WorkWise: Turning job hunting on its head

Many job seekers rush to postings online, putting themselves in technology’s grip and at the mercy of employers who turn job hunters into commodities. Aren’t employers looking for people?

Take Steven Boudreau, Proposal Center manager at Chicago’s Mayer Brown LLP, an international law firm. He landed his business development position after investing about 80 percent of his time online and 20 percent networking.

This Gen Xer hunted approximately five hours per week for two months before finding a a job through contacts. “A couple of former colleagues of mine are currently employed here,” he remarks. “So my connections were direct.” Knowing that contacts are the best way to find jobs doesn’t diminish his accomplishment. However, think about the results he might have achieved if he’d spent less time online and more on the telephone.

TELEPHONE DEXTERITY

Many people just don’t like job hunt over the telephone. Gordon Curtis, with Greg Lewis, author of “Well Connected” (Jossey-Bass, $26.95), reports that “of the approximately 22 Gen Y job seekers I’ve talked with in the past few years, only one used cold calls and walk-ins.”

Boudreau, the successful job hunter, who is sandwiched between Gen Y and the baby boom, prefers personal connections. “I didn’t feel that (cold calls) would be of any benefit,” he says. “Recruiters or hiring managers get barraged with phone calls each day.” He didn’t make a single one.

As an executive coach, Curtis sees that “baby boomers who’ve managed to keep up with technology have the best of both worlds. We learned phone etiquette before online etiquette. However, entire generations only know one or the other. Do you call it the communication divide?”

REBELLION

If you’re job hunting, you might have scoured your network and applied online. You don’t know what to do next, except more of the same. Use postings to educate yourself about what companies want and transfer that knowledge to the telephone. Be telephone-averse and miss a goldmine. As “Well Connected” suggests, you might find a person on the other end who can propel your campaign.

The carrot behind these calls are the jobs companies don’t post. A cold call is one of the few ways other than networking to uncover jobs that aren’t advertised and to get new contacts. You tap your network for referrals, don’t you? When you use a referral, aren’t you calling someone you don’t know? You can motivate yourself to call an employer you don’t know. How badly do you want more contacts or a job? If you’ve exhausted your network or just don’t have one, consider using a telephone at least some of the time you’d otherwise have spent online.

Millions of other Americans don’t have jobs or even jobs they want. Don’t accept being part of the crowd. Gather a special, targeted list of names. Check them out on the Web; call the receptionist for the name and extension of the person you need.

Go through that list calling and follow up until you’re certain you’ve milked it completely. Get referrals. When you have breathing space, build another list while keeping up with continued referrals. You might be moving from industry to industry or large company to large company. Knowledge of the five characteristics of the company most likely to hire you is essential to make this method work.

Too labor intensive? Too difficult to get started when you don’t know your way around? Compare the process with concentrating too much on postings, filling out applications online and shooting them into the ether, for almost no gain. This way, at least, you have a chance, because other people aren’t doing it.

Dr. Mildred L. Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net. © 2011 Passage Media.