Following-Up on Promising Introductions
Keep reminding yourself: that it's a battle for talent and that you have the talent; that it's a process of meeting others to understand how to present yourself in their terms; that as foggy as the career landscape may appear, you're in an ideal position to transition to a satisfying and remunerative career.
A couple of clients were in town last week to discuss companies, roles and hiring packages. I am reminded that navigating our way to an interesting position is just like mooring a ship: first goes over the monkey's fist, then the one inch line, followed by lines of greater diameter until the eight inch hawser begins to moor the ship securely to the pier.
As recruiters, both internal and external, hiring managers and talent acquisition types express an interest in you, meaning that they begin to understand the uniqueness and potential high value of your background, be prepared to develop a targeted resume' that maps their needs and interests to specific skills and experiences of your own.
Once that you have a personal or individual point of contact at a company of interest, supply them with a cover letter that describes that purpose of this attached targeted resume', e.g. "based upon our conversation today, I've streamlined my resume' with the roles and experiences that I've had that directly related to the role and opportunities that you described to me."
In this focused resume', lay-out your career history as it occurred, e.g. Department Head or Operation Officer, the time-frame of the job and add one or two paragraphs of how this role and its results directly relate to the position that interests you. Describe yourself and your achievements in terms and the language of the job opportunity that appeals to you. Do your research in this regard. There is no need to describe every job that you had in the service, only the experiences that show your skills and aptitude for the job that you seek at this specific firm.
Add your educational experience at the bottom of this one page document. One page document! The cover letter is the other page and this cover letter is no more than 1/2 of a page long.
Send this document via email within a couple of days of the meeting. Try to avoid going over the weekend unless your meeting was on Friday. Somehow, Saturday and Sunday make last week's meetings appear to have occurred last month.
The goal of this step in the process is to inspire your point of contact to put you in touch directly
with the hiring manager. Once that you get to the hiring manager, you are in excellent position
(the 8" hawser). //cp
