How to Always Get a Response When Applying for a Job

                                                                  By Simone Sheny

                 You do a search online, you find an interesting job, you fill out the hour and a half app., you wait to hear back, you never hear back.

Why is this?   
         
 No, it’s most likely not because you don’t have a connection within the company. Although networking is a great way to land a job, it’s not the only way.The problem: you aren’t applying the right way. 

           Forget the web application; the employer is probably avoiding them like the plague, as the large pile of applications grows higher and higher. So you are probably asking, what do you do then? It is very easy. Click out of the app…or fill it out, it definitely wont hurt you. But what you need to do if you want this job is find a human!

            In order to get a response from a potential employer you must contact a potential employer. A person in either Human Resources or the department head, the person hiring for the position, or the closest person you can find. Use your best judgement if the website application says, “do not contact us” or “please no emails or phone calls."    

        This is the approach that worked for me in the broadcasting field and it also worked for a friend of mine in the medical research field. Those are about as opposite as you can get, so it’s not just for communications that this could work. 

           I did a normal search for jobs on Indeed, Monster, etc. Then when I found the companies or news stations with the jobs I wanted I simply researched on Google, LinkedIn and the company website for their News Director. Once identified, I sent a very short and to the point email to them directly. It basically said, “This is what I do, I am interested in this position, attached you will find my resume and cover letter. Thank you for your time.” 

           Instead of waiting weeks or even months for a response, I got an email back immediately…sometimes in less than 1 minute saying they would pass my resume along to the person hiring for the specific position. In almost every case I then heard from that person in no more than one week.

            I applied for about 23 jobs in that specific field… of those 23 I sent emails to 5 “humans” and of those five I had 4 phone interviews and then 3 in person follow up interviews. From there I got 2 job offers. Pretty good stats! 

           My friend took this advice and also tried this approach. She applied for 65 clinical research jobs, then emailed a person for 42 of those jobs and heard back from 20. This was pretty recently so she is still in the interviewing process, but hey, she got interviews!            The fact that my friend and I were applying to completely different jobs in completely different areas just goes to show this approach could work for any job in any field. Broadcasting and clinical research are as far from each other as can be. 

           Always use your best judgment, as each job and company is different, but overall I think this approach is worth trying.       

Comments

natrofitness said…
Great post and advice. I like the "tell-it-like-it-is" attitude.
Rohan Hutchings said…
I would not avoid company websites. While difficult, I got a dream job by identifying the industry I wanted, the company I wanted to work for and then when the right job was advertised on its website, I pounced.

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