Less than five per cent of the jobs paying more than $900 a month are filled through employment agencies. More than 80 percent are filled through the recommendations of friends already employed by the concern, or through "contacts"-"Uncle Joe is a friend of the boss" - or through tips that "so-and-so is in need of a 'willing worker.' The remaining 15 per cent or so of jobs are filled by responses to "help-wanted" ads, or through letters of application sent to firms with whom the applicant hopes to be associated. In almost every instance, however, the formal process involves an interview, so let's start with that the above heading may seem strange, since you are the one being interviewed, and the man who holds your fate in his hands should be the one to conduct it. Unfortunately, as I know only too well, most job interviews, when conducted by the man with hiring power, show little improvement over the days when men stood outside the gate of the employment office and were selected by the breadth of their shoulders and tie strength of their backs. He is still thinking the same negative thoughts. If he doesn't hire you, you can't be a discredit to his judgment. If he does hire you, and you flop, he will get the blame. Far easier to let you go, and hope the next man shows greater promise.
It is up to you to be that "next man" with the greater promise. Through Functional Self-Analysis you know what you have to offer, and you have the assurance that you can do the job well. Your prospective employer knows nothing, or very little about you. This puts him at a disadvantage. I might add that this is one of the primary reasons why most job interviews are conducted in a strained or uncomfortable atmosphere, so much so that some people come to dread them, and get the jitters hours before the meeting. This unsatisfactory situation is worsened when the applicant is just hoping to get a job with the company, knowing little of what job openings there might be, and still less about his ability to fill them. Then you have two men sparring in the dark, and one can well understand the complaint of the supervisor man who cried, "I had to spend all day interviewing twenty men to fill one job. Most of them just wanted to get on the payroll, 'Any where you say.' How can you talk jobs to men like that when they don't even know what jobs you're talking about?"
Merely knowing what you are talking about gives you a big edge on most applicants. Bluff won't work. The average supervisor or executive is not to be over-awed by big talk. But the assurance that comes with knowing what you want and why you want it is something he will recognize and appreciate. You have taken some of the discomfort out of the situation, put him at his ease, and provided a meeting ground on which you can get together.
If you are one of the more than 80 per cent who gets his new job through recommendations or contacts, these same sources may be able to provide the background information on the work and the company that you will need for ammunition on your first interview. (I am assuming, of course, that you want this new job because it will provide greater release for your Dynamic Success Factors, and that you have fortified your verbal information with outside reading on subjects related to the job and company.) It is also possible that your friend or contact in the company has served to put your fateful interview on a more cordial basis than that accorded strangers.
But before going on with the conduct of the actual interview and the psychological factors involved, let's begin with the case history of a man who said he didn't have a chance, but he wanted to take it anyway.
Tom Strouss was a government agency administrator in Washington, D.C. who, at 43, discovered that he was growing faster than his job. Egging him on was the memory of the six months he had spent in San Francisco during the war. He yearned for the hustle and bustle he had seen there, so different from his slow-but-sure agency in Washington; lie yearned for the climate; and above all he yearned to see what he could really do if given the opportunity to use his best talents to the full.
"The trouble is," he told me, "I don't have a friend out there. I was in the Army, remember, so I didn't get to meet any businessmen. I didn't think I'd ever be coming back, so I didn't bother to make a single contact."
"Then we had better manufacture some," I said. "San Francisco is too far for a man to take his wife and children and arrive cold. Let's open some doors before you start."
Yes, you will be glad to know, contacts can be manufactured. They are too valuable to leave to chance. A man's contacts are usually limited to those he meets at work, and those he meets socially after hours, a remarkably tiny group in comparison to the opportunities there are in the world. But as I discovered early in my work, many a man would rather sacrifice his professional growth by remaining with Ms Friends than risk "jumping off into the unknown," bereft of contacts. And having discovered that fact, I set out to see what could be done about it. With opportunities unlimited, and contacts restricted to a few friends and associates, the answer was obvious. Manufacture new contacts where needed, whether they be in San Francisco, Hong Kong, or Decorah, Iowa.
