How to Get a New Job

Do you want a job with better hours? How about better benefits? Would more money be nice? How about more paid time off?

Of course you do.

There is a system that can help you achieve these goals.

I'm going to share the highlights of this system with you in a series of articles.

The first step in this system is to change your mindset.

There are four qualities that every job-changer needs to possess in order to conduct a successful career-change campaign. They are:

Confidence - Too many people start a job search when their present employer is unhappy with them. Maybe they have received a verbal reprimand from their boss, maybe they have received a written warning or maybe they have been fired. Any of these things (or about 100 other things I have not mentioned) can shake the confidence of someone who is looking for a new job.

If you are the job seeker, it is essential that that you put any negativity about your performance behind you. Other people cannot define you - you have the ability to exceed the expectations of any employer. Put past negative issues behind you and focus on your past success. Concentrate on how you can recreate that success in a new setting. The future is bright regardless of what has happened in the recent past.

Discipline - In order to get a new job you are going to need to follow a system that is proven to be successful. This means performing some actions repeatedly and consistently. This requires discipline. You must maintain this discipline throughout your job search process. Acting in a disciplined fashion will produce results.

Persistence - You must be relentless in your pursuit of a new job. You must run down every lead. You must make all the phone calls. You will deal with massive rejection and you will fight through it. In the end, you persistence will be rewarded with a pay increase, better benefits and better quality of life. You must fight the desire to quit. This extraordinary resistance will be present at all times. You must defeat it.

Capability - You must know: what to do, when to do it and how to do it. I'll help you with that.

Take some time today and prepare yourself mentally for the journey you are about to embark upon. You should be filled with excitement because the future is bright. You are taking charge of your career and you will control your destiny!

Getting a job is just like selling a product. Most people don't understand that.

The goal in any job search is to sell you to a prospective employer. You are the product.

As we set out to market you to your prospective employer we face a series of challenges. The first challenge we face is the fact that your prospective employer does not even know you exist. Let's face it, you could be the best in the world at what you do, but if no one knows about you, it doesn't matter.

This is a problem of visibility. Right now, in the eyes of your future employer, you are invisible.

On the surface, it may seem like you should just introduce yourself to your prospective employer and this problem will be solved. Most people try to do this by sending a resume and cover letter. Think about it. They send a letter that essentially says:

"Hi. My name is Dave. I'm a great at doing a certain kind of job. I know I look like everyone else but I'm better than everyone else. Here's a list of things that I've done that may interest you. Hire me. Now."

And then they sit back and wait for the phone to ring.

The problem with this approach - sending a resume and cover letter - is that it is only slightly more effective than doing nothing. Why? Here are the reasons:

You are trying to get hired before someone even knows who you are. This is like trying to get married without even dating.

Everyone else is sending resumes and cover letters. They all look the same. The goal in this stage of your personal marketing campaign is to stand out - to become visible. If you do what everyone else does you remain invisible.

A resume and cover letter is all about you. This is bad. Employers want to talk to people who will help them. If you focus on yourself you will never get a job. You need to focus on the employer. You specifically need to focus on a problem that you can solve for the employer.

Everyone sends their resumes and cover letters to the same place. Most people send resumes and cover letters to Human Resources (or to a mail box in an ad or to a non-specific email address, etc.). You might as well leave your resume on the windshield of cars at the supermarket. Human Resources is the place good resumes go to die.

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Now you're thinking, "Well, what am I supposed to do?" Here are the five steps to gaining visibility during a personal marketing campaign.

1. Be clear and realistic about your intentions. You don't want to get married. Not yet. You just want to date. Your introductory correspondence must state that you want to set up a meeting - nothing more.

2. Send letters that will get noticed. Notice I said letters - plural. Never, ever, mail just one letter. Any type of mailing is more effective when it is done in a sequence. You must send at least three letters to each person that you hope to meet. In most cases, more is better. If you can send four or five letters you're better off.

Why?

People will ignore some, if not most of them. Don't worry -each letter will be different enough so if, on the outside chance that the prospective employer is reading them all, he will be interested.

3. Make the content of the letters about the company - not about you. More specifically, the content of the letters should be about a problem you can solve for them. The more specific the problem the better your chances are of getting a meeting.

