Writing directly to executives is a consistently effective technique for generating interviews. At least 20 percent of all jobs are found this way, and more jobs would result from this technique if more job hunters knew about it. You can write to lots of companies (direct mail) or a few (targeted mail). The techniques are very different.
Direct contact can save time. You can quickly test your target to seeif there are job possibilities for someone like you. If you are familiar with your target area, you can develop your list, compose your letter, send it out, and start on your next target all within a matter of weeks. Most job hunters contact larger corporations, ignoring smaller firms. Yet new jobs are being created in smaller companies, so don't overlook them.
Direct contact is also the only technique that allows you to quickly contact every employer in the area that interests you. You are essentially blanketing the market. Networking, on the other hand, is spotty by nature: you get to see only those companies where your network knows someone. Direct contact is effective for an out of town job search. And this technique works whether you are employed or unemployed. It works for all job levels.
This technique is an effective one for career changers. You can state all the things that are positive about what you are offering, and leave out anything that does not help your case. Those things can be handled at the interview.
Direct contact can help you get in to see someone you know you cannot network in to see. Shelli, for example, wanted to see someone very senior in an industry in which she had no experience. But she knew the field would be a good fit for her she researched the industry and figured out how her background could fit in. She targeted six companies, and was able to network into two of them. She knew she would not be able to network into the other four companies within a reasonable time frame: it would take her months to find someone who could only possibly help her get in to see the people she'd need to see.
Instead of networking, she researched each of the four companies, wrote to the senior people she was targeting at each company, and followed up with a phone call. Because of her presentation, three of the executives agreed to see her. This saved her many months in her search. Sometimes a targeted mailing can be more effective than networking in getting in to see important people. It takes more brainpower than networking, but you already have that.
Direct contact primarily involves targeted and direct mailing, but a junior person can also go from company to company to talk to personnel departments or store managers. So long as job hunters follow up, this technique can work. An executive client of mine used this technique effectively, by walking into a small, privately owned, prestigious store, speaking with the store manager to find out the name of the president, and then calling the president. It led to an executive position with that company. This was "direct contact" because he did not use someone's name to get in to see the store manager or the president. Even when I was very young, I used direct contact to get in to see virtually anyone I wanted.
Sometimes I had trouble getting in, but people eventually saw me because I usually had a good reason, did my homework, didn't waste their time, was sincere about why I wanted to see them, and was gently persistent. It suits my personality because I am shy about using someone else's name for the core of my effort, I am comfortable about putting my effort into research and writing, and I don't have the time it takes to see a lot of people who may not be right on target for me. As I go along, I network when appropriate.
Direct contact also includes cold calls, which can work for some personalities in some industries.
We will now focus on targeted mail and direct mail:
A targeted mailing is similar to networking. You target a relatively small number of people (say, fewer than twenty or thirty) and try to see all of them, whether or not they have a job for you. Instead of having a human contact, you establish your own contact through the research you do. The meeting is handled exactly the same as a networking interview.
Direct mail is used when you have a large number of companies to contact (such as two hundred or more). You would mail a brilliant package to all of them and expect seven or eight interviews from the mailing.
