Guerrilla Job Hunting

Employers are checking you out on-line

Increasingly, what companies find about you on the Web -- good and bad -- is crucial for job hunters, KEVIN MARRON writes

By KEVIN MARRON              

Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Page

Special to The Globe and Mail

Daniel Houle had no idea that a headhunter was tracking him in cyberspace last summer.

#5 of 50 Ways to Find a Job Today

Write a prospecting letter.

Harness the power of direct mail. The first thing you need to do for a prospecting letter is compile your list. Find 5-10 companies you want to work for based on your research. Compose a letter to your network of contacts asking them if they know of anyone who works at any of the companies on your enclosed list. When a contact does know someone at one of the companies ask him or her to forward your resume to them and let you know how to follow up on the referral. Enclose an eXtremeÔ makeover resume or a functional one with 3-5 bulleted accomplishments that would be of interest to hiring managers at the companies you target.

♦ Send the letter to all your direct contacts first: lawyer, accountant, friends, colleagues, former employers.

♦ Send the list to your closest neighbors next and then people that you don’t necessarily know but you’ve always meant to stop by and introduce yourself to.

♦ Attach a hand written note to your list and sign your name

♦ If you hit a dead-end find out who supplies the company with computer products, stationery or any other service and approach them the same way.

♦ Don’t be surprised if someone calls one or two of your target companies and tells them you are doing research on them… that’s not a bad thing to have happen.

"Sell me this pen"

A friend of mine just came back from a stupid interview.  By stupid I mean the interviewer was a man of very little brain and blew his chance to hire Dave.   My oh so experienced friend with 20 years experience closing "C" level executives on multi-million dollar deals was confounded by a young pup who had just ascended to his first VP Sales and Marketing role and was rather very proud of himself.

The first question he asked Dave wasn't even a question.  He pulled a pen from his pocket and said, "sell me this pen".  Now Dave's a master salesman so he knew how to handle the question, but what would you do? 

I had to do this with a perspective client early on in my career who was testing my sales abilities; I asked the question, “Do you need a pen?”  He said, “Yes”. Great, how much money do you have in your wallet? He gave me the $150. I folded it and put it in my pocket - then I told him that wasn’t near enough – but it was a reasonable down payment. 

With age comes wisdom [and just a touch of impatience for stupid parlor tricks].  Here's what I did the last time someone did this to me.  I asked the interviewer, "do you need a pen?"  He said, "no".  I said great, so what do you need?  "Nothing", he said.  To which I said "terrific I'll be on my way because you're neither a suspect nor a prospect”. 

You don’t need to perform parlor tricks for interviewers. You also don't need to waste your time with people who have no intention of hiring you  - unless of course you want to practice your closing routines. Remember that the next time an interviewer asks you a stupid question.

In the recruiting business we refer to these as throwaways – sales calls we use to sharpen our technique. We know ahead of time they’re not going to hire us or we’d never work for them – BUT practice makes perfect.  Who can you practice on this week?

Podcast - "Tips to nail that new job"

Think of your resume as a commercial. One of the thousand of commercial messages any hiring manager will see every day. How will your resume stand out from the crowd? And is your resume the best way into the hearts and minds of your would-be boss?

Veteran executive recruiter David Perry says there are ways to do it right – using marketing and the tools of the Internet age. ((Listen to our exclusive tip-filled interview with Mr. Perry by clicking on the link below.))
Compliments of Central Valley Business Times - Stockton, CA

#3 of 50 Ways to Find a Job

SEND ½ YOUR RESUME

First, find a company for whom you would like to work. Write a compelling covering letter describing why you are good for them, pointing the receiver to the enclosed CV for further information. Don’t seal the A4 envelope and don’t enclose a CV. They’ll think the CV fell out in the mail. Wait for the phone to ring, speak to the hiring manager personally, engage them in a conversation, and sell yourself shamelessly.

Compliments of Matt Foster, Managing Director, CVO Group www.professionalpeople.com

♦ use high quality stationary

♦ Make sure the letter fits very snugly in the envelope so it doesn’t really fall out.

♦ Make sure your phone number is on the covering letter.

Retail Success

I worked with one client who specialized in retail merchandizing (POP, planagrams, etc). After developing her resume, we discussed putting together a targeted job search campaign to go after some of the bigger players in retail. While working out her “unique selling proposition” she made the claim that she could walk into any retail environment and recommend how they could make more money through better merchandising. I asked, “Can you really back that up?” and suddenly her plan was born.

My client targeted 5 major retail outlets, went to a number of their locations, and made detailed notes on what she saw and how she would improve it. The first company she contacted was a major outlet with offices located in the building over the store. She walked into the offices, asked to speak to the person in charge of marketing, was told he was in a meeting until 11:00am, so she scribbled a quick note on a piece of paper that read “I’ve just spent 30 minutes in your store. I found 3 merchandising inconsistencies and identified 7 ways that should increase your sales by about 12-15%. My name is ____________ and I will be waiting in the coffee shop downstairs.”

“Please hand this to him at the end of his meeting. It’s very important” and she walked out.

Shortly after 11:00, the VP of Marketing came downstairs, met her in the coffee shop, and spent the next hour walking through every corner of the store discussing her findings. Although no such position existed, the VP hired her as their new Director of Merchandising.

Compliments of Ross Macpherson, President Career Quest, www.yourcareerquest.com

 

#2 0f 50 Ways to find a Job Today

Competitive Analysis

Do a competitive analysis on one of your targeted employer’s products and send it to them. People assume that all companies keep up to date on their competitors, but this is rarely the case. Most companies don’t have the budget or the ability internally to keep on top of innovations and best practices so your piece will likely be most welcome.

♦ Focus on companies that are direct competitors with those you want to work for, not your own company.

♦ Potential employers need to get something out of reading the piece.

♦ Use graphs and charts wherever possible because people like visuals.

♦ Make it only as long as it needs to be.

♦ Ask for an opportunity to discuss your findings with the hiring manager if they’re interested.

♦ Offer to share your primary research if they’re interested.