Former Chrysler Worker Finds New Job Where “Nobody is Hiring” — in Only 7 Weeks

Jeff Donaldson, from Oxford, Michigan, got two job offers the week of Nov. 2 and accepted one, as a project manager for a design firm.

After voluntarily leaving Chrysler Corporation in December 2008, Donaldson took time off to be with his family and get clear on his goals.

He then started an ordinary job search in August 2009 … and got ordinary results: 0 job interviews.

After discovering Guerrilla Job Search tactics in September 2009, however, he got 7 phone interviews with employers, two job offers, and accepted a new job only 7 weeks later.

The job offer he took came after re-connecting with someone in his network. Donaldson made a terrific impression on that person by adding value with his contact: “I took an article I had read, printed it out, and attached a yellow sticky note to it.” He wrote a personal message on the note and mailed it off.

The goal here is to get back on someone’s radar screen in a way that makes them happy to hear from you — and more likely to pass along employment leads. Which is exactly what happened.

His article in the mail led to a conversation by phone and further correspondence. “Each time I had contact with them, and it was via mail, I would include something relevant to keep the discussion moving along,” he says.

The correspondence led to a referral to Donaldson’s new employer. “I got a phone call this past week [Nov. 2] from a company that’s establishing an office in the Detroit area, went in, had the interview, and was offered a position.”

In today’s job market, with unemployment topping 10%, beggars can’t be choosers. So Donaldson had to settle for a lower salary, right? Wrong.

“I was surprised that the salary is equivalent to what I had previously,” he says.

To top it off, Donaldson was able to change industries, from a giant automotive firm to a technology-and-design startup.

By targeting companies he wanted to work for — a completely different approach from the standard practice of chasing advertised job openings — Donaldson enjoyed a high success rate.

How high?

“I sent out 7 Guerrilla Resumes. Of those 7, I got callbacks from every single one and two job offers. And these are companies that aren’t supposed to be hiring — we’re in Detroit,” he says.

Here are the 3 Guerrilla Job Search tactics Donaldson used to find work fast:

1. He began with a “job shopping list” of employers.

Where they hiring? It didn’t matter. He researched and chose 10+ companies he wanted to work for. Then, he made connections at those companies via his network. Anyone who’s read “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” will recognize this as beginning with the end in mind.

2. He mailed articles and other helpful information to his network contacts.

Because it’s nearly impossible to ignore or delete a paper letter. And if you make people happy to hear from you, they will take your calls and reply to your emails.

3. He followed up diligently with every lead, like a miner panning for gold.

“During the 4 weeks I was in discussion with [the employer], there was contact each week in one form or another, whether it was mailing an article, or a phone call followed up with a thank-you note”

Bottom line: In only 7 weeks, Donaldson identified a list of target employers, then turned a networking contact into a job offer that wasn’t advertised, in a city where “everybody knows” that nobody is hiring.

Guerrilla Job Search tactics strike again.

Resource: Guerrilla Resumes.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 7:06 am and is filed under job search tips, networking, resumes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.