Internet Black Hole

I get asked the question, “How do I get their attention?”, all the time from candidates looking for a job. They have trouble getting anyone at the company they are interested in to pay attention to them. Typically, it’s because they have emailed a resume or put an application in online into the internet black hole. 

It doesn’t work.

We all get too many emails and electronic communication – it’s overwhelming. Try something old school – mail your resume directly to the person in charge. If you are applying for a finance or accounting job – the CFO. Need an HR job – VP of HR, General Manager or often the CFO. Need a sales job – hit up the VP Sales.  No one gets mail anymore – USPS mail. Think about it? When you do get mail it’s the occasional medical bill. Go old school and mail that letter directly to the person you want attention from!  Then follow up with an email article that they might be interested in inquiring about your mailed resume. It works a good amount of the time! Now go mail that resume.

Texting a Job Offer

Since my blog post in 2012 about not texting offers – it’s happened a lot – texting an offer. And it works.  To make a text offer go smoothly the key is to make sure as a candidate, that you’ve had a detailed communication with your recruiter/HR representative/potential boss about salary, benefits, vacation, bonus etc.  Seems obvious, but in this age of minimal phone calls and even shorter texts - good, solid communication is ideal.  Have that detailed talk sooner rather than later.  

Asking for advice – There is an art in asking for advice and maybe these tips will help.

Call during normal business hours.  Ask if it’s a good time to talk.

Once you’ve got my attention – LISTEN. Stop talking and start listening and write down the advice I’m giving. I can’t tell you how many people don’t take notes and then expect me to repeat myself again when they call back days later. There is nothing wrong with taking notes – take them!

Be humble, gracious and polite.

If you don’t like the advice, don’t argue with me about it. You asked -  I gave you my opinion. Take it and use it or don’t use it. Or just use what works for you – it’s your job search.

Don’t assume I’m a miracle worker – it’s you who must do the hard work finding a job.  Most people don’t get placed by a recruiter -they have to find their own job. 

What Makes a Candidate Not Place-able

When trying to work with a search firm you may hear, “I can’t place you.” There are a variety of reasons why that may be true. Keep in mind that it’s not personal and you can still find a job but that specific recruiter can’t help you. Bottom line: the client is paying the recruiter a fee so they get exactly the person they want.

• You are out of the recruiter’s specialized field
• You want to move into a new job or industries – most of our clients want people straight out of their industry – they want the industry expert
• You’ve job hopped too much. Clients don’t like to pay a fee for this type of background
• You have no degree. In tech recruiting and some project manager jobs degrees don’t always matter but most of our clients want that basic skill
• You have a very unusual background/skill sets that are niche