But does it sound personal? Ideally you would prepare a letter individually written and tailored to each person on your address list. Each letter would sound highly personal. But such a project would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
At least you can try to tailor your set letter to each addressee by having your word processing program insert variables within the body of your letter. Each letter should have a personal salutation, "Dear Mr. Smith" or "Dear Ms. Thompson." But you can go further than this by variably inserting the name of the company and the name of the city or state. As you copy down your address list during your directory research, write down the most likely company organization nickname for each addressee. The nickname will frequently be quite obvious. International Business Machines, Inc., is IBM. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company is Coca-Cola (not Coke). The Securities and Exchange Commission is the SEC. Other nicknames won't be so obvious. You'll have to take a reasonable chance. Try to surmise how the people working for that company would refer to it in general conversation. For example, a company named International Widgets Consolidated, Inc., is probably nicknamed International Widgets. Typically you can figure it out.
That's the way it will read if your program is instructed to insert the company name from the inside address field. Instead, you want the body of the letter to read:
I think you'll agree I can bring a wealth of experience to International Widgets.
So you'll need a company nickname for you or the word processing operator to input for each name and address.
You can play other tricks with inserting the state or city in the body of the letter. Suppose you plan to take an interview trip to several cities in the Northeast. If you don't insert the city name.
Supplies and Production
When your resume is prepared, be sure to obtain a supply of blank pages and envelopes made from the same paper stock as your resume. Preferably, your letters should be prepared using the same typeface as your resume. To produce these letters most effectively, you will need a personal computer and a high-quality printer. Use a letter-quality printer or a laser printer with a resolution of 300 dots per inch. An alternative is to use a first-class electric typewriter. Even if you can't type, you probably know someone who can and would be willing to help you out for a free dinner or maybe even a beer. If all else fails, you can probably find a secretarial service that will help you for a fee. Check around. Draft the letters and then have them typed in batches each week.
The All-Important Follow-Up
Remember, there are only three ways to tell people that you are available for a job. First, you can call them on the telephone. Second, you can visit them in person. Third, you can send them a letter.
The final part of prospecting is the follow-up. At this stage of the game, you've only sent a letter. Now it's time to hound on the phone or in person. Sending the letter and the resume does not end your responsibility. You don't just sit back and wait for the phone to ring. Up to this point, every action you have taken has been on paper. You really have not had any personal contact with employers.
If you have not received a response to your letter of transmittal within two weeks, you should follow up with a personal telephone call. Try to reach the exact person who received your letter; don't be satisfied with leaving a message with the receptionist of the human resources office or the secretary of the employment manager. Tell the employment manager you are checking to ensure the letter was received because you're very interested in employment with that company. This will cause the manager at least to pull your letter and resume out and check to see your name on it. The only reason for the call is for the person involved to see your name and, you hope, to place your resume at the top of the pile. Don't be pushy or cute when you call. Merely say you are checking on the mail system, expressing your interest in the position, and asking when they expect to begin interviews. The call should be very professional, very brief, and should end on a positive note, such as, "Thanks for check ing for me. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon."
Prospecting Is Key
Prospecting can and will get you interviews, but to be effective it has to be an integral part of your marketing plan. It should be multifaceted and include as many leads and sources as you can develop. Look for every opportunity and then go after each with a letter, a resume, and a follow-up call. Try not to get discouraged if you are not immediately successful, or if you don't get an interview with every attempt. Prospecting is another numbers game. To be successful you have to get lots more leads than you will ever wrap up. A job seeker recently told me he sent out almost 100 resumes and got only one interview. If he had sent out 200 letters, then he would have received two interviews. If he had sent out 1,000 letters, he would have received ten interviews. The more letters you send, the more contact you make, the more rejections you'll receive, but the more positive responses you'll receive as well.
Focus, But Blast Away
Imagine a hunter who is going after birds. The hunter uses a shotgun that fires a large load of pellets. He knows it only takes one pellet to bring down his target, but he fires the large load because he does not know which pellet will hit. If he knew, he would have to fire only one. The message here is that although he fires a large load, he fires them all in the same direction.
The same theory applies to the job search. You're going to be firing letters and resumes into the job market in large numbers, hoping one will get you the interview that will land you the great job you want. Be careful to fire them all in the same direction. Don't dilute your efforts and make your marketing plan less effective. For you, the target is not a bird on the wing, but that goal of money, location, or job that you originally established for yourself. There is no sense in prospecting for a job in San Francisco, California, when you never plan on leaving Lawton, Oklahoma.
