Fool.com: Foolish Job Hunting (Fribble) July 27, 1998

Monday, July 27, 1998

Foolish Job Hunting
By George Runkle
([email protected])

Even in today's booming economy, finding a job isn't the easiest thing in the world. First you have to get hooked up with the right job, which is not easy. Next, you have to convince the future employer that you are the right person for the job. That's very hard too. How does one do this?

There is the Wise approach: send a bunch of resumes to the Human Resources departments in big companies. The H.R. people will notice your resume, call you in for a screening interview, and refer you to the proper department head. That person will read your resume, interview you, and put you right in the perfect job. Too bad it doesn't work that way. I spoke to one H.R. person here in Pittsburgh, and asked her how many resumes she gets in a week. She told me she gets about 600 a week, which she doesn't consider a lot.

Let's look at the odds on this. Figure our H.R. person works 40 hours a week. She might spend 20 hours a week on personnel issues such as employee benefits, disciplinary problems, and other mundane items that suck down the time in Human Resources. Figure 10 hours a week in screening interviews, and writing up the notes from them. That gives her 10 hours a week to review resumes. According to my calculator, that gives her one-minute per resume. I wouldn't gamble my life savings on her finding my resume with those odds, would you? Well, if this is the only way you look for a job, you already have gambled your future on this.

You can also answer ads in the paper. Now, there are some disagreements on whether this is worthwhile. Nick Corcodilos who runs our "Ask the Headhunter" forum says it's a waste of time. On the other hand, another corporate recruiter (or headhunter) I know, Robin Richardson of Nouveau Consulting in Atlanta, disagrees. She feels that all avenues should be explored, and every approach should be used. She says a headhunter will use numerous methods to find suitable candidates for a job, and so should you. Just because an approach doesn't statistically yield high results doesn't mean it should be ignored. Who is right?

According to the book, "What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard Nelson Bolles, 5 out of 100 answers to want ads results in a job. Not good odds, but Richard Bolles recommends multiple approaches also. Confused by this, I went back to Nick. Nick compares sending out resumes to zillions of want ads to getting cancer treatment in some hokey clinic in Mexico. Possibly harmless, but more than likely a waste of time. Worse, the time wasted can pull you away from the real treatment. I think I'll go with the approach Richard Bolles takes, and spend the most time on the most effective methods of finding a job. I've sent resumes in to want ads, and I would do it again, as long as it didn't take up time from more effective approaches. Since many want ads carry fax numbers, it's nothing to use a fax modem to spam out a few resumes here and there. Just don't hold your breath waiting on a response.

Now, Nick does agree that other methods of job searching are very important, and give better results. Networking is very good, a 34% success rate according to Bolles. I was surprised by how many people I know in my business, and I did get one job offer from a former college friend of mine. I personally have hired two people that came to me through networking, and it worked well. I felt more comfortable with hiring them because I felt I knew them better than other applicants. Also, contacts through professional societies are very helpful. Through such organizations, you can find out what companies are hiring, be introduced to decision-makers in companies that are doing the hiring, and get valuable references. Also, you may find yourself introduced to somebody who is looking for an applicant with your abilities.

What if you don't have a good network, or the opportunity to belong to professional societies? Cold calling is very good. The statistics are good on it too; according to Bolles, it works 47% of the time. Isn't that amazing? Has it worked for me? Yes, several times it has. Develop a list of companies that you are interested in, and flat out call them and ask if they need to hire a person like you. One book I read suggested you pretend you're doing research in order to get past the "gate keepers" in a company. That's a good idea if you want the humiliation of being thrown out of an office.

In conclusion, to save yourself a lot of aggravation and wasted time, I suggest you take a trip to our Ask the Headhunter area and read up on Nick's writings. It will save you some wasted time, and help get you the job you want.