In this post, we’re going to talk about how to fill those gaps in your Job Search Follow-up Email by finding the Target Person.

In a previous post, we talked about how the internet can hinder an effective job search. The Internet acts as a barrier between you and your target.

When you upload your resume and cover letter to XYZ Corporation’s website, or email your application to humanresources@xyzcorp.com, you are lucky if even get an automatically generated response acknowledging that your application was received. If that is as far you go with your efforts, then chances are strong that this is the last you will hear from XYZ Corporation. Your application could become one of hundreds of daily entries into a database or someone’s mailbox.

Sadly, you can never be sure that there is a human being on the other end reading your application.

This is why you must extend your reach to the Target Person. The Target Person is the human being responsible for hiring for your position. Instead of relying on the same channels everyone else uses, you must establish direct contactwith the Target Person. Locating the Target Person takes research.

Through the Internet and phone calls directly to your target company, find the name, address, phone number and email address of the person who is actually responsible for hiring for your position. When searching the company’s website, use keywords such as “employment”, “careers,” “jobs”, “hiring”, “human resources”, “HR”, or “positions”.

When calling the company’s switchboard, try saying, “I am hoping you can help me. I am interested in speaking with the person responsible for hiring for a (sales, production, management, etc) position. Can you tell me the name of the person responsible for hiring for that position? Is there an email address I can use?”

If they transfer you to someone else, do the same thing again. Use a friendly voice and sincerely ask for help. You will be surprised at how many nice, helpful people there are out there. The most important thing is to be persistent. Eventually you will find someone willing and able to help you.

If the position is attractive enough, consider visiting the company and befriending the receptionist. Bringing candy or flowers is a time honored tactic, and can be very effective in unlocking closely held secrets, such as, “Who is my target person?”


Creativity, resourcefulness and an amount of audacity will come in very handy when you are on your mission to locate and contact the Target Person.

Once you have all the necessary information on your Target Person, add it to your job search reminder email. Now you’re just about ready to establish a direct line of communication with the Target Person. In doing so, you will add huge additional value to your job application, and will you boost your chances dramatically.

Next time, we’ll talk about how to use this contact information and increase your value in a section called “Program Your Follow-Ups.”

iTickleMe Job Search GUARANTEE:
 
Follow this plan for 4 months, initiating at least 10 new contacts every day (this is easy once you get the hang of it). If you don’t have a job at the end of 4 months of implementing this program and you wish to discontinue service, simply notify us at support@iTickleMe.com and we will refund your $19.95 in full! You have nothing to lose, and a lifetime of rewarding employment to gain. You owe it to yourself and your family to sign up right now!
 
The most powerful tool you can have in your job search is iTickleMe Email Reminders.You can try it free for 90 days.

Let’s say you receive a Job Search Follow-up Emails from 4d@iTickleMe.com. You will know from this that you need to perform step “4d”. Look at the task you assigned yourself for 4d. It might be “Follow-up call”.

Pick up the phone and call. The contact name and phone number, plus the full history is right there on the email. You won’t have to rummage around to find the background history. In seconds, you will be up to speed and running.

What if the person is on vacation or away? Don’t despair, this will be a common occurrence. Just leave a voicemail explaining who you are and the reason for your call, and say you will call back in a week. Forward a copy of your job search email to 1w@iTickleMe.com, with a note to yourself at the top such as “Left message 1/19/2009 that I will call back in a week”. A week later you will receive a reminder to make that call. Get the idea?

If you are lucky enough to make contact with the Target Hiring Person, be sure to get quickly to the point and respect his/her time. You have 3 steps to cover in a very short time:

Three “Must Accomplish” Goals of a Job Search Follow-Up Call

1. In a friendly tone, give your name and a brief history to remind the Target Hiring Person who you are. Allow them time to respond to what you are saying.
2. Be sure to express how interested you are in working for that specific company, and be complimentary of the company in some way.
3. Ask for an appointment, even if it is an informal five minute face-to-face in the lobby. Make it easy for the Target to agree by saying something to the effect of, “I will be in your area Thursday. May I come by for a few minutes and meet you?”

Record the results of your conversation at the top of the Job Search Reminder Email. Be sure to include the date, the name of the contact, and a thumbnail of the conversation. Also, don’t forget to write the next step in your follow-up, with your plan for when this step should occur.

Sample note in Job Search Reminder Email:

2/1/2010 Spoke 10 min w/ Mrs. Perkins. Nice lady. From Kansas City, like Mom.
No hiring for 3 weeks. Ok to call her after that. Call her in 4w.

Have you figured out that you will now send the Job Search Follow-Up Email to 4w@iTickleMe.com? You are getting in the swing, my friend!

Notice that in an abbreviated fashion, your summary of the conversation carries lots of meaning that you will use in your next call. Next time you can ask how the hiring freeze was going, did it end on schedule? If Mrs. Perkins doesn’t seem too rushed, you might venture a personal comment such as, “I was thinking about that you said you were from Kansas City. When I went to Kansas City as a kid, we always used to go to Swope Park. What a great place. Is it still there?” If she wants to talk, let her. You are building a relationship! Then you can move on to points # 2 and #3 above. Get that face-to face-meeting!

Implement all of your Job Search Follow-up tasks as they come due. This is a must. Once you get the Job Search Follow-up Email, don’t let it linger in your inbox. Use it to refresh yourself of all you need to know, then execute the task at hand. The follow-up tasks are not very difficult, but they will be coming at you fast and furious.


In addition, initiate a minimum of 10 new contacts every single day. In just one month, you will have hundreds of job prospects in your system. You will be processing follow-ups like a pro, and you will be massively effective. Remember that for whatever you do, you will be the beneficiary, so give this everything you’ve got!

Work this Job Search Management Program for only four months, and you will be poised to get at least one, if not more than one job offer. If you don’t have your dream job at that point, keep going. You will have planted, and will continue to plant a field full of promising seeds, and they will undoubtedly bear fruit. If you maintain the job search program diligently, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you will result in an interview, and, eventually, an offer!

iTickleMe Job Search GUARANTEE:

Follow this plan for 4 months, initiating at least 10 new contacts every day (this is easy once you get the hang of it). If you don’t have a job at the end of 4 months of implementing this program and you wish to discontinue service, simply notify us at support@iTickleMe.com and we will refund your $19.95 in full! You have nothing to lose, and a lifetime of rewarding employment to gain. You owe it to yourself and your family to sign up right now!
 
The most powerful tool you can have in your job search is iTickleMe Email Reminders.Try it free.