4. Send the letters directly to the decision-maker. Never send a letter to Human Resources. You want to make your case directly to the person who can determine your fate.

5. By now you should be getting the idea that I want you to think differently about your job search. You should start to see that looking for a job is exactly the same as marketing a valuable product.

In a previous article we discussed the importance of visibility in a personal marketing campaign.

Now we will start the discussion of how to create visibility by using a direct mail campaign.

Before we get to that, let's re-cap:

You need to have 4 qualities in order to market yourself effectively. Those qualities are:

Confidence
Discipline
Persistence
Capability

If this does not sound familiar to you, please review The New Rules for Getting a Job - 4 Key Qualities You Must Have for a Successful Job Search.

You will need every bit of discipline and persistence you can muster to use a direct mail campaign to land an interview for your dream job.

The payoff comes when you finally get a call from the hiring manager and he or she says that they absolutely must meet you. Getting to that point in the process requires preparation.

The first step to landing the job interview is to identify who is doing the hiring.

Although most ads and job postings will ask you to send resumes to the Human Resources Department or to a generic e-mail box, this is usually a waste of time.

If you know the company name, you can find the hiring manager. Here are five quick ways to find the decision-maker for some of the best jobs on the planet:

1. Use social networking sites - LinkedIn, Plaxo and Zoom Info are three great places to start. Find people who work in your target company and connect to them in these forums. Once you have connected, ask specifically about your desired job. You need to fish for for clues like a detective fishes for information before solving a big case. Don't be coy. Be direct and disclose your intentions. In most cases, people will be willing to help if they can. These sites exist for networking purposes. Press on until someone helps.

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2. Call the Company's Sales Department, Public Relations Department, Customer Service Department and Investor Relations Department - All of these areas of the company exist to answer questions and field inquiries. When you call them, start out by asking questions about the firm and the products it sells. This information will come in handy when you write your letters and go on the interview. As you close out your call with people from each of these areas, you should ask who is in charge of the department where the job exists. If the person on the phone asks why you want this information, simply say that you are doing research on "how to get hired" in that area (the area of the firm where your dream job is open). In some cases, the person on the phone will set up an "informational interview" with the hiring manager directly. Believe me - it has happen more than once.

3. Talk to someone from the firm's competitor - Many industries have close-knit communities of experts. Call a competitor and ask questions about the qualities that are necessary to be effective in your dream job. Again, this research will come in handy. If they ask why, tell them the truth and then ask if they know anyone at your target company. This is also a great opportunity to find out about your target company's reputation. Be direct yet respectful. Ask open-ended questions and let the person on the phone spill their guts. If people tell you they don't have time, ask if they can put you in touch with someone who can help you. If they hang up on you, call someone else. Be creative as well as aggressive.

4. Call the company's switchboard - This is a long shot but it's always worth a try. Call into the switchboard and say that you need to send an important notification to the person in charge of XXXX (put the name of your desired department here). Explain that you are calling to verify the mailing address. Take down the address (you're going to need that anyway) and say something like, "I can't seem to find the name of the person in charge of XXXX. Can you help me?" (Shuffle some papers around while you ask this question.) Now, this is not a lie (I don't advocate lying at any point in the job search process) but it is a bit of play-acting.

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5. Call the company's switchboard - This is a long shot but it's always worth a try. Call into the switchboard and say that you need to send an important notification to the person in charge of XXXX (put the name of your desired department here). Explain that you are calling to verify the mailing address. Take down the address (you're going to need that anyway) and say something like, "I can't seem to find the name of the person in charge of XXXX. Can you help me?" (Shuffle some papers around while you ask this question.) Now, this is not a lie (I don't advocate lying at any point in the job search process) but it is a bit of play-acting.

If you have tried these five tactics SEVERAL TIMES and you are still unsuccessful, you can use the name of the person who is in charge of that discipline for the entire company (for example the Executive Vice President of Sales - if you are seeking a sales job). This information can be found on most company websites or in directories such as Hoovers. If you go this route you will decrease your odds of actually getting your letters through. This tactic becomes effective only if you call that person's assistant and explain your desire (to get hired in the role of XXX). The assistant to the big cheese may then give you the appropriate person to write to.

