QUESTION: I have developed a client prospect database per all your earlier discussions here and in the Double Your Placements Program.  Would you recommend emailing the MPC to the database or going through some of the companies beforehand online to see if they have an actual opening?  This would seem more targeted to me and you know there is opportunity there.  Your thoughts?  The reason I am asking is I have seen others in the Facebook group email out an MPC according to instructions, but have seen a frequent response of “He or she looks great, but we do not have any openings at this time.” – Tim, San Francisco, CA

ANSWER: Thanks for the question Tim.  Absolutely, send it to everybody.  You will spend hours researching to see if they have an opening.  There are a lot of openings that exist or are about to exist that are never posted.  Less and less so now, but still, what my experience is and the people that are doing this today experience is you begin to engage with some of those people that have no openings now.   

One, send it to everybody because you want to tap the hidden job market.  Two, you want to begin a relationship with people even if they do not have an opening.  You want them to be able to begin to see your name.  Repeated exposures to your name will imply over time an increased authority figure, market level expert, things like that, just by a series of exposures.  It might even be email.  You might never even get the person on the phone, which is one of the reasons we recommend sending out articles a few times a month on relevant topics.  It establishes you as a subject matter expert.  So just email itself and the exposure of that.  

However, let us say you send it to 10 companies in a row because you have identified 100 people, and they say, “No openings.”  How long would you have to go through each one of those websites?  Let us say they did have an opening.  I never want to say, “I saw on your website that you had on opening” or “I saw it was posted . . .”  Commodity, ambulance chaser recruiter is what I think of if I am an executive.  

If they go, “Why?  Did you see the opening on our website?”  

“No, I had no idea.  This is an individual with a strong enterprise software background and I am reaching out to you and a select few other companies . . .” – a “select few” could be 500 – “. . . select few other companies to have a brief conversation to see if or how this person is appropriate and if or how they could really benefit your organization.  Look at your calendar.  What is a good time to talk?”  

Save yourself a ton of time.  Again, each email should be individualized, however, not researched.  As a matter of fact, if I saw an opening that was just posted, I might even wait 3 weeks to send it because everybody is probably sending that hiring manager a resume within 2 or 3 days or a week of when it is posted.  They will really need you 3 weeks to 4 weeks after it is posted if they have not filled it on their own.  That is when they are going to be frustrated.  

Great question.  Thank you.