The Insider

Job Search For Mature Candidates - Creating Your Plan
Kevin T. Buckley, CPC

The first site we would recommend you visit to obtain useful tools to record the information you receive and the contacts that you make is here, along with the accompanying article: Jobbala.com . These are available as excel spreadsheets or .pdfs to download.

You may be using both online and physical resources such as publications found in a public reference library. Libraries offer tools for free use that would otherwise cost you to use online. One of these is the Scott's Industrial Series of Directories. These are a treasure trove of information. They identify companies by industry sector and SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) have names and titles of hiring executives ranging from President to Human Resources Manager. You can quickly build a list of prospective employers by industry sector or product. These Directories cover a broad range of business, industry, commerce, government, medical, educational and association employers. Online subscriptions and cd-roms are also available to order if the cost is acceptable to you.

If you find a binder useful and like to write things down, great. If you prefer to record info in the computer, fine, whatever works best for you.

Organizing Your Tools: Click the links that appear in this section

- Create a binder/folder and desktop folder to gather information and the
shortcuts you receive on the 'net in one place for easy access

- Call your nearest library or visit them online and see if they have the
Scott's Directories, which ones, and their publication dates

- Determine which Associations serve the industry or employment sector
or market that you have targeted

- Use online search tools to research companies, create shortcuts to these
in your desktop folder

- Create shorcuts to the specific pages in your community, regional and
community newspapers and put these in your desktop folder

- Create a shortcut in your desktop folder to the Job Boards area of our site

- Research through Internet Recruiter Directories those recruiters that have
a specific focus in your target employment area or disciplines

Websites To Research Companies in Canada:

E-Source - e-source is a comprehensive research site, free results
Hoovers - Canadian Companies section (D&B)
Dun & Bradstreet - Multiple sections - subscriber fees

You can also Google : "company name" and then use other search terms such as specific executive titles (Human Resources Manager, General Manager, etc.) and see what you get.

Enter a company name in Linked-In or Zoom Info and see what information is obtained

When you identify an industry Association active in your area of experience, review their Membership Directory and Board Of Directors pages to see if they have a search function by alphabet or location for member and associate member firms that you can investigate. Develop a list of companies and decide who you should write to.

Choosing The Employers You Want To Target:

In every industry, there are usually twenty or more firms that achieve a certain prominence in their field due to the excellence of their product or service, profitability, innovation or because people just like working there. a company's advertising, the inclusion of their member executives in an association listing, standing in the market, community service and other factors all create an image of this being a good place to work and to do business with.

Investigating Company Websites:

- Directory, Offices, About Us, Contact Us, News, Newsletter and Press
Releases

These are the sections of company websites which are likely to contain names and emails of executives. If they have an internal search function, enter an executive or managerial title and see what the results are.

Some industries also have supplier directories online or printed. See what industry publications serve the industry, check the back pages and advertising pages for these publications. These can often be found at major reference libraries, check online and see what their reference section contains.

Your Mailing Tools:

- Introductory Letter or email Message
- Resume Synopsis
- Full Interview resume, with references
- Reference Contacts/Testimonials
- Your Voicemail

Draft Email Letter:

This is one of the tools that is most often ineffectively used. As a recruiter, I have seen literally thousands of messages with blank subject line or text or the barest minimum of text. It makes sense to use an email message to create buyer interest; it is a wasted opportunity if you don't tell the reader why you are writing.

The other side of this coin is the message which stretches to 3 or more paragraphs and takes an inordinate amount of time to read. Both of these approaches are unproductive.

A recruiter or resume reader spends very little time deciding whether or not to keep, discard or file an email message. They scan for relevant key words and reasons to continue reading or considering reviewing a resume for possible contact. If you do not grab the reader's attention in the first 20-30 seconds, your message is not doing its job.

Take the time to craft a message that can be customized to some extent, based on the position you are applying for. Save the basic text in your Drafts folder for subsequent copying and customizing.

- Why are you writing?
- What do you have to offer?
- Why should I call you?

You need to answer these questions to have a good chance of being selected for follow-up.

Your message should be edited ruthlessly; it should be relevant, focused and concise. Every word should serve the purpose of creating buyer interest. Your message is a sales tool not an administrative document. See this for more information: Cover Letters - Brief & Focused.

Creating A Resume Synopsis:

Your Resume Synopsis is a very useful tool if you construct it properly. As recruiters, we see a wide range of quality in the resumes we receive. Below are points of good resumes and what they contain.

Good Resume Synopses:

Read like sales literature, use action verbs, highlight specific achievements
early in the document, are focused within the last 10-20 years, maximum,
will contain updated, relevant educational training, provide the reader with
streamlined job descriptions, leave no gaps in employment unexplained,
persuasive writing skills, quantifiable results achieved - measurable and
believable numbers and percentage increases.

You can always provide a full resume with all particulars about your responsibilities and achievements but the tool most useful to you in self-marketing is a streamlined version which highlights what you can do and have done.

Back toTop