Making contact with a potential employer can be tricky if you don’t already have a way of getting your foot in the door.
How do you get someone who’s never heard of you to pay attention to you and call you back?
Here are three ways to make first contact with a potential employer.
Try to Get a Referral
By far the best way to get in the door to talk to a potential employer is through a referral.
Having a referral tells the prospective employer that someone they know trusts you, which means you’re a lot more trustworthy than someone randomly walking off the street.
The best way to find a referral into a company is through LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s search features to see if you can find any connections into the company you’re trying to get a job at.
Making Cold Contact
Making cold contact without a referral is a bit harder.
The first approach should usually be by email. Email works well if you have a direct contact with a human being. It can be much trickier if you’re emailing a “human resources department.”
Emailing an HR department will often get your resume filed away into a database. Unless you know for a fact that they’re looking to fill a position, the chances of you getting hired right away are slim.
On the other hand, if you can make contact with a human being directly, your chances of success are much higher.
Once you’ve tried emailing, the second step is to follow up with snail mail.
Snail mail sends employers the message that you’re serious and persistent. Anyone can send an email; but far fewer people go the extra mile to follow up with a real letter.
Making Phone Contact
If you’ve sent emails and letters to no avail, then the final option is to make phone contact.
Try talking to human resources first to see if they have any openings. If they do, see if you can get an interview.
Don’t be afraid to ask the person you’re talking to for advice. Often they’re not the person who’ll actually be interviewing you or making the final decision. If you make a connection, they’ll often be happy to give you a few tips.
Finally, you can always try calling the person who you may eventually be working for. However, this is risky, because most executives and managers are very busy and prefer to leave the hiring to HR.
Let’s Review
These are the three main ways you can establish contact with someone at a company you want to work for. Start by trying to build a connection or referral into the company. If that fails, use mail (electronic or snail) and phone calls to connect with people in the company.
What do you think? What other ways have you used to contact a potential employer? Leave your tips and comments in the box below.
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