Sell Yourself, Sell Your Resume, Sell Your Skills, Find a New Job!

If I were searching for a job for myself, I would not send my resume to HR and wait for a phone call. I would go through my social network contacts and call every manager who I thought might be hiring recruiters. If they did not need a recruiter, I might offer them third party staffing services.

Some people view this as improper networking etiquette, but if I need a job, I couldn’t care less about propriety. Directly connecting with the manager can put you right at the top of the pile of resumes and since you are not an agency that needs a vendors list approval from HR, all you have to do is sell yourself to the manager, meet him for lunch or something. It is sales 101 and most people have no idea how to go about it. It’s also a numbers game. The more you sell, the more likely someone will buy.

Most “career coaches” will tell you to follow up with HR, but I take it a step farther and tell you to seek out the hiring manager. HR has a reputation for being a quagmire for resumes and to give them credit they get thousands of resumes. In addition to that, not all corporate recruiters understand what the hiring managers are searching for. By calling direct you take the uncertainty right out of the equation.

Finally, most recruiters don’t care if you are about to lose your house in a foreclosure. The only person who will take care of you is interestingly enough, YOU! This is why you have to take matters into your hands and sell, sell, sell!

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.