How to beat the competition by landing yourself your dream job just with a phone call!

In my Blog last week I explained how to produce a list of Companies that you can target by making an unsolicited approach.

This week I want to concentrate on how having produced your list of Companies, you can approach each Company by making a phone call to them.

Be clear about the aim of your call:

Firstly, you need to understand that the reason you are contacting the Company is to in the first instance arrange a meeting so that you can discuss whether they can use your particular skills and experience.  If they are unable to use your skills and experience now you at the very least want them to keep your information on file to allow them to call you back should their situation change.

You need to be quite clear when you call that you are not asking for a job or a job interview. You want to register the fact that you have relevant and useful skills with the person who needs to know this information, i.e. the person who would know that there is a vacancy coming up. You can offer to meet with them to talk to them so they can meet you but most would leave this until they have a vacancy.

For this approach to work you need to contact a named person who heads up the department that is of interest to you. If you are struggling to find the name of the person you would like to speak to you can always call Reception or Switchboard and ask for the name of the person who is responsible for employing computer staff, or marketing staff. Alternatively, the Personnel Department may be able to provide the name you need.

Don’t be put off by being told there are no vacancies. Explain that you are not only interested in what vacancies might be available now but also what might be available in the future.  Your overriding aim is to speak to the person who would hire you if they had a vacancy. At the very least obtain the name of the person you need to speak to.

Once you have been able to have a telephone conversation with the person you wanted to speak to, send them a copy of your CV with a covering letter.

Be sure to make a note to follow up your letter in 6-8 weeks’ time to see if the situation has changed.

In my next Blog I will explain how you can also approach a Company by sending a Speculative Letter, especially useful if contacting employers directly by phone is not something you are too comfortable with.

In the meantime if you would like to discuss any aspect of your job search with me then do give me a call on 07875 320793