job_interview

Getting Inside Hiring Companies

Article courtesy of InterviewConcepts.com

Probably the most difficult task for a job seeker to undertake is to penetrate the
armor of a company when they have no internal leads or contacts. The dreaded
"cold call"--phoning someone and asking for time on their calendar--can seem like
an insurmountable task.

Fear of rejection

Getting through to a key contact should not be a practice in generating raw
numbers. It should be pure quality. After all of your preparation to date, make
sure you drive home your point by aiming for the right target. However, once
you have developed your quality, then quantity counts.

Who to talk to

Who your main contact is within the company will depend greatly on the
size/structure of the company and your personal timing. For those companies
with large, well-established entry level hiring programs, there may be one or
more persons focused solely on hiring. This person is usually part of the
Personnel or Human Resources Department. This is the person whose job it is to
screen out and disqualify candidates. To bring down the long list into the short
list.

Your main objective in making any contact should be to secure an in-person
interview. You cannot accomplish this if you are screened out.

The true bottom line decision-maker is the hiring manager or line manager.
Establish the human resources manager as your target contact only as it serves
your needs. Once it becomes a dead-end or point of no further progress, you
should be willing to immediately move on to the hiring manager as your target
contact.

While it is almost always more difficult to locate and contact the hiring manager
than to simply make contact with someone in personnel, in the long run it pays to
put forth the extra effort.

Contacting Personnel is what everyone does. So if you join the party, you merely
join the competition in targeting a department whose primary task is to screen
you out--your odds for success will likely be quite low. But direct contact with
the hiring manager is golden. You are actually talking to a person who can hire
you.

Hiring Managers

Hiring managers determine hiring needs. Hiring managers have the most latitude
in determining what background will adequately fill the company's needs. And it
is hiring managers who have the actual authority to hire.

Make the hiring manager your target contact. And do not give up easily.