Yes, yes & yes!
Obviously there are going to be challenges in reaching the right person, as these days it is rarely clear who the actual recruiter or hiring manager is, from an on-line job ad.
However, follow these steps if the recruiter or point of contact isn’t named:
1) Check out the company on LinkedIn and run a search to see who the likely recruiter might be. In a larger company – check out the HR, or recruiter types who can be effectively controlling the process, or maybe check out the product or business lead, the people who might be heading up the function where the job might sit. You don’t have to connect with them on LinkedIn, but it’s a good idea to and then you can message them if you don’t have any success on the phone.
2) Wherever possible – always, always try the phone call. Yes it’s daunting, but more often than you might think, the person that is sat on your CV, won’t have yet got to it, or might have read it, but the detail wasn’t clear to them why you are THE candidate, so by showing initiative and confidence to actually call, demonstrates a huge positive, one that you will never get from an email overture. Just today, I was looking at a CV and had mentally moved on from the particular CV, as the technology I was looking for in this particular case, wasn’t apparent to me, by a quick scan of the CV. However the candidate rang and hey presto, in conversation told me exactly what I was looking for & had overlooked.
3) These days although it might not feel like it, companies (reputable ones – the ones that you want to be working for) are very aware of social media and also on-line review tools such as Glassdoor, which gives candidates insight into companies and their candidate application effectiveness. It’s a bit like Yelp for the job scene.
Most companies will have a twitter account or a facebook page for the purposes of interacting with customers and you are no different to a customer. Remember that. Just because you want something from them – a job, it does not mean that you are not ultimately a customer or a brand advocate for the company in some shape or form. If you are really having difficulty getting a response, do post or tweet a polite enquiry. But – only if you are ultra confident that you are absolutely the right candidate for the role and that the application isn’t just another random one that you chanced your arm with! **this subject quantity over quality applications will be the subject of the next blog**
But I have to come back to the good old fashioned phone – almost forgotten in our digital 2015 world. Nothing beats showing the company that you have the boldness to pick up the phone and engage in a conversation. How else are you going to get yourself above the parapet and get noticed amongst the plethora of other candidates sat in the inbox or worse, the electronic on-line application system!
Do it – you’re doing the recruiter a favour! It’s one less task for them in their busy schedule.