Add Cold Calling Techniques to Land Your Career Move

Add Cold Calling Techniques to Land Your Career Move Add  Cold Calling  Techniques  to  Land Your  Career Move Making cold calls  on companies  can give  job seekers the  chills!  As a  hiring manager and  job search professional for over  30 years, I have yet to meet  one  job seeker who is comfortable  making cold calls for jobs, sending  e-mails to a perfect stranger, or corresponding with people they aren’t personally connected to.  However, when done well, cold calling works  and there’s no downside to it.     By the way, today’s version of cold calling does NOT mean dialing for jobs! Do NOT pick up the phone and interrupt someone’s work day. Today’s job search cold calling is sending extremely welldone  e-mails  describing  your credentials.     Many of my clients  tell me  how hard it is to click the  â€˜connect’  button in LinkedIn, and  they are  not even talking to a real person  yet!  Imagine reaching out  to  someone  who is  in an executive position, and introducing yourself, and  then  asking if there are  career  opportunities to discuss.  It’s  just  not easy, but it can produce results.  Tony,  a client of mine,  learned to tackle  cold calling like a champ.  After working with me, he  sent out 25 very welldone cold call solicitations. He got  three  requests  for phone interviews. One landed in a facetoface interview, resulting in a job offer.     Cold calling is a longestablished  job search  activity.  And, like  every other  job search  action,  it  should  become  a  normal  part of your job search  to-do list.  Recruiters,  HR officers and senior executives are always on the lookout for  great  talent.  Honestly, after making numerous cold calls  you  probably  won’t  get  many  responses. But  that one person who gets back to you  could change  your career path forever.     Here are three common  scenarios when  cold calling  may  be  effective:   You see a job advertised but dont know anybody at that company. You dont want to just apply  because you know  the odds are high your application will  go into  a  black hole. But you want to win the job  by networking!  You can cold call someone  to be your  job advocate.       You see a job advertised and you do know someone at that company  remotely or via LinkedIn. They may  not  be  the hiring manager but at least you have a connection.  You only need to find one who will help you out!   You know someone who works at a target company, based on your  career  goal, but you  don’t know if there are  any relevant positions. As a matter of fact, you dont see any  posted  on their website, but you happen to know one person who works there.     Making  a  cold call would work for all  the above  scenarios  and others.  Great, but how do you  do  it?  Begin  by following these three steps  for making  cold  calls.   Start by writing great  e-mails.  If you know anybody at your target company, regardless of their position or level, contact  them via  e-mail.  Use LinkedIn and other sources to find their e-mail address. Make sure you send a professionally written request  through  e-mail  that they can forward  to someone else in the company,  if necessary.  Always attach your credentials (cover letter and  résumé).   Research and use  social media.  Before you start  cold  calling, go  online and  spend  time  researching the companies  you are  targeting. Try to find a contact name  and  e-mail  within  your desired  department or division,  rather than  sending  a  cold call cover letter into human resources.  Take accountability to research before you  cold  call.     Always be prepared before  you  write the cold call e-mail.  What if you get a call back to have a conversation? Are you prepared to answer questions like “What kind of position are you looking for?” or do you have a scripted, concise response to “Tell me about yourself”?       Making cold calls to land your  ideal  job is not going to be easy, but nothing ever is.  As you get more comfortable with cold calling, be sure to incorporate  it  into your  normal job search process.  Remember to always be friendly,  courteous  and clear when making  cold connections. The more precise and specific you are about why you are calling, the better the chances of them engaging  with you. And with all job search activities, be prepared; write down what you want to say and have  your  goals in front of you.     Join Dana  Manciagli’s  Job Search Master Class ®  now  and get the most comprehensive job search system available!