Career Cube Blog

I mentioned this to my husband. He wants to make a change instead of relocating to the company’s new headquarters. He’s fairly high level, has his own office, and his boss is located elsewhere. My husband looked at me as if I had three heads, laughed, and said, “You’re nuts! You’re the recruiter ” you do it!” (Actually - soon I’ll be doing that very thing for a little bit every day!) But then ” he works with numbers. Not exactly a people related field, and he’s definitely not sales oriented!

So that’s the thing. The ability to do this begins entirely in your head, no matter what career skills you have or don’t have because now you are going to be a salesperson for a bit. If you don’t think your skills are worth selling, then you might as well not even bother sending out your resume ” because that’s simply a different form of selling the same product.

If you tell yourself you can’t do this, then you not only can’t, you won’t. And you’ll be left to wait and wait and mail letters and post on the internet, read help wanted ads, and network yourself crazy. Of course you need to do that anyway, but when the mortgage needs to be paid……(”What, again? Already?”)

Tell yourself this isn’t comfortable, and you’ll be miserable. Not only that, you’ll have zero success and reinforce every negative thought you had to begin with. If you believe you are worth being hired through conventional methods, then know you are worth being hired by unconventional methods. You’re either worth being hired or you’re not, right?

And you’ll be very surprised at the respect and degree to which people are impressed at your resourcefulness, which will help you continue. So give it a go. You’ll probably surprise yourself with what you are capable of doing and creating.

Many of you have been sitting at your desk when you’ve been contacted by a contingency recruiter marketing a candidate to you, right? “Hello, I’m Betsy Johnson with Fantastic Candidates Recruiting, and I specialize in the Foods industry. I wanted to let you know about a great product development person who….” And they’re off and running, touting the benefits of someone who is looking to make a change.

That’s exactly what you’re going to do: market yourself.

Those of you who know my background know I left recruiting for the first time in 1994 when I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I snagged a job as the Office Manager of Santa Fe Services, a local temporary and permanent placement firm. SFS wasn’t advertising, networking or even actively looking. They hired me because I marketed myself and I fit the personality of the company.

I showed a friend of mine how to do it. Her background was in the circulationdepartments with both Conde Nast and Hearst Publications when she lived in New York City. There seemed to be nothing for her where we are. A little bit of work, and her current firm - a small, trade publishing company - created the position of Circulation Manager just for her. Her current position wasn’t even on the President’s To Do list when she phoned.

* Realize you are selling and the product is yourself. You sell yourself in an interview, you sell yourself through your resume, you sell yourself when you write a thank-you letter. This is just a more unconventional way to do it. You’re putting yourself on the line - just the way you do in an interview, only a bit sooner and much more pro-actively.
* Some resourceful people research companies in their area and send their resume in with a cover letter cold. Telephoning just cuts to the chase AND allows you to build a rapport quicker.
* No, they won’t nix you based on the phone call. It will be too short for them to decide. They’ll either see a possibility, ask you a few questions, and request your resume or set up a time to interview right then…..or they won’t need anyone and will have no reason to take action. Either way, if you speak with the decision maker, you’ll almost always have a conversation worth your time.
* As you’ve seen above, the pro-active method can get wheels spinning. You’re not limiting yourself to what’s literally out there ” you’re giving yourself access to things that haven’t been acted on yet or don’t even exist.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Make a list of companies in the geographical area you’re considering. Think optimistically. Find reasons to write the company down, not exclude it.

2. Write up a short pitch based on your resume and skills. Pretend you’re a hiring manager. What would you want to know about you? You want it about 4 ” 5 sentences. It should be brief. Summarize your skills and mention one or two highlights.

3. Get on the phone and find out who you need to speak with ” it’s NOT the HR manager. Since it’s your industry and your expertise, you probably won’t have too much difficulty finding the title and name of the person to whom you’d be reporting. It might be a director, or a VP, or even the President depending on the size of the company. You won’t always know how big the company is, though. So you’ll need to feel your way through the conversation with the receptionist. The smaller the company the fewer the layers.

4. Larger companies have receptionists who can be a gift with their knowledge and willingness to help. Other companies have receptionists who simply - and annoyingly - transfer you into outer space. Often they don’t bother to answer your question; they just simply transfer you to the person you inquired about. So when some random person picks up their phone extension, introduce yourself and say “I’m not sure if I’m speaking with the right person, but I’ve called because….(see voice mail blurb in #6). Are you the person I need to speak with?”

