“Sell yourself!” is advice that is often given to job seekers who want to know how to land the next job. To some extent that is true — there is a certain amount of hustle and self-promotion that is necessary in a successful job hunt. But I want you to consider the words of sales authority Jeffrey Gitomer:
“Which do you think the customer wants, answers to their problems or your sales pitch?”
Now substitute “prospective employer” for “customer,” and that’s exact the question before you as you prepare for your job search.
The answer to the question is easy: of course, they want answers to their problems! But how often do hiring managers, HR reps, and recruiters get a string of applicants who come in saying, “I have a degree from this prestigious college!” and “I’ve worked on this project for a high-profile client and won that award!” (Probably more times than they like to recall.)
Instead of being dazzled by your credentials, their internal response may be more like, “Aren’t you full of yourself?” or “So?”
When you put the focus on yourself in the cover letter and résumé or during the interview process, you are taking out of the equation one very important party — the company you are hoping will hire you. Not exactly a good way to start building a relationship.
Fortunately, there are some easy ways to find out what kind of problems need solving at your target company:
- Read the job description.
- Read the company website.
- Read industry news.
- Read/watch news from the community where your target company’s headquarters are and in the community where the local facilities are (if the two are not the same).
- Talk with people in your network who have additional insight into the company’s needs.
- Use a free service like Glassdoor to see what is being said about your target company (keeping in mind, of course, that folks who post may have their own agenda).
Now, are you looking at that list and thinking, “I have to do that? But I’m sending out at least 100 copies of my résumé a month! How can I do that much research with all of them?” The answer to this question is also easy: don’t! Spray and pray job hunting is a very ineffective strategy, so why would you spend the majority of your time doing something that has such a low success rate?
Reduce the number of companies you are targeting, and use your extra time to go on a fact-finding mission to learn about their problems. Then take what you learn to customize your approach so you can show them how your education and experiences can be parlayed into solving their problems. That will go over much better than some slimy sales pitch.
How else have you kept from being slimy and learned about a company’s needs?
Image courtesy of Kevin Dooley
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Twitter: georgeverdolaga
says:
I wholeheartedly agree with you Melissa. Instead of mailing out a 100 resumes a month (or roughly 5 resumes per working day assuming there’s 20 working days a month), I’d recommend cutting that down to 1 or 2 per day. The amount of research done which will show in one’s cover letter, in particular. Outstanding conversationalists are simply good listeners. In a similar vein, outstanding job applicants talk about the company that they’re applying to more than themselves in their cover letters (which do still matter as you’ve said) and they take the time to customize their resumes based on their research. It’s a much slower process but it guarantees better results.
Twitter: TheJobQuest
says:
Thanks for visiting and commenting, George! I agree — for candidates to focus more on the company than on themselves is an important tactic to use in cover letters and resumes. And to do that well, the applicants need to be good listeners so they know what the company really is saying.
As far as the number of resumes that are sent out in a month, I think that would depend on other factors that go into a job hunt strategy, particularly networking. If a job seeker is developing one or two good contacts at a target company through networking, it would be better to hold off a bit on sending the resume. That’s not to say that a person waits forever to make the ask, but if the request to send a resume happens too soon in the development of a professional relationship, it could negatively impact the candidate’s chances.
Twitter: animal
says:
> Talk with people in your network who have additional insight into the company’s needs.
Most career coaches seem to assume that we all know people who know a lot about the companies we are interested in so we can always draw upon their knowledge. Maybe if you work in a specific niche you are always bound to know someone who knows someone. It would be nice to see some real life stats on that. As a recruiter, I can’t say that most of the people I call know a lot about the companies I’m recruiting for.
> Use a free service like Glassdoor to see what is being said about your target company
How many companies are well represented on Glassdoor. My guess is maybe a few big ones.
Twitter: TheJobQuest
says:
“As a recruiter, I can’t say that most of the people I call know a lot about the companies I’m recruiting for.”
Am I correct in assuming that most people don’t know which company you are going to be recruiting them for before you tell them? Then, if they have been keeping current with their network, they can go back to learn as much as they can. People have access to resources that allow them to stay connected to many folks, but if they choose not to maintain the connections (even in a cursory way on social media), it’s not going to work for them.
I agree with you that it would be difficult to find information on smaller companies on Glassdoor. However, it can be useful for other things, like getting a general sense for how salaries are running, etc.
Twitter: animal
says:
They let you in the door because of your pitch not because you can solve their problems because you don’t know their problems before you get in the door. Maybe you can find out what the problems are in company B’s audit dept through your connections in the auditor society but for some reason I’ve never run into people who have that kind of info. Now, I don’t deal with job hunters; I recruit people who arent looking. But, even so, when they go out to an interview they are seriously considering a move — and they still don’t know that info. In fact, I can’t usually get it from the hiring manager.
Twitter: TheJobQuest
says:
I wouldn’t guess a company would say directly, “These are the problems we have!” It would expose vulnerabilities that they probably don’t want to get out to the general public.
However, it’s possible to read between the lines, especially with a job posting. Say a company has an opening because someone was fired for poor performance. I am quite sure that the job description would be revisited and rewritten to ensure that the next person who is hired will have the skills that the former employee lacked. Or if they are looking for someone with a specific talent because of an issue they are having, again that would be included in the job description so they a better chance of hiring a person who can help them with the problem. Being able to pick up on the subtleties is important.
You said, “They let you in the door because of your pitch not because you can solve their problems because you don’t know their problems before you get in the door.” A pitch that is all bling, no substance won’t cut it. If they can’t picture you doing the job and solving their problems, they won’t give it to you.
I appreciate your comments! It’s always good to discuss the issues and see other perspectives.