing them an early version of something on their own roadmap. That is the kind of conversation hiring managers actually want to have.
How to run it
- 1
Find the public request board
Search the company's site for a feedback board, public roadmap or 'feature requests' page, or look at the issues tab on their public repositories. Many product companies publish these openly.
- 2
Pick a top request that is small enough to prototype
Look for items with many votes that you can realistically build in one to three weeks. A complete small prototype beats an unfinished attempt at the hardest item on the list.
- 3
Build against their real product
Use their public API, SDK, plugin system or open-source code. A prototype that works with their actual product is far more persuasive than a standalone mock-up.
- 4
Write up the edge cases and trade-offs
A short document explaining what you handled, what you did not, and what you would change at scale shows judgement. That write-up is often more impressive than the code itself.
- 5
Record a two-minute demo
Busy product teams will watch a short video before they clone a repository. Show the feature working, then show one tricky case you solved.
- 6
Send it to the product or engineering lead
Keep the message short: which request, what you built, the demo link and the repository. Make it clear the prototype is theirs to learn from, with no strings attached.
What to say
When it does not work
- Choosing the hardest request on the list. Complex, long-standing requests are often blocked by architectural reasons you cannot see. Pick something you can finish well.
- Using private data or breaking terms of service. Stick to public APIs and documented integrations. A prototype built by scraping or bypassing their rules is a liability, not a portfolio piece.
- Implying the team is slow. Never frame it as 'you haven't done this in eighteen months'. The request has been there because they had other priorities, not because they could not build it.
- Sending code without a demo. Most reviewers will not set up your project. A short video and a clear write-up get watched; a bare repository link usually does not.
- Expecting them to ship your code. The goal is a conversation, not a merged feature. Production features need their architecture, testing and design review.
Their users have already told you what to build. A working prototype of it is a job application written in the only language a product team fully trusts.
Questions
What if the company does not have a public feature board?
Look at their public GitHub issues, community forum, app-store reviews or subreddit, where users often repeat the same requests. A frequently repeated complaint works just as well as a formal upvote count, provided you can show evidence that users actually want it.
Is this only for software developers?
It works best for engineering and product roles, but the idea transfers. Designers can prototype the flow for a requested feature, analysts can model its likely impact, and writers can draft the help documentation for it. The principle is the same: do real work on something the company's users have publicly asked for.
Could the company just use my work without hiring me?
They could learn from it, which is fine — you are offering it freely. In practice, a prototype is rarely usable as production code, and the more likely outcome is a conversation with the team. Even when there is no role, you end up with a strong, specific portfolio piece you can show every other employer.
How long should I spend on the prototype?
One to three weeks is usually enough for a well-scoped prototype and a clear write-up. If it is taking much longer, you have probably picked too large a request. Finishing something small and explaining its limits honestly is more impressive than an ambitious project that never quite works.
More from 100 Job Strategies
- Backfill Sniping
- The Funding Lag
- The Unsolicited Audit
- The Vendor Side Door
- Repost Archaeology
- Two Batches Up
Everything on Drivetube
Six products, two of them free forever. Start wherever you are.
Your free digital resume
at drivetube.ai/in/your-name: one true standard resume with a Hiring Snapshot (visa status, expected salary, notice period, work preference, relocation), an ATS-ready PDF download and a single shareable link. Free forever; interview requests come from verified employers and your contact details stay masked until you accept.
Documentation- Free Job BoardFree
Verified jobs, posted in the last 3 days
verified openings crawled ATS-by-ATS from 100,000+ real company career pages across 35 ATS platforms. Shows the true posting date from the source ATS — not when a listing was indexed — and deletes every general listing 3 days after it was actually posted. No ghost jobs, no ad-sponsored listings, no staffing reposts, no account needed.
Documentation - Job Hunt ProgramFrom $199.99
We run your job hunt for you
managed job hunting, a one-time purchase from $199.99. JobScout matches verified roles to your real experience band, Blend AI writes a uniquely tailored resume and cover letter for every application, and the Autofill extension fills the form — or Let Us Apply submits it for you.
Documentation - Resume Writing ServicesFrom $25.99
Written by senior career writers
human-written, ATS-optimised resumes by senior career writers, from ₹499.99 / $25.99. Available in every country, written to the destination country's own standard — a US resume, UK CV, German Lebenslauf and Indian resume are genuinely different documents. A paid service, separate from the free Drivetube Profile.
Documentation - Community MembershipFrom $49.99/yr
AI tools, gated filters and a $10,000+ library
from $49.99/year (₹1,999/year in India), or $4.99/month in the iOS app. Unlocks the gated job-board filters — visa sponsorship, security clearance, workplace and application time — plus Job-Scout AI matching, Resume Report AI, Interview AI prep sheets, Recruiter Outreach AI sent from your own Gmail, Apply or Skip triage, a daily market feed and a $10,000+ library including 23 ATS-validated resume templates.
Documentation - Drivetube HireFree tier
For employers — no job postings, no applications
hiring with no job postings and no applications. Paste your real job description and AI matches it against candidates' true standard resumes, returning ranked candidates with a match %, matched and missing skills and written reasoning. Free tier included; employers pay, candidates never do.
Documentation
- Documentation
every product explained in full, with feature-by-feature comparisons against the job boards, AI apply tools, resume services and hiring platforms people actually use.
- Playbooks
tactical job-search guides. Each post is one named tactic with the situation it applies to, the exact steps, a copy-paste message and honest failure modes. Free, no account.
The job board covers the United States, India, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe and Australia, and Resume Writing Services are available in every country.
Pricing is identical on the web, iOS and Android — no app-store markup. Monthly Community membership is purchased in the iOS app only; the website sells annual plans. The Android app has no in-app purchase, so Android members subscribe on drivetube.ai and then sign in to the app with full access. Membership follows your account, not your device.