One main hunt strategy stressed by PeopleHirePeople is use the phone in job search. Personal connections by calling contacts pay off big time. Hesitancy by job candidates to make direct contact about advertised jobs can result in candidacy elimination. Job candidates continue to email resumes for advertised jobs resulting in no response.
One job candidate emailed PeopleHirePeople the following concern. He also phoned to discuss it.
“We spoke briefly after today’s session. As you requested, my resume is attached. After I left, it occurred to me that you might be able to help me with an opportunity in Boulder. There is a Sr. VP of Operations position advertised in the Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group that I was planning on applying for today through the standard resume-submission-via-email method. Your seminar has made me reconsider this… This position is being offered through a Denver recruiter. I have not contacted him. I don’t know how good he is, or if he has an exclusive with this company. I DO know how good you are. Thus my request for help”
PeopleHirePeople urged this job candidate to call the recruiter directly. His call was received:
“And at your suggestion, I contacted the recruiter responsible for handling the VP of Operations position in Boulder. While he didn’t tell me who the company is, he did mention that it is a startup developing a product for the telecom industry. Anyway, he also told me he received over 117 resumes via email and only one other person actually called him. So he’s got me at the top of the list along with the other caller simply because we took that initiative. Interesting.”
One hundred and seventeen resume submittals by email and only two phone calls received by the recruiter. Placement at the top of the list of candidates is the reward to this job candidate just for phoning the recruiter.
Phone calls get more responses than email in job search. Job candidates find accurate and more current information from personal conversations.
In the case of other jobs posted, PeopleHirePeople contacted a hiring manager and asked to assist him filling some of his company’s jobs. There were about two dozen jobs listed on his company website. In a two minute phone conversation PeopleHirePeople learned that all posted jobs were on hold. A week later in the local newspaper there was an announcement as to large layoffs in this company. Ironically, in the phone conversation this hiring manager stated the names of two other companies where his employees were finding employment!
In yet another case, there was a posted position on a private marketplace that is open only to headhunters and employers. PeopleHirePeople knew the regional site manager for the position which was being advertised by the company’s headquarter. A call to the site manager revealed the company was not hiring at this time and he hoped to be able to hold onto their sixty-five employees in the regional facility. Again, the job posted turned out not to be a real job.
Expending energy on carefully crafted cover letters, writing tailored resumes and emailing them for advertised positions is very time consuming. A ten minute phone conversation is for more productive than hours on the Internet filing online job applications. Advertised jobs may not even be “real” jobs. Defy conventional wisdom and pick up the phone. Get the truth about the advertised job before applying. Perhaps become a top candidate because of the phone call.
Guest Expert:
Kathleen Conners specializes in people connections for job search. She developed PeopleHirePeople “where to hunt”, “who to contact” & “what to ask” strategies. Kathleen is a full time recruiter and a guest lecturer to MBA programs at major universities. Her book, The Thrill of the Hunt: Get Real in Your Job Search can be directly purchased from http://www.authorhouse.com/. Additional information and articles: http://www.peoplehirepeople.com/ and blog: www.peoplehirepeople.com/PHPBlog/ (Copyright 8/11/08)
Guest Expert
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Tony Morrison 
Joshua Waldman 
Getting through by phone, without the appropriate pre-call initiative, will at best be frustrating and at worst of no value at all.
The key is implementing a proactive "challenge" based strategy as follows:
Sending an unsolicited resume with a cover letter will most often result in no response or a boiler plate rejection form letter. Including a resume will enhance the chance that your letter/resume will be sent to HR at best, for filing but will often be simply thrown out.
The only way to get the attention of a potential employer is to mount an "individual or group spot opportunity" campaign using a targeted letter. That is give the recipient a reason to first read the document and then to open a dialogue with you. The objective is to present yourself as a "solution to key core challenges" and not just one more person who is seeking employment.
Identify five or six core operational challenges the potential manager could be facing that if not addressed have the potential to do significant and often irreparable harm to the company and present those challenges in the second paragraph of the letter. This is then followed up in the letter with a branding statement, educational information, four or five significant, relevant and qualified accomplishments and a call for action. The call is for you to follow-up at a time certain not for the recipient to contact you. That is, you take proactive action and not just wait for the recipient to respond. In today's increasingly difficult and competitive job market, this strategy will not guarantee an interview but will increase your hit ratio dramatically.
If the campaign is carried out correctly, the challenges are most relevant and compelling and you aggressively and proactively pursue potential employers, getting through to 50% of the recipients is achievable. Can your current efforts deliver this level of success.
Bill Shambrook
http://www.careersuccessnet.com