How to contact job offerors
The jobseeker has a different task in the age of the Internet. Here are a few tips:
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Manage your time and resources - Making contact has become a numbers
game. You are competing with thousands of other jobseekers for attention,
and getting attention is largely a matter of chance. So don't spend a lot
of time or money on each resume you send out. It is easy to spend more
trying to get a job than you will earn if you get it. Expect to send many
thousands of resumes to get a job.
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Don't travel just to fill out an application - Travel is expensive,
and the prospective client should bear the costs.
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Avoid long-distance phone calls - Ask the prospect for a toll-free
number or send email if outside the local calling area. If you call them
LD, ask them to call you back on their nickel.
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Hold copying and mailing costs to a minimum - Email the resume as
a word processor attachment and let him print it out.
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Use job boards and send email - But don't spend more than a minute
or two on each prospect.
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Avoid filling out skill sheets and forms - If they can't read your
resume they probably aren't a good prospect.
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Leave tests to the final stages of negotiation - Your time is precious,
so use it only for the most promising situations.
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Maintain a steady pace - Plan on finding, say, 100-300 prospects
a day, and emailing or faxing your resume to them. Seeking work is a full-time
job in itself, and you need to put in a full day's work at it.
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Maintain a contact database - Keep a record of what you send when
to whom, their responses, phone calls, and contact information. Log any
resumes submitted by third parties to avoid multiple submissions and to
establish priority.
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Have different resume formats or supplements - You may want a single
all-purpose resume, for initial broadcast contact, with attachments tailored
to different kinds of jobs and prospects.
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Have multiple web sites and email addresses - Put your resume and
supporting information on it, and enough keywords to make it turn up on
web searches. ISPs can go down or become undesirable, so have a backup.
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Have a good answering machine or voicemail service - You can't always
be there when the phone rings, so make sure you don't miss that critical
call. Might have a voicemail service that takes your calls if all your
lines are busy.
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Followup with phone calls to recruiters - Most prospects don't like
phone calls, but recruiters will tend to lose your resume in the pile unless
you call attention to yourself with phone calls and witty conversation
that makes you a real person to them.