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Thursday, 29 July 2010 |
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The hidden jobs market: creating opportunities
Sunday, 2 March 2003
Okay, this is the big one. By now you should have read the previous two hidden jobs market articles, How employers like to look for staff and Building up contacts. If not, go back and read those articles before continuing.
You should now understand the preferred methods employers use to find staff and decided you're going to make your way up to method #2 - 'get someone from outside who the employer knows, or at least comes highly recommended by someone the employer trusts'. You should also have begun building up a list of contacts in your dedicated professionals contact database. Here's how to use your new knowledge and data to start the dollars rolling in.
Select twenty key contacts from your database, those you feel are most likely to be in a position to offer you work. Then, write and address a simple letter of introduction to them. Include your resume with the letter. An example of this letter might be:
Dear [Contact's name]
You have been recommended as a person who may be able to help me find contracting opportunities in Sydney.
I am a Java Programmer with six years experience. My last contract was with Acme Financial Corporation where I built a search engine for their intranet, among other things. I enclose my resume to give you an idea of my career so far.
I am trying to identify companies in Sydney who are implementing similar projects and may be able to use my skills. Would you be able to spare five minutes to help me with this?
I'll call in two days to discuss this further. Thanks for you time.
Regards
Fred Nurk
You can modify the above to fit your own circumstances. Wait for a couple of days, then call the contact. It isn't a cold call, because you've already let them know you were going to call. If you get their voicemail, hang up and call again later. Keep calling until you get through. When you do get through, say the following:
Hi there
My name's Fred Nurk. I'm a Java Programmer. My I sent you a letter a couple of days ago with my resume. I just wanted to ask you a few quick questions regarding contracting opportunities in Sydney. Do you have five minutes? Good.
- How do you usually recruit contractors?
- Are you interested in recruiting contractors directly, or do you prefer to work through an agency?
- Do you have a list of approved agencies?
- Do you use Java Programmers?
- What kind of Java projects are you working on at the moment?
- Can you recommend anyone I should contact who may be looking for Java Programmers at the moment?
- What skills are most in demand at your site at present?
- What do you think of my resume? Can you recommend a way to improve it?
- Do you think there might be any opportunities in your company for someone with my skill set?
When you have finished asking your questions and hung up, immediately update your contacts database with any information they've provided. Send a thank you card to the contact (this is very important). If the person gave you any relevant contacts, send them a letter and call them as well.
Like many new experiences, you may find doing the above uncomfortable at first. Keep it up though, and it will soon become second nature. People like being helpful, and low-pressure sales tactics like these are unlikely to get the phone slammed down on you.
Your chances of landing a job immediately with this method are not that high, but you have demonstrated initiative, a quality all managers like. The contact will now have you firmly in mind and will likely call you next time an opportunity arises. You should touch base with them every couple of months. If you keep this up, you will soon have high visibility with many of the key decision makers in your city. You are likely to start getting calls and offers for work. These calls may be months down the road, but they will come.
This method definitely takes more guts and work than the standard job searching method of looking on the internet and approaching agencies. This is part of the reason why it's so effective; 95% of your competitors won't be using it, giving you a definite advantage.
If you need motivation to swallow your fear of the unknown and start using this method, pull out your calculator and work out how much a direct contract without an agency would be worth to you. Here's the calculation for Fred Nurk:
Fred's standard rate through an agency was $60 an hour.
He spent 40 hours using the method above to find new work.
He was offered a contract at $80 hour (the standard $60 without the agents 25% cut).
He worked in the contract for a full year, earning him $36,800 on top of what he'd have earned if he worked through an agency.
The 40 hours he spent on the method above therefore earned him $920 an hour.
The above calculation does not take into account that Fred spent less time out of work as a result of using this method. It also does not take into account the fact that, even when he was in work, Fred spent 10 hours every three months using the method above to keep a high profile with his contacts. Before Fred knew it, he was turning down new and lucrative work on a regular basis. If the calculation took these two factors into account, his hourly earnings for taking this initiative would probably be even higher.
The above examples concentrated on using this method for contract workers, the method works equally well for permanent workers though. Keep a high profile as a permie, and you'll likely get offered opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise have. Your career may well become meteoric.
Paul Knapp (editor@brainbox.com.au)
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