The Competition

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

Rumi

The U.S. Department of Education forecasts that during the 2015–16 school year, colleges and universities are expected to award 952,000 associate’s degrees; 1.8 million bachelor’s degrees; 802,000 master’s degrees; and 179,000 doctor’s degrees. That is a lot of people released into the work force. So the question is ……… are you ready to compete?

Most inexperienced job seekers will follow the well worn path of sending out boring resumes to a bunch of companies that employ profession Human Resources Managers whose sole function is to crush their dreams. In other words, these resumes never pass the filter. They are stopped well before they get close to a decision maker.

So what is the answer?  There are actually several things you can do. The first thing you need to know is that unsolicited resumes are not very effective. Responding to job postings is also a low probability exercise. In many cases those jobs have already been filled by they time you see the posts and frequently by someone already within the organization. So what’s left?

One effective technique is to seek out companies in your area of interest and try to find someone that works for that company. You can find someone via LinkedIn or just call the company and ask to talk to someone in the department you are interested in i.e. engineering, marketing, administration. Yes, this takes a little gumption but you are not asking for a job at this point, all you want to do is talk to someone about the industry or the company in general. Don’t get too stressed out. Most people will be open to this if asked in the right way. Just explain you are a recent graduate or will be graduating soon ( or just someone looking into career opportunities in this field) and are just looking for some information about their industry or company.

Hi, my name is ___________ and I am calling to see if you would be willing to give me a few minutes of your time to tell me a little about XYZ Company and opportunities in this industry.

You are not asking them for a job. Just ask them about how they got to where they are. People generally love to talk about themselves. Ask them about their background; how they got their first job and perhaps subsequent jobs in this industry or line of work. Ask them what they see as  opportunities in their industry. Ask them what advice would they give to someone in your situation i.e. looking for a job. But don’t ask them directly for a job. And keep it short. Remember, this person has a job. Just a note, this meeting can take place over the phone or at their office or you can invite them to meet you for coffee. The whole purpose of this meeting is to get a foothold. At the end of the meeting thank them for their time and ask if they would mind you following up with them. And here is a crucial part. Before you close, ask them if they know anyone else they would recommend you talk to. This is very important and where you turn a cold call into a warm hand off. If they recommend someone you will immediately have an advantage. You have now been recommended by a friend, co-worker or peer. This means you start at a higher level with your next interview.

You need to follow up and I recommend you start with immediately sending them a hand written thank you note. I am going to stop here but what usually happens is this process leads to a series of meetings where you start to build connections with people that can get you closer to a job. We will talk more about this process in another post but the intended outcome is a referral for an actual job by someone in the chain of connections you are building.