The only alternative was to distribute your resume and cover letter by direct mail. And of course there were two types of recipients:
(1) decision-makers who might want to hire you for their own organization, and
(2) recruiters who help them search for executives.
For reasons we've already discussed, classic direct mail is still the only polite and practical way to reach the decision-makers themselves.
Even if you could smoke out their e-mail addresses at the office and at home, you wouldn't spam them with your resume at either place. You're smart enough to realize how irked they'd be by that treatment... as you'd be too, if you were in their position.
Recruiters are a different matter. They make their livings by finding out about executives who might fit the openings they've been hired to fill. They now have channels specifically designed to receive and sort electronically submitted resumes. Using those channels-as we'll discuss in the chapter after this one-is exactly what you ought to do.
But for now, let's cover the skillful use of direct mail to reach and persuade the decision-makers who directly have the power (1) to hire you themselves... or (2) to instruct others-subordinates and recruiters-to give you very serious consideration.
Orbiting Your Spy-in-the-Sky Satellite
Now that your resume has been strengthened by direct mail copywriting, let's use it to launch a direct mail campaign... the nearest thing to scanning the globe via spy-in-the-sky satellite to find the opportunities you should know about.
Delivered by mail, a powerful resume can truly "be where you can't be and sell when you're not there."
And unlike every other method, direct mail can be almost limitlessly increased in power, when you're eager to change jobs. It can also be targeted toward exactly what you want, in terms of industry, size of company, location, or any other set of criteria.
Moreover, a direct mail campaign can be modified to perform its unique functions secretly. Believe it or not, you can use this powerful medium without letting your current employer discover you're "looking."
This article will tell you everything you need to know to make sophisticated use of direct mail: how many letters to send, whom to send them to, what to say in your covering note... and how to keep your current employer from finding out, if you want to look for a better job without risking the one you have.
The Accident of Timing
Timing is the problem.
Don't you wish we could crack open every job that might advance your career... and do so at precisely the time you're considering a move? We'd schedule all the retirements, firings, and additions-to-staff just when they'd create ideal options for you. Then, with just a few calls to your personal contacts, a few networking visits, and a handful of letters, you'd be exploring plenty of exciting opportunities.
Regrettably, Murphy's Law of Career Opportunity works the opposite way. Virtually all the jobs you'd be most interested in will be filled at the moment you decide to make a change.
Every company needs you at least once in fourteen years.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming odds are that they won't need you within the four to fourteen weeks that your inquiry will be considered current.
Face it. No matter how appropriate you are for a particular company, how much you'd like to work for them, and whom you're able to talk to inside that company... when they don't need you, they won't hire you. Appropriateness and desire don't count, if timing is off.
In the rare instance when the right need does exist, a compelling resume and covering letter sent to just the right person at just the right time will usually get you considered.
Unfortunately, the concepts of using direct mail to reach corporate decision makers in a well-thought-out executive job-changing campaign have become widely known and understood. has been a major contributor to that trend. As a result, the standards by which executive resumes and cover letters are judged have risen very high. Today a mediocre career presented in a mediocre resume-and-letter-indeed, even a superb one in a mediocre resume-and-letter-won't even get you a nibble! Don't waste time and money on direct mail when it's hopeless.
But for now let's assume your career and writing skills are strong enough for direct mail. Even so, timing is critical. What you send must arrive at exactly the right time. For three or four months your inquiry may be considered current. After that, you'll be presumed to have found your job, if you're really good. Otherwise, you'll be presumed not to be as good as you seemed. And if you've relocated, but are still willing to "talk," you'll seem unstable, unethical, or both.
Harsh and unfair presumptions! But they're almost universal. Might as well face them... and work around them.
Now for the bad... and good... news: "Playing the numbers game" with direct mail is lots of work. However, if you're willing and able to do it right, you're very likely to succeed.
The beauty of direct mail is that, depending on how hard you're willing to work, you can infinitely increase the number of contacts you make until you reach enough decision makers to be virtually certain that at least a few will actually need someone like you at the time you write.
Everyone's odds are different, of course. Some folks at some times shouldn't even play. But typical odds these days are about 3 to 1 in favor of an aggressive direct mail campaign generating a few attractive job leads for the very able person who makes an unstinting effort.
On the other hand, the odds are at least 199 to 1 against the possibility that any one letter will arrive at the moment someone like the sender is actually needed. And the way the laws of probability work, you can't be sure that by sending only 200 letters you'll actually hit one recipient who has a need. To have a statistical shot at hitting on 1 out of 200 letters, you must send at least 1,000 letters. A few years ago, that number should have yielded 5 or 6 interested replies... an average of about 1 for each 200 letters sent out. Today, many companies have downsized. Management pyramids are flatter. And most CEOs and high-level executives are far less impulsive about hiring. Therefore, you may need several times as many letters to hit even fewer decision-makers at an opportune time.
Send at least 1,000 letters... not less.
Expect to receive 3 to 5 affirmative replies... not more.
But if you do it right, those 3 to 5 meaningful replies should lead to 2 or 3 interviews and 1 or 2 offers of almost exactly what you want.