Here is what Tom, following our suggestions, did to open the doors of more than eighty concerns in San Francisco. First he obtained the names from a business index of 100 leading executives. Then he sent them this letter- which I will analyze later-defining the area of administration in which his Dynamic Success Factors could be used most profitably by his employer and himself. This type of letter, written with an assist from me-also to be analyzed-has been proved effective by literally millions of dollars in increased success for clients in the $9,500 to $50,000 income bracket.
From the 100 letters, Tom received 81 replies. Of these, 58 were direct answers from the executives queried, all of them constructive, and many of them containing valuable suggestions. The other answers were routine form letters from personnel departments, two of which cautiously admitted that he would be welcome if he happened to be in the neighborhood and dropped around. No letter included the offer of a job. He hadn't asked for one.
I can hear you asking, "What's the point? He wants a job, and all he gets is advice."
The answer is so important that I want to take it up one point at a time.
(1) The worst way to build contacts is to begin by asking for a job. The psychological reaction of a man being "hit for a job," is to go on the defensive, and "No" is his first line of defense. You may think of yourself as an applicant, but to him you are a supplicant, asking him for a favor. His second reaction is one of resentment- "Why is this man bothering me, especially at this time when I have all the men I need?" (Men have been hired by arriving on the scene at the precise moment their services were needed, but the chances are less than a hundred to one against such fortuitous timing.) His third reaction is one of suspicion-"Who is this man? What's wrong with him? He's probably been fired for some reason." His conclusion: "If you want a job, that's your problem, not mine. And I've got all the problems I need without taking on yours."
Those are some of the thoughts running through his mind. What he will be saying to you, pleasantly enough, will go something like this: "With your qualifications you won't" have any trouble finding a new job. I'll certainly keep you in mind, and if anything opens up, or if I hear of any leads, I'll let you know. I'll call you."
You have been told "No" in no uncertain terms. And you have lost someone who could have become a good contact had the approach been more diplomatically made.
(2) If you send a letter to an executive asking for a job, he or his secretary is likely to shunt your correspondence-almost automatically-to the personnel department, which generally is last to hear of the really good job openings.
(3) When you ask a man for advice, you compliment his good judgment.- And when he gives advice, he will want you to follow it up, and he will want to follow your progress. He has a personal interest in you, because, after all, the soundness of his advice is at stake. He doesn't want to let you down, because, indirectly, your let-down would be a reflection on his advice, and hence an injury to his pride.
(4) You must be remembered in order to be recommended. A "manufactured contact" remembers you because you asked his advice; this is a memory-fixing technique, and so is asking him to consider recommending you to someone else.
Now to return to Tom Strouss. To the 58 San Francisco executives who had written constructive letters, he replied immediately:
I could see his confidence grow from week to week. Except for his Army career, in which he had risen from draftee to first lieutenant, he had worked only for the one agency in Washington, and while his desire to get into private industry was strong, it was almost matched by his fear of taking his wife and children into a highly competitive world in which he had no experience. Or thought he had none, which is just as bad.
The analysis of his achievements was the first boost to his morale. His confidence grew another tall step when he discovered that these achievements could be used to even greater advantage in private enterprise. By the time he left for the West Coast, he knew more about himself and his abilities than most men do. And he knew more about San Francisco and its industrial opportunities than did most of the Native Sons.
Tom had already followed the four points needed to "manufacture" contacts. These are
- Avoid asking for a position, because it nearly always brings rejection.
- Associate yourself, make contact, with men in management at the highest appropriate level, and ask them for advice or counsel. These are men in positions of power whose recommendations will open doors to you.
- Use memory-fixing techniques: Know your best self, and "teach" your interviewer the facts about you that he should pass along to a business friend who does have a job opening or opportunity.
- Be well informed on your capabilities so, that you can speak or write briefly and enthusiastically about your effectiveness.
