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Dear
Career Tips:
(How Do I
Make Contact?)
by John West Hadley, FSA
Principal,
John Hadley Associates
Career Search & Career Enhancement Counseling
Suppose
there is a company that I'm interested in and believe would be a good
fit, but they don't have any relevant positions currently listed? How
do I make myself known to them?
Thomas
Dear Thomas:
The BEST way is to get
connected to someone at the company through your networking, and get
a referral to the appropriate person.
The next best way is to write a very good letter to the appropriate
person (or even a level above) explaining why you should be of
interest to him/her/the company, and then to follow it up with a
phone call.
Assuming you don't know anyone in any position at the company, you
could draw on your existing network by asking questions along the
lines of "One of the companies that is particularly
interesting to me is XYZ Inc. Who do you know that might be familiar
with them?" "Do you know anyone who works at XYZ Inc. who I
might talk to and get a better understanding of their
operations?"
Remember that in the first round you only care about finding someone
who works there in ANY capacity, because once you get a referral to
someone inside XYZ Inc., you can network with that person to get a
referral to others inside the company. Or if you can get a referral
to someone who doesn't work there but is familiar with the company,
that person is likely to know someone at the company.
© 2004 John West Hadley. All Rights Reserved.
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