Part 8: Paths Not Often Taken

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

November 16, 2003

Part 8 of a weekly series helping people with job searches.

We all know about traditional job search methods -- responding to online and classified ads, registering with recruiters and finding networking contacts to put you in touch with employers.

But in a work world that values initiative, it pays, too, to know some underused, but still effective, techniques. Resourcefulness, says Adele Scheele, is a key quality for young people to develop as they leave school and enter the workplace. And that involves moving beyond that pack mentality. Scheele is author of "Jumpstart Your Career in College" (Simon&Schuster, $12).

To travel those job search paths that are effective but not so well-trodden, you might:

Patricia Kitchen Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

Target employers and contact them directly. That involves compiling lists of employers, sending cover letters and resumes, and, in some cases, making follow-up phone calls. Job hunters at the Five O'Clock Club, a Manhattan- based career-coaching firm, get 38 percent of their interviews this way, says Kate Wendleton, the group's president. If you are willing to make those follow-up calls to ask if your information has been received and learn what might be next, you need to target at least 20 employers, she says.

Be prepared to make eight phone calls on average at each place just to get through to the hiring manager, and she definitely advises against leaving eight voice mails. Try calling at different times of day, especially before 9 a.m. and after 5 or 6 p.m.

If you decide to forgo that telephone work, you'll need to expand your list of targets to at least 200 employers. How do you find them? Use online research, professional association directories and the good old telephone book. (The phone book is especially helpful in finding local sales offices of large companies headquartered elsewhere.)

Wendleton tells of a college student looking this year for a summer job with an architect. Through the Web this woman identified 200 architectural firms in New York City and its suburbs, mailed her information and heard back from nine, all smaller firms in outlying areas. She got offers from seven, paying from $10-$15 an hour, and accepted one in Connecticut. "The ones who responded," says Wendleton, "are the ones nobody else contacts."

Along these lines, you can also identify employers, bookmark their sites' career pages and check in each day. Why? Because on average, employers post no more than two- thirds of their openings on general sites, says Gerry Crispin, an online recruiting consultant and co-author of "Career- XRoads 2003," a directory of career-related Web sites. "At least one-third more can be found on their own sites." Yet, he says, most job hunters are "randomly looking for leads. The way to find the most jobs that are freshest is to go right to the Web site of a corporation."

Become active in professional associations with campus chapters. That's what Kimberly Wong, 21, did three years ago when she was just starting at Stony Brook University, even though "I am a shy person." Now a senior, she is president of the campus chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and has mixed and mingled with executives from the likes of Computer Associates, Northrop Grumman, Symbol Technologies and Brookhaven Lab. As a representative of her group, she's visited their work sites and invited them to speak on campus.

"I am comfortable with calling them," says Wong, a computer science major. "I have good opportunities because of this."

Yet, the value of joining such groups -- coming face-to- face with people doing what you want to be doing -- escapes most students, says Marianna Savoca, career center director at Stony Brook.

Look to newspapers and business publications with an eye to more than the help-wanted ads. Watch for stories about companies and institutions that are doing well and expanding, Savoca says. Then send a cover letter and resume to the person who was interviewed, or the head of the department that will be growing.

"Read between the lines," she said.

Call the receptionists in departments in targeted firms where you would be interested in working and ask for the names of people there who take a real interest in helping young people learn more about their profession. Then write or e-mail these nice guys and gals, saying you would appreciate a chance to speak with them about your job-search approach -- not asking them for a job, though. If you impress them, they might coach you into a job either at their firm or some other they know to be hiring.