Speculative Applications

[Condi]

How do people do it?

I was always taught to get an email address and name, but if the address you get from a website says "careers@........." then what do people do? Do you send a fully fledged application with covering letter, CV etc, or do you send off a short email first asking for the name of the contact, and their email address?

Anyone got any tips for sending in speculative applications......

[edc]

Condi said:

How do people do it?

I was always taught to get an email address and name, but if the address you get from a website says "careers@........." then what do people do? Do you send a fully fledged application with covering letter, CV etc, or do you send off a short email first asking for the name of the contact, and their email address?

Anyone got any tips for sending in speculative applications......

Clearly you want to maximise your chances of an interview and subsequent job offer. To do that you are better off with a named contact or decision maker/hirer, contact details. Think of it like cold call sales. If you have a company name and generic email address format then spend 10 minutes on LinkedIn to find some relevant contacts.

[SteveS Cup]

The phone is your friend! But do a bit of research and make sure your skills are well matched to what the client usually look for (look at current employees on LinkedIn).

The website may say, "please email us" but a well prepared call is never going to annoy a hiring manager.

If you're not comfortable marketing yourself out, get a recommended recruitment agent to do it for you.

[Firefoot]

I receive a number of spec applications every month. It is not unusual for the person to phone first to find the name of the person to send the application to. I have no issue with these phone calls and it gives you a chance to have a quick chat to the person if you do have something suitable.