Career Center: Outsourcing your job hunt
Most people hate looking for a job—especially making cold calls to potential bosses. Many of my clients say things like, "I'd love it if all I had to do was show up for the interviews."
Unfortunately, finding a job is usually a lot of work. But if you want to turn that job seeker's fantasy into reality, try this:
1. Create a list of the persons in charge of hiring at your 25 most desired employers.
For the names of the organizations, use the yellow pages to identify local businesses, and online directories such as Business.com to find national ones. Or ask the business reference librarian at a major public library for help.
To find the name of the hiring manager, check that employer's website. If that fails, call the organization's main number. Sometimes, you have to deal with the receptionist. If you're luckier, there's a company directory of departments. In either case, when you talk with a person, say, "Hi. I need the correct spelling of the name of the person in charge of hiring accountants (or whatever)." After you get it, say, "And what's his/her actual title?" When you have that, ask, "By the way, what is his/her direct-dial phone number?" After you've learned that, ask, "Oh, and what's his/her E-mail address?" If the receptionist won't give you all the information, hang up and dial an extension at random. The person answering the phone usually doesn't have gatekeeper responsibility but has an employee directory handy.
If you need more information, Google the person's name along with that employer and the word email and the area code in which the business is located; for example: ["Mary Terwilliger," "Chief Financial Officer" "Ace Widget email" 202]. Enclose each phrase in quotation marks so Google knows to look for it only as a phrase.
2. Now for the tricky part: finding someone to phone those 25 people for you. Keep in mind, it's almost always better for the job seeker to be the one to place the calls, but some people loathe cold-calling so much that they'd rather stay unemployed. That's where a surrogate comes in. Obviously, this person should be good on the phone, perhaps a career counselor, a friend, or a sales- or acting-oriented person. Unless you've got a generous, phone-happy friend, you'll probably have to pay somebody. Try placing an ad, perhaps on craigslist.org. (Tip: Place the ad in the "Gigs" rather than "Jobs" section of Craigslist. Ads in that section are free. In the "Jobs" section in some cities, they're $75.) You might have to pay a professional career counselor a few hundred dollars, but an actor or friend might do it for half that, or less.
Many career counselors will be reluctant to make such calls because it's unconventional. But if you show a suggested script, such as the one below, and seem as though you'd make a good employee, they might take this on. Also, explain (if true) that you loathe cold-calling and fumble at it.
Here's a sample script:
"Hi, my name is Mary Jones. I'm a career counselor who's working with a client I really like named (insert your name). He is a good employee, but he's shy about making those direct contacts that are so important in landing a job. He's a public accountant with Sarbanes-Oxley experience. He appears to have a good work ethic and is a nice guy. I'm wondering if you'd be willing to meet with him, to see if perhaps he might be of help to you or even to offer him some advice as to where he should turn."
Turn your surrogate loose with the list of 25 employers, your resume, and dates and times you're available to be interviewed, and chances are, you'll soon find yourself with at least one interview. Then, it's up to you.
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