Scheduling your own pitch for a job can be so awkward and requires a whole new level of confidence. However, sometimes that may be your best option.
However awkward it may sound, with the right amount of preparation met with the right opportunity, it can turn out to be a success.
How do you make the right preparations when you want to cold call a prospective employer?
How to Successfully Cold Call a Prospective Employer
Send in your resume and your cover letter ahead of time. This way, you are able to establish a line of communication between yourself and the company. It would be helpful to inform beforehand that you are going to follow up on the resume and cover letter.
Your resume and your cover letter already give the company a sneak peek into your qualifications and your experience which they can then adjudge if is a good fit for the company.
Go through the department managers rather than HR personnel. If you really need a job, it would be more advised to connect with the people who make the actual decision about who gets hired into their department than the HR staff. If you are able to sell yourself to the managers, you are in a safer position to sell yourself to the hiring manager.
Make Your Opening Pitch “Very” Convincing. Emphasis is on very. Making a cold call during a job search is essential marketing. This time not a product, but yourself. Your opening pitch has to be compelling because you may not get another chance at making such a pitch.
To do that, you have to be cool, calm and collected, and you should be able to articulate why you’re a good hire for the company.
Anticipate Objections. Be prepared to meet with active resistances. Be ready to meet with antagonistic measures that will be taken, be ready for opposing views to your statements.
In simpler terms, someone will try to frustrate your effort.
It is Best to Connect via Referrals. Making a cold call to someone whom you have zero connections with can be considered creepy, the person may think they are being stalked. Reach out to your connections (friends, family, acquaintances) to connect you with a hiring manager you will make a pitch to.
When you connect with a prospective employer via a referrer, you can refer to your referrer in your opening statement.
What Next? Try to follow up by knowing the next step to take like who to meet next. If there’s no job opening, you can request to be kept informed if there’s any future job opening.
Follow Up with a Thank You Note. As is proper interview etiquette, learn to follow up with a thank you note. The thank you note helps you reaffirm your interest in the position. On the thank you note, you can also include information you didn’t mention during the interview.
Don’t Let Up. Tough times never last but tough people do. Many discouraging events may occur but don’t let up. Sometimes, you may find it very hard to get in touch with the hiring manager. Some other times, your efforts may be denounced but don’t be discouraged. If one employer doesn’t open, you knock on other doors.
Note that there is a thin line between persistence and pestering. Don’t exceed three calls to a particular employer.
Conclusion
The best way to cold call is to do so through people within your circle. People who are in your network of friends, acquaintances, or family. It is a more effective method of cold calling when you can meet the hiring manager physically.
You can try out cold calling a few prospects within your business network as practice makes perfect. You can perfect your skills in cold calling by practicing with different employers.
