Job Prospecting During the Holiday Season
By Kevin Donlin | November 28th, 2008
Here’s why you should NEVER slack off in your job search from Thanksgiving until the start of the new year.
David S., credit professional from Warwick, NY, uncovered a lead one New Year’s Eve that turned into a new job.
After being laid off by his firm, he got out a listing of decision makers in his industry, picked up the phone and started dialing.
“I knew a great way to network would be to simply call other credit professionals. I did that by using the member roster list of an industry group I belonged to,” says David.
“The script I followed on the phone went like this: ‘Hi, my name is Dave S. and I got your name from XX. I was working at Y Company until recently as an Assistant Credit Manager. I’m calling to see if you had any opportunities at your firm.’”
David said: “If I got voicemail instead of a live person, I would add: ‘I’d like to speak with you; my cell phone number is 212-XXX-XXXX.’ That way, I could get callbacks while calling out on my regular phone.”
When calling, try to talk to the boss of your potential boss. That way, you won’t scare off any pinhead managers who might think you’re such a go-getter that you’d have their job in 6 months. David targeted titles like Credit Director and Credit Manager on his calls.
What where David’s results?
“I got a job offer right over the phone! In total, I talked to about 50 people live after making nearly 100 calls in one day.”
Your Takeaway: You can produce a month’s worth of results in a few hours spent calling decision makers and asking for interviews.
I’m serious. Have you had 50 networking conversations this month? No? David had that many in one day. And there’s NOTHING stopping you from doing the same.
There are directories of names and phone numbers for almost every industry imaginable. Sure you’ll get rejected and hung up on. But that just means you’ll have less competition. Because everyone else has the same fear of rejection. (Me, I’ll take rejection over foreclosure or bankruptcy any day, but it’s your call.)
What if you can’t find an association for your industry, even after checking with your local reference librarian?
Try looking through www.superpages.com by industry and/or location as a way to contact and network with decision makers. You’ll also find names and phone numbers of valuable network contacts at www.hoovers.com, for a fee. (Ask your local library if they subscribe to Hoovers. Many do, and you can use the information at no cost.)
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