So You Want to Be Our Marketing Director…

….huh-zah.

Seriously: I’m not being snide.  That’s fantastic.

So, why?

Why?

WHY???

Why did you apply?

Like the other 400+ people.

Most of them talented writers.

Put together one hell of a cover letter.  (Many of them referring to how they “don’t just think outside of the box: they live outside of it”  That’s a quote.  From about a dozen different applicants.  The box apparently got too full.)

When they did address it, it was “To Whom it May Concern.”  Or something equally personal.

Attached their resume.

Wondered why we never called.

You shouldn’t have applied.

None of them should have.

What you should have done (or, will do – that’s a hint, hombre) was to market yourself.

If a sales person doesn’t close me in an interview, they don’t get the job.

If an engineer can’t work (logically) through a problem, they don’t get the job.

If a marketer doesn’t market themselves for a job… well, you know…

The person who gets this plumb (hey, nothing more fun than reworking a brand and making it sing) job is the same person who has marketing in their DNA: it would never occur to them to just shoot in a resume and pray.  No matter how clever you write your cover letter, so did somebody else.  And somebody else.  And….

They’ll approach this the same way they would any campaign: research their target audience, figure out their pain points, and then come up with a clever got-the-recruiter-talking-about-them-at-the-coffee-machine approach.

 Because that’s the job.  Prove you can do it from the start.  Don’t just (e)mail it in.  Innovate a little, for gods’ sake.

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Summertime’s the Right Time…

…to conduct a job search.  This runs counter to some public opinion (companies aren’t hiring, people are on vacation and can’t interview, etc).  So far from the truth.  Fact is, business never stops, and companies don’t stop hiring just because the weather’s a bit warmer.  If anything, this is a great time to seek a job out.  Why?  Less competition.  Think about it: thanks to that common misconception, your competition for jobs is probably slowing down their searching.  They’re also likely sitting tight because they have some vacation planned and don’t want to lose that week in Maine because of a new job. 

Now, it can be tricky getting noticed during the summer, and responses from HR can be slower, because there is some truth to idea that vacation time within your target company means that the person you apply to may be out for a week or two and you’re resume won’t get looked at for awhile – worse yet, it may become buried.  So you need to accomodate for that.  Apply the usual way, but then try and find an alternate contact at the company (ideally, someone who looks like the might be a/ the manager in the department you’re applying to) – you can use a tool like ZoomInfo’s Fresh Contacts to find these folks.  Once you have that alternate, wait a day or two and then shoot them a note, along the lines of:

Hi

I applied for the role of Software Engineer – Java/ J2EE with ZoomInfo a few days back.  Since I’m assuming this is an important position for you, and I think I’m a good match for it, I wanted to make you aware of my interest in case the person who normally handles resume screening is on a summer vacation.  I’m attaching a copy of my resume – feel free to get back to me with any questions.  Hope you’re having a lovely summer!

Are you being a pest? Nope!  You’re considerate, and courteous.  Best part about this?  If your resume wound up in an HR black hole, and you really are a good fit, that manager will be banging on doors to get you in for an interview.

Don’t Feel Bad About It

Just a quick observation: execs have as hard a time as anyone with job search.  I know, I know – “hey, they’re executive material, I mean, just look at that suit.  And that hair – it’s silver!“  The impression is that they must be supermen/ women, who know how to get a job, network, etc.

Nope – apparently, they struggle with the whole “pants fits, then shoes” things just like the rest of us.  I mean, when they start sending me resumes, and all the cover letter says is “see cv”….  sigh.

Just to reiterate from a theme I have in this blog: stand out.  I don’t care what level you are – you have competition.  Serious competition.  Our VP of Sales job is a plum one, in a tight market.  If all you write is: “See cv”, you’re not taking advantage of the chance to show off your communication skills – when it comes to execs, that’s critical.  Heck, we’re looking for a Product Trainer, and one of the first things we look at is the cover letter – if it’s not fairly solid, the candidate doesn’t make it in.  A one-liner for any job means you’re not moving forward.

Well, here, anyways – but we’re pretty picky.

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Okay, Look…

…if the job requirements include: Semantic Java, Hibernate, etc.  And the company is: a Web 2.0 business information engine that’s created (and is creating more) highly disruptive products.  And the team we’re looking to hire for: is our Core development team, which focuses on natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and information integration.

And you are: an embedded software engineer with a PhD in electronics, and a Masters in signal processing and controls.

Then, you can’t claim in your cover letter that your: “working experience closely matches the position requirements.”

Here’s the thing.  If this cat had made a strong, thought out pitch about how his work experience was in any way relevant, it’s not out of the realm of possibility he would get considered by some companies.  Not here, because we honestly need directly relevant experience for this critical hire, but a larger organization might have thought “hmm, smart guy, can communicate – and, it never would have occurred to us from his resume, but yeah, that project he did is relevant to what we do…”

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Online Reputation Management

The ever interesting Yann Gourvennec has a brilliant post up about managing your online reputation, a must read for anyone who is, well, anyone in this brave new world.  Get yourself out there.