Stephen K.
Division Vice President
I found myself looking for a job beginning in December, hopeful that the job market was improving. The previous two years the job market had been just awful so anything would be better. I forget how I came across Lightship but their methodology was nearly identical to the $10K firm I talked too and for a whole lot less money. Their plan sounded like the right approach but had promise of getting me in front of prospective employers far faster. When I received the list from Lightship, I addressed all the envelopes and stuffed a quarter of them with resumes and cover letters, based on geography. My thought was that if anything came of my first 25 contacts, I could combine interviews into a specific area. After mailing the first 25 or so letters, I waited 4 days before beginning my follow-up calls. On that same day, I mailed out the next 25 for the next geographic area. It took two days to make the first lot of calls. I waited another two days before calling my second batch of contacts. Interestingly, I had three calls from the second batch before I had a chance to call them. All three led to interviews. I had another interview based on my call that I was able to combine with another trip. Even more interestingly, of the three calls I received, none had a position but all were considering creating a position. I never got to my final 25 contacts because the activity was too intense from the first three-quarters of the list and I was satisfied with the jobs and geographies that were coming up.
Attitude makes all the difference. I was committed to finding a job using this method and made it into a job in and of itself. I sat down at 8 am to begin making my calls and kept after it until the end of the day. Concurrently, I continued to pound the internet using various job boards. I got to first base with three companies that I chased via the internet. I’m close to third base on one of those. The internet is very frustrating because you send out a lot of resumes and cover letters, but you have to do it. Leave no stone unturned! I also canvassed old recruiters I’ve dealt with in the past, sending them fresh resumes. One turned up a job for which I’m still in the running for. I have kept a list of all my business contacts for the past five years with names, addresses, emails and phone numbers, just for the eventuality of needing to look for a job. I used this list for networking, sending out emails asking for their help in keeping my name in mind for anything they might hear about. I have kept in touch with most of them on an every other week basis, just saying ‘hi’ and updating them with my results. Acquaintances I have run into are all made aware of my situation and also asked to keep their ears open. You cannot contact too many people because you never know who knows who and what. I had two interviews as a result of contacting friends.
What I found to be so powerful with Lightship is that they target the industry and geography I want to be in. They seek out the person in the company who I would directly report to as a contact, which in 80% of the calls I eventually reached. In most cases, the person was genuinely sympathetic and honest. The economy hasn’t recovered fully and there are a lot of companies out there still reeling, particularly in my industries. Contrary to what Lightship recommended, I left voice mail messages at every opportunity. I had call-backs of “thanks but no thanks” on 20% of the messages I left. I think it’s a matter of them closing the door so you don’t waste your time or theirs.
One last tip: when I had someone on the phone that was even mildly interested or whom I perceived as being someone who would be a valuable networking ally, I would ask them if they were free for lunch in the near future and that I would be in the vicinity and had flexibility in my time. In every case, it led to a meeting, usually without lunch involved. For me to get in a car and drive 6 hours to meet someone didn’t seem like too big of a hurdle if there might be a job or a lead as an outcome. After all, this was my job - to find a job! I have two job offers and two more that I am expecting within a couple of weeks. This qualifies as a great success in my book. The adage it takes one month per ten thousand dollars of salary to find a job is rubbish. It all depends upon the tools you use and the determination you have to find a job. I would recommend Lightship to anyone with that determination. -- Stephen K.
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