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Warming Up to Cold-Calling

By Debra Feldman, JobWhiz. Debra Feldman, a personal talent agent or "reverse recruiter," is the Founder of JobWhiz, a career management consultancy for senior executives that compresses job search time by connecting candidates directly to the right inside decision makers at target employers for a smoother, swifter landing.

When it comes to cold-calling, most people avoid it like the plague, but it's an important part of any successful job-hunting campaign. Follow these tips to make your cold-calling easier and more successful.

It's rare to find anyone who is 100 percent at ease making cold calls; it's rarer still to hear that anyone actually enjoys this task. Combine the usual stress of making unsolicited contact with the high anxiety level associated with job hunting and it's a recipe for a pretty stressful experience.

Wouldn't it be great if cold-calling would just go away? That might save you some discomfort, but you'd be abandoning one of the best means of identifying unadvertised opportunities. Cold-calling is one of the few proven techniques for entering the hidden job market-finding new opportunities that are either not advertised or created just for a particular candidate. And it's a terrific way for a prospective employee to get their name on the list for the next available opening. Unsolicited inquiries also bypass recruiting costs for the employer, which can make a candidate even more attractive from a financial perspective.

Given the substantial and proven powers of cold-calling as an effective job-search tool, the inconveniences are definitely outweighed by the potential benefits. So if you can't beat 'em, then join the cold-calling brigade! Plan ahead to minimize nerves and maximize the potential for positive results. Here are a few tips to make your cold-calling easier and more effective!

Target the right company. To maximize your potential for success, choose a target company that would benefit from your skills and knowledge. The closer you fit the profile of an ideal candidate, the easier it will be to sell yourself to this employer. Match your background, interests, and talents to the target company's industry and apparent strategy as well as the challenges faced by the company that your particular skills can address.
Prepare your script. Plan what you are going to say ahead of time. Prepare some notes to guide your introductory statements and have a contingency message for voice mail, an assistant, or someone else answering the phone. Be prepared with relevant information based on your company research. Have some business small talk ready to share as a warm-up, rather than charging ahead with your request for job-hunting help.
Practice. Rehearse what you plan to say until you are comfortable, and make sure that you include the essentials like your name, telephone number, best time to call you, and purpose for calling. Stand up and project your voice. Call your own voice mail as a test run.
Target the right contact. Initiate contact with a company representative who is most appropriate for your level and desired contribution. Usually this means finding someone in a functional or operational role who will be able to quickly assess your capabilities and recognize that you can bring value to their organization. While you may contact HR to boost your status in response to an advertised position, HR is not the ideal place to learn about unadvertised jobs. HR is more likely to screen you out than to add you to the candidate headcount. In order to become privy to insider leads, contact and begin to cultivate a relationship with a company insider who will champion your interests and help you meet other employees. Targeting the right relationship with company insiders will give you a competitive advantage over other candidates. Just don't expect instant results-networking through cold-calling is an investment made to develop contacts with individuals who can assist you with your career. If you establish relationships with one or more people affiliated with your target employers, the chances are excellent that they will, at some point, clue you in to an inside job lead.
Timing is critical. If you sense that the person answering the phone is distracted or not cooperating, it's okay to graciously end the call, politely arranging to call back at a more convenient time. Make a note to yourself to try calling again after you've figured out how to avoid interrupting this person again (e.g., ask their assistant for an appointment).
Be tactful. Don't begin your call by asking if there are any job openings. Rather, emphasize that you are hoping to make connections with people in your industry. The purpose of cold-calling is to expand your network to include contacts at your target companies. First get the right person, then get them to like and want to help you, and then begin to talk about your interest in working with them at their company. Explain why you are contacting them, how you selected them and got their contact information, and how you would like them to help you-or better yet, how you can help them. Try to make this a two-way, mutually gratifying exchange. Remember to emphasize what you can do to make their lives better, not what they can do for you.
Mention mutual connections. Cold calls get warmer when you can say that you know someone in common, have a mutual interest or affiliation, saw an article by the person you're calling, or heard them speak at an event. Thus, a little research goes far in smoothing the introduction with some confidence-boosting small talk. Most people are flattered that someone knows about them professionally. Just be mindful that you aren't interrupting and are sensitive to the timing of your call. It may not be that they won't speak to you, but simply that you called at an inconvenient moment.
Maintain the right attitude. Don't be discouraged when a cold call doesn't get results the first time. Cold-calling is a very effective way of expanding your network of business contacts with the added benefit of connecting you to people who might have a job lead now or in the future. Think of it as a worthwhile time investment creating relationships with individuals who have ties to your target employers. This is not all about instant results-scheduling an immediate job interview or getting your resume read-it's about making connections that eventually may help you find a new opportunity. Rome wasn't built in a day; it takes patience to find the right person with whom you have something in common both professionally and personally. Lasting, trusting relationships reward the participants helping one another.
Be persistent. Everyone is busy, and it is often challenging to reach someone at work and have a conversation. If you don't get through on the first couple of attempts, call early or late in the day, send an e-mail requesting a callback, get the administrative staff to help, or find some other insider to help arrange the call. Find out how to avoid the main switchboard and get to the contact's direct extension.
Toughen up!! Don't allow yourself to suffer from rejection, because it's nothing personal. (How could it be? The person you're calling doesn't even know you personally.) You have no idea why someone couldn't spend some time chatting. It is just as likely to have nothing to do with you and your call-you might have contacted them at a bad moment. Ask if you might try them again and when would be convenient. You'll get a lot further pursuing help if you first obtain permission to ask a favor than if you are demanding and arrogant. Don't be surprised if it takes weeks, especially considering that executives travel extensively. If you sense that you have caught someone off guard, offer an apology. When making a cold call, always ask the person if it's a convenient time to talk; don't launch into your practiced introduction until you have their cooperation and attention. Be sure to say your name clearly at the beginning and end (spell your name as well) and say "thank you" even if the conversation did not go well. Ideally, you will come away with a plan to explore mutual interests further, a request to send your resume or come in for an appointment, or a referral to two other contacts or resources that will move your campaign forward. Don't forget to follow up each encounter even if it nets nothing, with a thank-you e-mail or note.

