More Aggressive Approach 2

[preludemd]

Ok, I've been doing an online search for a little while now and I thought about what may be considered a more aggressive approach and I would like some of your opinions on whether or not it would be worth a try. I've been targeting a couple of particular states south of where I live for my job search. I'm thinking about planning a little vacation/road trip to those states to see what the areas are like and to personally deliver my resume to a few target companies along with what other companies I may find. Do you think that I may get a better response from this method?

Sean

 

[JAE]

You probably, at least, would get a good vacation. I tried this approach some time ago - but preceeded it with a letter to the firms announcing my trip to their city and asking for an interview....sort of like: "I will be in your city the week of _____ to _____ and would be very interested in meeting with you at a time of your convenience."

Sometimes I'd get letters back saying "No thanks" and others saying "yes, let's meet" and some with no answer. The no answer ones you could consider for cold calls but that many times just ticks them off with you showing up unannounced and interfering with their schedule for the day.

 

[a3a]

I'd say go for it. I've had luck with this situation. However, I would suggest emailing a resume and a preliminary chat on the phone first.

If they have any interest in you from your resume and call, then you can usually bet that they would be willing to meet you. Why? Because they don't have to think about interview costs. Interview costs for me (entry-level) were the biggest hurdle when applying for out of state positions.

But, when visiting a friend out of state once, I landed a few interviews with cold calls and a hand delivered resume. They were all very causal "spur of the moment" type interviews (and I got a few offers).

You may want to consider that if you don't make contact with them first, then you could waste your vacation time nocking on doors.

Another option is to check the states out, go back home, and then apply after you made your choice.

 

[TheTick]

Talk to a tax accountant first. You can probably deduct a fair portion of the expenses for the trip.

 

[4tuna]

JAE and a3a are on the right track. Announce your trip first by sending your resume with a cover letter stating when you will be in town. If you get no response before your trip, call the office the day before you arrive. Even if they say they have no postions available, ask if there is someone who might sit down with you for just a few minutes to talk about the company.

At our firm, hiring managers never meet with anyone on a cold call. However, if someone is sends a resume and says they will be in town, we often say "Well, they're going to be here, so why not talk with them for a few minutes and see what they are like". This happens even with resumes that may appear mediocre or may not fit our current requirements. You never know what you are going to get until you meet someone.

 

[jmw]

You have nothing to lose! I take it you have researched your targets pretty thoroughly before hand so you should show up knowledgable and pique their interest.

Actually, the novelty of the approach may be the hook you need to get you in the door.

One thing might be to try an approach to someone senior enough not to be able to see you but well able to delegate. Don't give them the option of seeing you or not seeing you, give someone the option of seeing you or delegating soemone else to see you.

Caution, this is a good ploy for selling (of which this is a variant) and the key is to get face to face with someone on the inside, but i haven't actually tried it. You can try out some of these tactics on a couple of "throw-away comanies" i.e. companies that it will be no great shakes if they slam some doors in your face. Once you have your act honed you can use your new skills on your targeyt companies. This also is good marketing/ customer servoice or anything else. Develop a strategy, try it where it can't hurt then move on to the key target area.

Oh yes, let us know how you get on and have agood holiday.

JMW

http://www.viscoanalyser.com

 

[preludemd]

I would like to thank everyone for replying to my post. This trip is a month or so away so I still have time to do some research. I may get a job almanac with a list of companies and search for the ones in the areas that I'm targeting. Since I am still young...just turned 27 yesterday, I don't have the amount of experience that companies are looking for so I need every edge that I can get. Especially since I'm looking into jobs that I don't have experience for except for process engineering but I would like to get into product deveolpment and I'm finding it to be very hard to cross over.

Thanks again,

Sean

 

[bubb375]

Sean-

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm 28 and looking for a job further south too. Now I've go alot of great ideas of how to go about it.

Brian

 

[plasgears]

Caution;

You should do some research on places where you would like to live. Years ago I got a book "Finding the Best Place to Live for You." It included ~20 categories for evaluating cities across the country, including hurricane/ earthquake/ tornado, housing, taxes, job factors, crime, climate, ethnicity, etc. I came up with the mid south for my set of requirements.

You can even add weight to the various categories, e.i., marking job factors double, etc. You can even include your current city as part of the tentative selections. It was surprising how badly my current city measured up. In fact, all big cities don't measure up to smaller cities.

This system was made to order for engineers, who like to calculate outcomes instead of using only intangible factors and hearsay.

 

[DRC1]

I did this when I was 27. Drove from Albany to Baltimore, D.C. & Norfolk. It was a tough time and work was scarce. Got very good interviews, but no offers. Still I think it was a good idea. Ithink if a couple of places had picked up a little work, I would have gotten a job. I picked out a few specific companies, researched them and only did one interview a day so I could stay as long as I needed. Some lasted several hours with tours of jobsites. It was a lot of fun. It also showed the companies I was willing to work to get a job, so I would probably work well oncve I got a job.

 

[EngineerDave]

Great thread. Remember in the job search it is up to you to get your name out there. That next phone call, interview could be the winner!

 

[ludikris]

preludemd
I did this same things a few years ago while I was headed to visit some friends. Unforunately, nothing came of it, but I still think it's a good idea. I would give the company plenty of time to respond to you and set up a suitable time and place to meet you.

My experience have been short, spur of the moment trips with only a week or two notice (if that), so I believe that to have hurt my chances. I am travelling again this weekend and sent my resume to several different companies with a request for a meeting, so I'll let you know Tuesday how it went!

E-

 

[plasgears]

It's that last good call that gets you the job. Treat every contact as THE call.

 

[preludemd]

Well, I did this quite backwards and I'm glad that I did. I went to check out Augusta, GA earlier this week without sending any resumes out. I liked the town, it looked like a nice place to live and the cost of living is quite acceptable but wasn't totally impressed and I knew I wouldn't be completely happy there. Please don't take this as a sound judgement on this city. It honestly is a beautiful area, it was just missing one thing....Shoreline. So I've changed my approach, I'm going to check areas first before I decide to apply to jobs there. I'm going to find an area, check the quality of education, industry, etc... then I'll make an attempt to find a job there.