Remember, I am talking about actual interviews generated as a result of your sales letters. Replies in themselves count for nothing. If all 1,000 PEs respond to your letters, but do not invite you in for an interview, your results are 0 percent. But if you are on target with your material, you can expect 30 to 50 interviews per 1,000 sales letters. My student, Mike G. at the University of Southern California, was desperate for a job. He was unsuccessful in getting even a single interview through the university's Career Development Center. Then he came to see me, it was less than a month before graduation, marriage, and no job. Following my instructions, he wrote a sales letter in accordance with the AIDA formula. This was before computers were common and he didn't have one. He sent them out as soon as his fiancee typed them up. Before graduation, he had several offers and accepted the best one. He told me that he had so many calls for interviews, he had to start turning them down. What with finals and the interviews he had scheduled, he didn't have the time. Amazingly, Mike sent out only 39 sales letters. That's a record which still stands.
The Types of Responses You Will Receive
Most of the responses you receive from your sales letters will be rejects. Some will come directly from the hiring executive. Others will originate from the personnel/human resources/employments department in which case you may well get a form letter. Such a reply will read along these lines: "Mr. Smith, whom you have written, has asked that I respond. Though your qualifications are superior, your resume has been circulated throughout the company an there are no openings for someone of your background at the present time. However, because conditions may change, I have taken the liberty of placing your resume in our current file and will contact you should any openings arise. Thanks again for considering the XYZ Company."
If you get such a notice, it may surprise you to learn that Mr. Smith probably has not seen your letter. And it is doubtful that your "resume" was circulated throughout the company, especially since, if you followed my instructions, you never sent one. Your qualifications were probably matched against a list of current requirements on file in the personnel department. That took about fifteen seconds, and then they sent you a form letter, not even bothering to notice that you sent a letter, and not a resume.
I once received a rejection notice from a company that had already extended me a job offer. How is that possible? I wrote two different officers at the company, both of whom might have needed someone with my qualifications. During my interview I learned that the other executive I had written was out of town. This executive's secretary had intercepted the letter and forwarded it to the employment department. So routine was this action, and the written response, that the personnel manager didn't recognize my name, or recall that I had an offer pending with the company.
Another, more insidious type of rejection from the personnel department is the employment application. You will be sent a form to complete "so that the PE can better assess your opportunities with the firm." I recommend that you not waste time filling out an employment form unless you are certain that a specific job is available. Otherwise, you risk giving out important information about yourself for no gain at all. For example, even if you don't give your references, it is unwise to list your previous employers at this early stage. The PE may call these companies even if you have no interest in the job. (Maybe they are not hiring anyone right now, and the personnel person hasn't anything better to do.) Premature and needless reference checks can hurt you. If repeated, it can irritate those people who are asked to comment on your past performance, even if they like you. I mean, the first couple of times they give you the enthusiastic boost you deserve. However, what about the ninth or tenth time they're called? Are they still as enthusiastic? This will also break your security if you are conducting a campaign in season.
What are your possible courses of action? You can treat the employment form as a rejection and write a second sales letter to the PE, following the standard procedure with all rejections. I'll show you how to do that shortly. You can contact the individual who sent you the employment application and try to determine if a specific job opening exists.
Or you can fill out the employment application without giving references, names of former supervisors, names of former companies, or other information that could compromise your position. For employers, use general descriptions: "a large insurance company", "a major aerospace company," "a well-known consulting firm." For references, use a general tide, without the name, address, or phone number: "vice president of a medium-size company," "state senator." Enclose a note stating that complete information will be furnished if there is mutual interest. I like that. It tells the recipient that you are not an applicant. You aren't applying for anything. You are a potential candidate... if you become interested.
Some letters will request additional information or a resume. Try to obtain more information by telephone; then decide whether to comply with the request.
How to Handle Requests for Interviews
Some invitations for interviews are worded so weakly that you may have difficulty recognizing them. Usually they are sent when a PE is afraid of building up your hopes for a job. Such a letter of invitation might read like this: "Though we have no immediate needs, I would like to talk with you if you have the time. Please call ahead for this appointment. Sorry we don't have anything" These requests, no matter how weak, should be followed up.
It has been my experience that most requests for interviews come by telephone rather than by mail. This is one reason that it is important for your telephone number to be readily located in your sales letter. Several books I have read on job hunting urge the job hunter to avoid being interviewed over the telephone at all costs. One even suggests that you hang up rather than respond. You will soon discover, however, that with the popularity of making appointments by phone, most PEs will do some interviewing this way. If the PE is going to pay your travel expenses for the interview, you can bet that he will want to know more than you have written in your sales letter. Therefore, rather than try to avoid the telephone interview, I recommend that you turn it to your advantage by obtaining information from the PE before going in for the interview.
Handling yourself on the telephone is an important part of your campaign. If a PE wants to interview you by phone, find out all you can about the job before revealing additional information about yourself. If you do give your PE information, make sure it reinforces your credentials for the job.
Sometimes, a PE will want to talk salary over the phone. It is always to your advantage not to do so until a sale has been made. Use this question to obtain more information: "There are so many factors that bear on compensation that it is almost impossible to give you a figure without knowing more about the job. What can you tell me?"
How Roger G. Used the Telephone to His Advantage
Roger G. was a marketing manager for a small plastics firm in New York City. He wanted to relocate to California. In response to one of Roger's sales letters, the vice president of marketing of a San Francisco company called him, "Before we fly you out here, Roger," he said, "we want to know a little more about you." "Certainly," Roger answered. "What kind of marketing manager are you looking for right now?" Roger managed to ask question after question and took three pages of notes before giving the PE specific information about himself. And he was able to tailor his accomplishments to the PE's needs.
The PE was even more impressed with Roger's potential and set up the interview. But Roger didn't stop there. He went over his notes before the interview, carefully organizing his experiences and background to support his qualifications for this job. Naturally, Roger did well in his interview and received an offer at a considerably higher salary than what he had been earning.
