You Only Need One Job

Applying online for dozens of jobs is easy. It's also not very effective. You only need one company to hire you. The more targeted you can be in identifying what kind of job you want and what kind of company you want to work for, the faster you will find a new job and the greater the likelihood you will get the job you want.

It may only take 1 application and 1 interview to get the job -- but most job seekers find it takes 20-30 applications to yield 3-4 interviews. That may generate 1 or 2 job offers.

To maximize your efforts:

• Decide what kind of job you want. That may be easy if you've got 15 years of experience as a Plastics Engineer; harder if you just graduated with a liberal arts degree.
• Identify what kind of company you'd like to work for. Big or small? Public, private, or family-owned? Located where? What do they do/buy/sell? 
• Think about your personal preferences. Do you like working alone or with a team? Few meetings or lots of meetings? Travel? Short-term projects or long-term?
• Research the companies. Look at their website. Google them. Read their news releases. Research their competitors and the industry. What are their key issues? How can you help them solve those problems?
• Don't worry if you don't see a job advertised that fits your specifications/interests. While it's true that only 2% of jobs are filled from "unadvertised resumes," the majority of these are "bulk-mailed" resumes either without cover letters, or with "generic" cover letters. Highly targeted cover letters, sent to likely employers (even with no advertised openings) DO yield results.
• Draft a cover letter that "speaks" to the prospective employer. Demonstrate an understanding of their needs, your skills/qualifications, and -- most importantly -- how the two can be combined.

If you are interested in medical product sales, but are a nurse, talk about how your medical knowledge and ability to build rapport with physicians will enable you to quickly grasp complex product and disease information, leading to more effective sales presentations, and increased product sampling/adoption.

If you are seeking a new teaching position, don't just talk about lesson plans and class sizes -- talk about your teaching methodology and how it relates to the student population you'd be working with.

Remember: You don't have to be all things to all people; if you know what you have to offer, and target the employers who need what you deliver, it may only take applying to one company before you have the job you want!

Customized Cover Letters

I just got off the phone with a client who had a simple question: Who do I address the "Dear" line on the cover letter to, if I don't have a person's name? [He's looking for entry-level jobs as a TV producer, and was sending off his resume to television stations. Several of the job postings just said: Send to the attention of "Human Resources."]

I asked him: Do you want the easy answer, or the effective answer? The easy answer is to do one of the following:

• Dear Sir/Madam
• "To Whom It May Concern"
• Omit the "Dear" line altogether, and just put RE: [JOB TITLE] and then go directly into the body of the letter.
  

That's the easy way to do it, and how probably 90% of job applicants handle it.

But my clients comprise the best 10% of job seekers -- or so I'd like to believe. (My tips and guidance help get them into that top 10%, usually.)

So my answer to him wasn't so easy -- but it's definitely more effective:
I told him to call each of the television stations and ask who he should address the cover letter to (and be sure and get the correct spelling of their name and their job title). For the types of companies he's targeting (TV stations), 95 percent of the time, a 2-minute phone call can yield this information.

In the other 5 percent of cases, you can find the information you're looking for on the company or organization's website. In a TV news job, you're probably looking for the name of the News Director. That's fairly easy to find on the TV station's website. You might want to call to make sure that person is still the News Director, though, because that's a job with a LOT of turnover (particularly right after a ratings period).

There are few things worse (from a job seeker's perspective) than sending the resume and cover letter addressed to the FIRED News Director. One, it might not get to the new News Director and second, they might not think very much of your research skills if you didn't know there was someone new in the role (even if it just happened last week).

So take the effective route, and make the call. You may even get the opportunity to talk to the hiring manager (or HR person) directly. That's a GOOD thing (although some of my clients find that nerve-wracking -- but hey, your goal is to get in front of that person eventually anyway, right? Better to break the ice now!).

Don't take the easy way out ... be effective!