The preinterview phase of your job campaign


Preparing Your Resume

In this article I'm going to tell you not to send your resume to anyone. At least not until after the interview But you will need an ongoing, living, frequently updated resume so you will really understand you and what you have to offer. The basis of this resume will take you two to three days to get all your materials together and write. Once you do, you will have all the data you need to:

• Write sales letters with at least five major accomplishments in support of your job objective which you can send out in letter form, by fax, or by e-mail.

• Prepare responses to advertisements that are right on target but disregard certain requirements in the ad.

• Prepare special resumes of your experiences that slant your accomplishments to the requirements of the job.

Writing Sales Letters

It will take you two to four days to develop sales letters that support your job objectives and to mail them to both PEs and executive recruiters.

Printing Letterheads for Your Sales Letters and Envelopes

Printing your letterheads and envelopes depends on your printer. This can take up to two weeks. If you shop around a little, you should be able to find a printer who can do the job in a week or less. If you have a laser printer and suitable fonts this can take much less time and money. However, if you want to go first class, you will have your letterheads done with a process called thermographing. That way it looks like engraving, but you'll need to go to a printer for this.

Obtaining Mailing Lists, Fax or E-mail Lists

You should start with a list of 1,000 companies, any one of which you would be prepared to work for if aspects of the job met your requirements. I'll tell you how to develop your list in Appendix C. You do not need to know everything about these companies. Just make sure they fit your basic requirements based on what you know about them, For example, if you are looking only for a large company, you shouldn't have any small companies on your list. You will also need a similar list of executive recruiters. Preparing these lists can take several days of somewhat tedious work.

Mailing Your Letters

Mailing sales letters includes the following mundane, but necessary chores: typing the PE's name and address on both sales letters and envelopes, signing the letters, sealing and stamping the envelopes, and mailing. If you do these tasks yourself, you could spend about 5 hours per 100 letters. Therefore, if you mail sales letters to 1,000 companies and 500 executive recruiters, you can estimate 75 hours of work, or roughly nine days to complete this part of the job. Similarly, if you are going to fax or send out your sales letters electronically, there is some routine work which cannot be avoided. Consider getting some family assistance if possible, or even hiring some part-time help. Still, when you remember that the job you will obtain will be a great job, much better than you would get normally, the effort and added expense is well worth it.

Answering Advertisements

Begin to collect job advertisements the day you decide to look for a job, but don't start responding until you get your sales letters out. More than likely, you will not start answering ads until the beginning of the third week. Don't worry about this "lost time." The fact that you answer ads "late" is usually not a disadvantage.

Practicing Using the Telephone

After you have caught up on your ad answering and have it under control, start a telephone training program. You should maintain the program for as long as it rakes you to become comfortable and proficient in speaking with PE-related people on the telephone.
Shoot for talking with twenty executives (not their secretaries) per day. Try to get at least one interview a day this way. If you follow this regime every weekday for two weeks, you will have talked with 200 executives; and if you have done it right, you will have lined up at least ten interviews. These are not the
kind of interviews you may have had in the past. These are quality interviews, with a good chance that you'll get a job offer.

Meeting with Employment Agencies and Headhunters

Start setting up interviews with employment agencies and headhunters at the same time you begin your training with the telephone. Do not interview with more than five agencies unless it is for a specific job. Otherwise, your resume is likely to be scattered throughout your potential job market. Like most products that appear to be in great supply, you will not have the image of being in much demand.

Keeping Records of Sales Letter Results

Your record keeping will begin with the receipt of "rejects" about one to two weeks after you mail your first batch of sales letters. You will use these records to update your list of names (several executives will have resigned, retired, or been fired or transferred), and to start building a new mailing list of executives for a second mailing. Your records will show you how effective your sales letters are and whether you should revise them before your next mailing.