Cold Cover Letters

[HornTootinEE]

I think this has been covered before, so please forgive me if I repeat something covered prior. So a few questions:

-Does anyone have expierience sending out cold resumes and cover letters to employers? By cold I mean sending them your stuff without a specific job posting.
-Does this appear desperate?
-Does this put you at the mercy of the company, taking all your negotating powers away?
-Has anyone had good/bad expierences with this as either the hiring manager that got a cold letter and resume or the person sending it that they would be able to share?

I'm about ready to start doing the cold letter thing, but don't have any clue how it will work out. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[KENAT]

- Yes
- No (not clear why it would unless you make yourself sound desperate in the cover letter/resume)
- No (not clear why it would unless you make yourself sound desperate in the cover letter/resume)
- My CV/Resume landed on the desk of a tech director in a small company looking for someone the very morning they were planning on putting an add in the local paper (1999). This turned out to be my first job.

- My CV also got an interview from a larger company around the same time but they dragged their feet so I went with the small company before even going to the interview for the larger place.

Even though you may not know who your resume will be going to (though if you can get hold of a name, or at least job title, to send it to that may be better) write a cover letter based on what you can find out about the company and what you think you could do to them or what they do that interests you etc.

However, most folks probably figure the above is the exception not the norm. Then again, my second job I got off having my resume on Monster or one of those web sites which is also considered the exception no the norm. Maybe I'm just exceptional;-).

Also, as so many places prefer you to email your resume or submit it on their website these days, there's a chance many of your applications will get tossed without reaching anyone relevant. Even knocking on doors, they may refuse to take your resume and tell you to apply online.

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[MortenA]

If you are considering some spamming scheme ;-) then i would recommend it. But a targeted application to a company where you really would like to work, addressed to the right person may stand a decent chance!

One more suggestion, IF you mass mail then remember that if you add the e-mail addresses in the BCC field then the other recipients wont be able to see who you also send to!

Best regrads

Morten

 

[ewh]

Do not use email for this. It is better that they have a hard copy in their hands, and it stands a chance of being looked at before deleted.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[MadMango]

Cold cover letters and CV/resumes should be snail mailed. I did this when I first left the military, and out of the 60 or so that I sent off, it netted me 5 interviews, 2 offers, and 1 job. It is worth it.

Your negotiation prowess will not be diminished, as sending a CV/resume is just the first step. You can negotiate during the first interview (if going well), or anytime after that. As a manager I have received them, and the good ones were always contacted, thanked, and kept for when we were in a hiring position.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[KENAT]

Ok, so just to clarify then, I was talking about good old fashioned tree destroying hard copy.

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[msquared48]

Why would you ever use petrified wood KENAT?

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[MadMango]

So he can throw his CV through a window pane?

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Maybe Ken's resume is so old it has petrified? ;-)

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[msquared48]

That's cold!

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[ewh]

No offense intended KENAT... I thought you were greener than that!
I was refering to Mortens post.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[mechengdude]

Seee responses below

Does anyone have expierience sending out cold resumes and cover letters to employers? YES By cold I mean sending them your stuff without a specific job posting.
-Does this appear desperate? Probably
-Does this put you at the mercy of the company, taking all your negotating powers away? You're never at the mercy of the company. You have the power to do what ever you chose.
-Has anyone had good/bad expierences with this as either the hiring manager that got a cold letter and resume or the person sending it that they would be able to share? Sent out lots of cold letters when I graduated about 20 years ago. I also actually cold called office buidlings. I had zero success.

I wouldn't waste the time with formal cover letters and resuimes for a cold call. I'd spend the time networking; go to a local CAD user group meeting, attend a church event. Anything to talk with other people. Someone always knows of a job opening.

good luck

 

[graybeach]

Never done it. But where I work, a cold resume that looks good might just end up on the desk of the applicable discipline director. Just make sure your grammar and punctuation are impeccable. Being a buyers marked these days, we toss poorly written resumes and cover letters.

 

[csd72]

I would definately recomment this approach, this is how I got both my jobs while in the US, actually both from the same mailing run. I had a job lined up 2 weeks before I had the rights to work!

Pick your desired target area (geographically or specialty) and start there followed by the second best and so on. I focused on everything within 50 miles first and started with the nearest ones.

I would recommend trying to call them first and then asking to whom you should address it, if you do not get a positive response then push to send a copy of your CV for their records (this is how I got the second job).

If you cannot get through then resort to a dear john letter starting with something like "I am a ...engineer with ..years experience in ... and am looking for a .. role in the consulting field."

Try to find their website and target these letters towards the type of work that they do.

As far as being on the back foot, this is all in your attitude.

Good luck and dont give up.

 

[macmet]

I got both of my last two jobs by sending out resumes to companies that were not posting any positions. The last time I took a job I had two offers in front of me when I made my decision, both of them were from companies I sent cold resumes too.

Also want to mention that one of the offers was from a company that I had sent a resume too months before. I thought they just ignored it, but I guess they liked it and when something became available they gave me a call. So don't get discouraged if you don't hear back from them right away.

Good luck.

 

[Ron]

Nothing wrong with it. As Greybeach noted, make sure it is impeccable. I don't give a second look to a resume with typos, incorrect spelling or bad grammar. Those habits are not worth the effort to correct...so in the can.

 

[SiliconeAurora]

I don't understand why you would need to send totally cold cover letters / resumes. Assuming you at least google the company and you're an engineer (cuz, ya know, it's eng-tips.com) you know roughly the type of job you're applying for. You can be vague and open, highlighting other skills you have that may apply to other areas of the company, but if they're only looking for positions you don't even remotely mention, you probably wouldn't find your skills very useful there or have much fun even if they did want to hire you.

As one of the apparently few younger people around here, I scoff at the snail mail resume only mentality. Most serious companies have an online application and the ones that don’t are usually very specific about how they want you to email your word-compatible documents. Compared to sending a to-whom-it-may-concern letter in the mail that may or may not get lost in the infinite growing pile of uninteresting stuff that we all say we'll do sooner or later, I have relative faith that an online application will end up where it needs to go. It’s gotten me all the jobs I've had thusfar in fairly little hassle. You older types gotta learn to embrace these fancy electric boxes

 

[csd72]

SiliconeAurora,

Emails are much easier to delete than to physically throw away a hardcopy. They are also much easier to get lost amongst the quagmire of other information.

As it will be one of the older engineers who is going to be the one reviewing it then I would think perhaps it would be wisest to listen to those of similar age and background

ps: I am grey haired but still far from old

 

[KENAT]

Silicone Aurora.

The question was about etiquette etc. of sending out resumes cold.

It wasn't about the best way to find a job etc.

The online black holes that are many large companies online recruiting tools don't seem to me any better way of applying than submitting hard resumes. If nothing else, the online sort is automatically send straight to HR. A hard copy, if you're lucky and maybe a little inventive with how you address it, stands at least a chance of getting into the hands that will actually understand half the stuff on your resume first.

Plus many smaller employers don't have such sites, and may not even have an HR contact email or similar on their website, if they even have one.

There is a whole wide world outside of the Interweb, and if we were serious about 'most effective way to find a job' many folks seem to think networking is the way to go.

Please keep your smart a$$ ageist remarks to your self, and I'm not exactly decrepit either.

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(probably not aimed specifically at you)
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