Cold calling questionsA bit of background: my work experience is in training and development. Some companies have one or even many small training departments. Others outsource to consulting firms. I've read advice here that says you should be sending out hundreds of resumes in order to get a few responses and interviews. Here are my questions: Do I send resumes to companies that haven't advertised any training and development opportunties and aren't in that industry? Seems like a long shot. I'm trying to imagine what to say in a cover letter that doesn't come off sounding desparate. For those of you sending out hundreds of resumes, have you found hundreds of potential openings that you qualify for? I live in a great job market and there still are very few jobs in my field that I can actually apply for. And I search the company web sites as well as job boards daily.
HR here. The Resume Game is a numbers game. So if you are going that route, be prepared to send out a lot of resumes. But sending them out unsolicited or willy nilly is a waste of your time. You still need to target your market and learn about companies that have a present need for your skills. We get unsolicited resumes all the time and they go right in the trash. This technique is too out-of-date. What I would suggest is that you start Networking. Personally, this is my favorite technique but many people just don't know how to do it or wait until they are unemployed before they begin. Are you a member of any associations, user groups, alumni that do what you do? Who you know is where you go. Let me recommend two books to get you started:
Thank you for your suggestion, although it's far from new. So much is made of networking, but it is not for all of us. Personally, I do not feel right keeping up with tons of people in the event I may need to get a job through them five years from now. It seems so false. I do keep up with a few people whom I have worked with in the past and that I enjoy speaking with apart from work. Other than that, I simply am not the "politician" type. I am an introvert and nothing is going to change that. I agree that joining the local chapter of my industry trade group is a good idea. I am just wondering. Are you searching for a position on a contract basis where you go into the company, view and review the different desks and how they are intertwined and then research ways to better train staff to run a more efficeint department? Or company? Most every company has some type of training program that has been implemented. Very few companies ever state within the advertisement that they provide training. Since most every company wants its employees to be versed in some manner of every job or desk in the particular department they are working in, cross-training is almost impossible to avoid. Many companies also feel that an outside source "visiting" their facility can cast a fresh eye upon the various positions and point out flaws or better ways of doing a task because they are not in that atmosphere on a regular basis and may not be "one-task focused" as some are when entering a new position. The company I am currently employed in likes to have all of the support staff have at least a general knowledge of everyone's duties for emergency purposes and also for an easier probable promotional opportunity from lower desk level to higher. (For example: the file clerk may not want to spend the next 20 years putting files together so he/she should have a general idea of the receptionists duties. The receptionist may not want to answer the phone, log in faxes and greet clients for the next twenty or so years and will be given tasks that can move her to an open secretary spot). Cold calling, cold e-mailing, cold mailing are all risky in that the companies you are sending your information to do not neccesarily except unsolicited resumes or may not have a job available and a policy which does not involve checking their files for suitable candidates to contact before advertising. But, on the other hand, it is just as risky to send your information to companies that do advertise because you may or may not be called for an interview. Or even acknowledged.
To Kelly_3214 - My specific area of expertise is in large-scale software implementations. At any point in time, many organizations are implementing an ERP or CRM system of some sort, and my role is to asses audience needs, create materials, deliver training, and analyze its success. | |
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