5. If the receptionist asks too many questions, gives you problems, doesn’t know, transfers you to HR, etc, then call back if you need to. Try the president’s secretary. Don’t hesitate to explain what you’re looking for, but don’t feel compelled to follow any advice that involves talking to someone who can’t help you: HR, an assistant manager in your potential department, another secretary, etc. HR will tell you “we’re not hiring” or “send a resume” or send you down some other dead-end. Another secretary or an assistant or someone else in the “your” department can’t help you either. They can’t sell you as well as you can sell yourself. They aren’t interested, they don’t care, and half the time they want to “protect” their boss. What you’ll get on the follow up is: “he’s not interested.” Most of the time they haven’t even mentioned the issue to the boss at all.

If your helper is somewhat resistant to helping you, try a little harder and use “other contacts” as an explanation: “Thanks but I’d really prefer to speak to the person I’d be likely to report to. He may know of someone I should call or have information others won’t know. Would you please tell me what his name is before you transfer me?” Notice you don’t end it with the statement, you finish it with a question. Sometimes that’s enough to sidetrack them and they just do what you’ve asked. In any case, you want the real deal - the person to whom your position would be reporting. One of the first rules of selling is to sell only to the decision maker.

6. If you leave a voice mail, leave the reason for your call, but don’t go into detail. “Hi Mr. Johnson, this is Rob Larkins. I’m calling you because I’m seeking a change of employment and I wondered if you can benefit from hiring a successful retail store manager or if you have any contact suggestions for me. Please give me a call at 000-0000.” Notice I didn’t specify the store or go into a lot of detail. Just enough to make it short, sweet, and whet the appetite.

The last phrase helps increase the odds of a return call even if they don’t need anyone. If you don’t get a return call, call a second time two days later. If you STILL don’t get a return call, you can keep trying, but they’ve probably gotten your message, aren’t in need of someone, and don’t see a reason to call you back. If you want to call anyway, call but hang up if you get their voice mail. Usually you’ll get a return call though, even if the company doesn’t have any interest. Everyone likes to help someone else out ” especially someone who is so pro-active and professional about their own career.

7. You are not looking to ask questions about the company policy or history, etc. on this call. Leave the questions to the person with whom you are speaking. There’s time to ask your questions when you interview. Your goal, here, is to get their interest established and get the process going. You can qualify the company later.

8. Ask closing questions: When you finish your short pitch about yourself: “Could you use someone with my skills in your department?” Or even ” “Where do you see someone with my skills fitting in to your department?” If they’ve asked a few questions about you: “Would you like to see a copy of my resume?” If they don’t need anyone: “Do you see anything changing in the future?” and “Who do you know that I should contact?” Two points about that last question: one - notice it’s WHO DO YOU KNOW, not DO YOU KNOW. D “Do you know” can produce an automatic, reactive “no.” “Who do you know” prompts the wheels to spin and is more likely to get you a name. Two, if they do give you a name, ask them if they are okay with you using their name, but be clear that you’ll be sharing the circumstances under which you came by the name. In other words, giving you a name to call isn’t the same as recommending you.)

If there’s interest or if they ask you to send your resume: “I’d be very interested in learning more about your company and answering any questions you have. Can we set a time to meet? I can bring my resume with me.” or “I’d be happy to send you a resume. But my days are free, how are you with setting an appointment and I’ll bring it with me?” Again, you’d be surprised at how often they’ll go with your suggestion. But if they don’t, don’t take it personally. Either way, you’re guaranteed to NOT get what you want if you don’t ask for it.

9. Always get the spelling of the person’s name if you send them a resume. Smith can be Smythe. Greg can be Gregg.

10. Ask their preference on emailed, snail mailed, or faxed.

11. SMILE while you are talking on the phone. It makes your voice sound warmer and more animated.

12. If you make five or ten calls in a row, remember that although you’ve said your piece multiple times, the person on the other end is hearing it for the first time. Keep your voice and statements sounding fresh.

13. KEEP TRACK OF who you’ve spoken with, how they wanted you to send your resume, what they said, if you’re supposed to follow up in two months, etc.

14. Write down their name right away and use it in your conversation.

by Judi Perkins

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