Still hesitant about making cold calls? Read on about clever ways to bypass cold-calling.

Go through an insider. Identify someone with a relationship to the company (a customer, current or past employee, supplier, consultant, etc.) and have them pass along your information. Cold calling is just one way of getting inside to present your credentials and interest and to find out whether you are a good match for a company's needs and culture. Whatever you do to generate an interaction with a potential employer and get that interpersonal chemistry going will move your search forward. In fact, a third-party introduction often yields better results because your shared colleague gives you credibility.
Send a proposal. Think dialing up is too hard? One alternative is to develop a customized proposal for the employer describing how you would address a challenge they face or provide a solution to a need. Creating this document takes substantial research as well as writing, but it is likely to generate sufficient attention from a company insider, thus getting you recognized and invited to have further discussion. By providing a sample of your work and taking the initiative to research and prepare this material, you make a very compelling case documenting your value and may spark an employer's interest. Why not go even further and put your presentation in a personalized folder with your business card?
Go through a third party. Selling yourself to a stranger is part of what makes cold-calling so difficult. It is usually easier to introduce someone else than to talk about yourself. Consider having someone else make these calls for you and have them arrange an appointment time for you to call back. Then, it's not an unsolicited cold call because the person you want to speak with will be expecting to hear from you. Thereby, the awkwardness of the first moment is removed and even better, the employer may agree to call you. Everyone involved is more comfortable, no one is on the spot, and the timing is convenient-you don't have to be worried about interrupting. Perhaps arrange to attend an event with someone your target contact already knows and ask this third person to arrange an introduction for you while there together.

Cold-calling is one of those things, like eating vegetables, that's very good for you. But it's an acquired taste, not something that's second nature to most of us. But, statistics keep rolling in confirming the positive value of cold-calling as a successful job-search technique. If you are going to go with the facts, then initiating contact with target employers is a must for finding those hidden job opportunities.