Before contacting any executive at a company about a job, you should conduct in-depth research. This is also true if you are answering an ad. Here are some things you should try to find out:
1. About the Executive:
*Professional traning and university attended.
*Previous positions with that company and with other companies.
*Age.
*Professional memberships, civic activities, hobbies, etc.
2. About the Company:
*Number of employees.
*Number and location of branch operations.
*Sales volume.
*Likely problems.
*Product lines (strong, weak).
*Profit picture over a few year period.
*Corporate structure and management philosophy.
*Other___________________________________.
How do you get all this information? Using the Internet, approach through search engines: Directories, professional societies, university alumni directories, membership rosters, corporate web sites, product information sites, annual reports, Who's Who, business sections of your daily newspaper, trade journals, and any and all persons you know who may have information or access to information you want.
You are looking for bits and pieces of information that will give you a clue about the happenings in companies of interest. You want clues that you can use in a targeted tailored letter tied to the bit of news uncovered. For example, one of your targeted companies announced it is expanding its accounting operations to take over another division of the company in North Carolina. This gives you a reason to write offering your services.
If you have a handle on the executive's background, you are able to make educated guesses about his or her biases. You may be able to avoid making what would otherwise be a fatal mistake in an interview or target letter. Also, you may be able to identify elements in that executive's background that gives you some compatibility, making it easier to write a letter that helps that executive identify with you.
Of course, if you have an idea as to what the company's problems or opportunities are, you have a better chance of presenting yourself in a light that will help show how you can be of assistance in either solving the problems or in taking advantage of the opportunities. Remember, in each company there is a person who can give you a job. You have to try to think like that person. You want to see things from that person's point of view. Ask yourself: What are their problems? What are they looking for in a new hire?
Developing your initial list of companies
You need to develop a master list of at least 25 companies for a start. Sort them in your computer any way that you wish but have them available to add or subtract as you proceed with your job search.
Think of yourself as a fisherman. Now that you have decided what type of fish you want to catch, and where to go fishing, you must now try to catch that fish.
You must also constantly be searching for companies to add to your list. This is done not only on the Internet, the pages of your paper, trade journals or your library, but also by networking and personal contacts. Our experience shows that about 40 percent of the connections made for jobs that are successful result from networking. Leads derived through this method must be treated the very
same way as if you had discovered the company through other means. You should, in other words, perform the research on the lead company just as you do for the other companies you are cold calling with your targeted letters.
There is a vast hidden job market
The main reason you are doing your own research to locate potential companies to employ you is that the vast majority of jobs are not ever advertised. Because of the time it takes to wade through stacks of resumes and letters, many companies do not advertise to the general public. They draw from referrals and from those letters and resumes sent to them by persons like you who identified them as having a company they would like to work for.
Sending out target letters is important and must be done weekly. A follow-up call AFTER the letter is sent should always be made. The rate of return on your letters is nearly directly proportional to the amount of research and effort you put into writing the letters.
Newspaper ads
Less than 20 percent of the jobs found are from ads in newspapers, trade journals or from other sources. If you spend 75 percent of your job search time responding to newspaper ads, you are wasting much of that time. Experience over the years demonstrates that the highest quality jobs are not ever advertised. The ones advertised in the paper are usually entry level or high turn over jobs. You are not interested in either one of those jobs. Many times, the companies are running ads just to gather information to use in setting wage levels or to have proof that they are complying with EEOC laws.
If you do answer ads
If you insist on answering ads in the paper, keep in mind that if you live in a major market, that 200 to 500 other persons are probably answering the same ad. Your response and theirs, too, will end up on the desk of a clerk, where the preliminary review will be made from a check off list of requirements. Or, you may not even get a clerk: You may get a computer that scans for information such as whether you have a college degree or not, or whether you live in or near a specific town or city. You want to be absolutely certain your opportunity does not end with a clerk
Just as you want your target letter to by-pass the human resources department to go directly to the executive in charge, so you want your ad response to get straight to the hiring executive. How do you do this? Snoop around. Get the name and title of the executive who will probably be making the hiring decision. Send him or her a target letter. DO NOT SEND A RESUME! Send a letter asking for an interview and then call to follow up.
If the ad is a blind ad and you cannot identify the company or if you cannot find out who the executive is that is doing the hiring, you must still find a way to get past that computer or clerk whose job it is to weed you out of the process! Again, compose a target letter addressing the job requirements enumerated in the ad. If the ad does not state to send a resume, DO NOT SEND IT. If on the other hand, the ad states that they want a resume, you will have to submit it or the clerk will weed you out. Just make sure that your resume makes it perfectly clear how you meet the job requirements. |