The bottom line is that you need to find out the name and address of the hiring manager. This is critical. Do not give up until you have have it. This one tip alone will dramatically increase your odds of getting an interview.

The next step in getting a job interview is making sure your letter gets into the hands of the right person. This is no small task.
You have already identified the correct target of your letter. Your task now is to get a letter into their hands.

Keep in mind that this letter serves one purpose and one purpose only - to get you a meeting with the decision-maker. That's right. This letter's purpose is to get you a job interview and nothing more. You are not going to get hired based upon this letter. At this point in the process you just want to get in front of the right person.

The look, feel and design of your letter are all critical components of this process. Here are the tips to get a response from any decision-maker:

Tip One: Send multiple letters. Direct mail response rates are ridiculously low. If you send only one letter, you will be fortunate to get a 1% response rate. You must send multiple letters. You will change the wording each time, just in case someone is getting their kicks by reading the content and then disposing of your hard work.

Tip Two: Appearance matters. The first three letters you send can be standard-looking letters on a decent weight paper. We'll cover the content of each letter in our next article. For now, I want to focus on what the letters must look like in order to make sure they get delivered.

If you are targeting just a few positions, I always recommend that you send the letters via express delivery. There is an urgency associated with a FedEx envelope sitting on a desk. You want the decision-maker to feel that sense of urgency. You can choose the three day express saver service to minimize the expense. You just want to make sure that the boss gets a FedEx envelope.

If you are doing a mass mailing, you can use a faux express envelope. Though these envelopes will not have the exact same impact as actually sending the letters via an express delivery service, they will be far more effective than a standard envelope. This type of packaging can also be sent via regular mail - so you will save the express mail fees.

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Tip Three: Mail directly to the assistant. The fourth letter (assuming that you have received no response from the first three) should go directly to the decision-maker's assistant. Keep in mind that you will be placing phone calls to follow up on each of these letters - so chances are good that you will have already made contact with the administrative assistant by now. You should know his/her name and you may have even built up some rapport.

At this point in the process, I recommend that you send a professional, hand-written thank you note to the assistant. You are thanking him/her for taking your calls and trying to help you get through to the decision-maker. I know, he/she may not be helping you at all. In fact, he/she may be keeping you from getting to the decision-maker. The idea is to treat the administrative assistant with respect. They are critical to getting you the meeting. Win them over and you will be in the door. I have seen administrative assistants make the case to their boss that persuades him to take a meeting he would otherwise refuse. In fact, I have been the boss who has been persuaded!

Again, follow this mailing up with a phone call directly to the administrative assistant.

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Tip Four: Mail a lumpy mailing. The final mailing in your five letter sequence should be a "lumpy mailing". This is a mailing that will be oddly shaped and will definitely get noticed. Sending CDs or DVDs are a good way to go. Take great care to record them with high-quality equipment and professionally label them. Don't just write on them with a marker.

Make your pitch for a meeting on a CD or DVD professional, brief and compelling. No more than three minutes. Here is your format: Have something interesting to say. Say it. Say good bye. Concise, compelling and professional.

Another favorite lumpy mailing I have for a "letter five" is "the garbage can mailing". You order a small (4 inch high) garbage can from a promotional supply company. You then crumple up your letter and place it inside. The letter starts off saying something to the effect "since my last few letters have found the garbage I figured I would save you the trouble".

Be creative with your lumpy mailing. You are only going to send these to people who have not responded to your four previous correspondence so you really have nothing to lose. I have seen some unusual mailings that have gotten results. I've seen messengers in Gorilla suits deliver letters. I've seen people send carrier pigeons (the letter says something like "please call me to schedule a meeting or throw my friend out the window with a note stating the ideal date and time").

The idea behind the lumpy mailing is to get a response. You want to provoke a reaction. A "NO" is better than no response at all. At least with a "NO" you can cross that person off your list.

Mailing this five letter sequence will definitely get you a higher response rate than just sending one letter. Again, keep in mind that you will be placing follow-up phone calls after each letter is mailed. This takes work. It takes discipline and persistence but in the end it will payoff.