Career Advice

Cold Calling For Jobs

by: Scott Brown

When hunting for a job, after the first few weeks of sending out resumes and posting on job boards, people often feel like there is more they should be doing. Getting an interview in today’s tight job market is difficult and you may need to pull out some old-time methods to help you get a good job.

You might ask what else can I do to get a job and the answer would be to do anything and everything possible to help yourself get a job. One method of job searching that has fallen by the wayside in light of the Internet age is cold calling companies to see if they are hiring.

As most of us know, companies who want to fill positions will initially try to fill in-house (even though they will post the job publicly). Secondly, they will try to fill positions through referrals from employees. Finally, they may or may not post jobs on one of the larger job boards.

Some companies today still do not post the majority of their open positions on job boards and will instead try to fill it in-house, through referrals or by posting on the company’s web site.

In light of this, it is up to you and I to try any method possible to get a foot in the door. When you start considering cold calling companies for open positions, you first should prepare yourself for rejection. I suggest calling smaller companies within a 30 mile radius of home in the hopes that they do not have the hiring and advertising budgets that some of the bigger companies do and will be glad to look at your resume or even talk to you.

I spoke with a friend who was laid off after the 9/11 tragedy and was out of work for almost six months until he started calling the smaller software companies in the area to see if they needed help. Out of the blue, he called a local company that turned out to be owned by someone he went to Jr. High School with and he was able to secure a job with that company.

So, while not necessarily the best way to find a job, cold calling for open positions can sometimes lead you to discover relationships with companies that you never imagined possible. So, if your job search did not score you that big job in the first few weeks, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and start making some calls. You never know, it might pay off.

About The Author

Scott Brown is the author of the Job Search Handbook (http://www.JobSearchHandbook.com). As editor of the HireSites.com weekly newsletter on job searching, Scott has written many articles on the subject. He wrote the Job Search Handbook to provide job seekers with a complete yet easy to use guide to finding a job effectively. To download your own free copy of the Job Search Handbook, visit http://www.JobSearchHandbook.com

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