CAREERS NOW 04-15-07

Chasing Decision-Makers in Hiring Hunts

DEAR JOYCE: My resume was professionally done. Daily I spend an hour or more chasing online employment opportunities. It is frustrating without getting one interview. Help? - A.R.

A number of glitches could be occurring, from a lack of "fit" for the job to a failure to pass the increasingly common online assessment tests. Today I cite a big one: failure to connect with a person who can say "yes - invite A.R. in for an interview."

Recruiter Mary Nurrenbrock says your resume usually ends up in an HR (human resources) passive database when you respond to a company's job ad directly from a job board. Her solution? Get to the hiring manager, not HR. How can you do that?

Quoted in my book, "Resumes For Dummies, 5th Edition," here's Nurrenbrock's advice:

"When you visit a job board and see a job that looks like it's a fit (notice that I didn't say that it looks interesting), go to the company's Web site and get a name. Most corporate sites have profiles. Get the name of the VP Marketing, CEO, CMO - whomever the open position is likely to report to (directly or indirectly).

"Next look under the press releases where you'll usually find a company contact e-mail address. Use the same format - john_doe@, jdoe@, john.doe@ - to send your resume. If it bounces back, keep trying, or try to wrangle the address from the company receptionist. If all else fails, snail mail it.

"Even if the hiring manager sends your resume to HR, now the HR person is looking at a resume that came from an internal source. Big difference!"

This tip is but one of many possibilities to upgrade your job hunt. For more ideas, cruise these two sites:The Riley Guide (rileyguide.org) and Job-Hunt.org (job-hunt.org).

DEAR JOYCE: At 54, the company I was with at a management level went under. My record is marketable but I'm new to the executive job search. For example, I do not know the exact difference between a retained and a contingency recruiter. Crash course? - H.G.

The chief difference is the basis for payment. According to "Kennedy's Pocket Guide to Working with Executive Recruiters," a retained recruiting firm is hired by the client company for a specified period of time to find a key candidate to fill a position. A retainer is paid regardless of the results of the search. A contingency recruiting firm gets paid only when its candidate is hired.

Here are four key resources for an executive job search:

- The definitive recruiter directory is the industry's "red book" - the formal title is: Kennedy's The Directory of Executive Recruiters. It contains listings for more than 16,000 executive recruiters at some 8,200 office locations. Read more at the RecruiterRedbook Web site (recruiterredbook.com).

- John Lucht's Web site for job-seeking executives: RiteSite (ritesite.com).

- The Ladders (theladders.com), another major Web site for executives.

- ExecuNet networking meetings in local chapters; for a list, visit Execunet.com (execunet.com).

DEAR JOYCE: My neighbor's daughter is graduating from college this year and I would to give her a self-help book as her graduation gift from our family. Can you recommend some? - J.J.

This year's mortar-board crop of guides includes "Work 101: Learning the Ropes of the Workplace Without Hanging Yourself" by Elizabeth Freedman (Delta Books, $12), a marvelous guide to virtually everything newbies need to know about corporate survival.

Another new guide to staying alive and thriving corporate side is the humorous "The Cubicle Survival Guide: Keeping Your Cool in the Least Hospitable Environment on Earth" by James F. Thompson (Villard, $12.95).

If you can afford it, give both books - they come at the career-launching issue from different angles, both valid.

Or, if your gift recipient hasn't found work yet, consider two other new guides: "Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World" by Lindsey Pollak (Collins, $13.95) covers how to beat the catch 22 of getting a job without experience and getting experience without a job.

"Career Coward's Guide to Interviewing: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears" by Katy Piotrowski (JIST Works, $10.95) deals with the confidence issue for shy job seekers and offers quick reading.

Career start-ups can be intimidating. Savvy graduates will welcome your book gift that keeps on giving.

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