With e-mail, overnight mail, faxes, pagers and other communication techniques, job hunting has become increasingly fast paced and focused. So can a low-tech, broadly aimed tactic like a direct-mail campaign still help you to find a job?

Many job hunters who ask this question may be told that it won’t help. But don’t be too hasty to eliminate this strategy. If your objective is to find a new position as quickly as possible, why not use every available tool or technique to complete the process and move on with your career?

Consider a human-resources executive in Atlanta who was laid off following an acquisition and needed to find a new job quickly. He composed a marketing letter describing his skills and accomplishments and mailed it to 1,200 companies. Within three weeks, he had received 21 positive responses. Within two months, he had generated three offers for viable jobs. He recently accepted one of them and is now vice president of human resources for an Atlanta-based manufacturer.

Very simply, an employer can’t extend a job offer unless it knows you exist and are seeking a new opportunity. At its most basic, a direct-mail campaign is targeted advertising with you as the product.

Molly O’Dea, a sales and marketing executive formerly with Xerox Corp. in Florida, says direct mail works particularly well for job seekers because it’s based on proven marketing principles. "In marketing, there’s a formula that very much applies to a job search and particularly, the direct-mail effort," she says. "It’s ‘awareness yields consideration which drives orders or the hit rate.’ " Her own direct-mail campaign led to her new job as a regional sales executive in Atlanta for a national office products firm.

The two most important elements of an effective direct-mail campaign are:

1. A targeted database of prospective companies, and
2. A marketing or broadcast letter that showcases and quantifies your major accomplishments.

The database should be oriented to your skills, interests and location preference. Such lists are available from a variety of sources, or you can build your own using business reference books at a local library.

Your database also should include the name of the appropriate hiring manager at each company, not the human-resources executive. Finance executives should target the director or vice president of finance, manufacturing engineers should write to the plant manager or vice president of operations, and so on.

The letters should be personally addressed using the individual’s full name and title, never "Dear Sir or Madam."

A well-constructed broadcast or marketing letter should convey your interest in and establish your suitability for a particular position, explain what you accomplished in similar positions and include a "call to action" or statement telling the reader what to do next. The letter also must be brief and take a minute or less to read.

This document may require considerable editing and rewriting, but the results will be worth it, says Dennis White, vice president of quality for Joy Mining Machinery in Pittsburgh.

"The direct-mail approach using a one-page broadcast letter will achieve excellent results," he says. "In most cases it will be viewed as a brief, well-written resume and will be read by your target executive."

To create a simple, concise document that sends a clear message, use this format:

First paragraph. State your objective, not in terms of a specific title, but by identifying a general preference. For instance, say that you’re seeking "a senior-level finance position," preferably as director or vice president of finance.

Second paragraph. This should substantiate and reinforce your objective. Identify the last two positions that you held and your employers and briefly describe your responsibilities. If you had many different responsibilities or positions but only one corresponds to your objective, then discuss only that position. Remember, your letter must be focused tightly on the job you want.

Third paragraph. Mention five to seven accomplishments, all quantified, in a list of bulleted items. Write one to two sentences for each. Briefly describing what you did to achieve each accomplishment can be effective.

Last paragraph. Write a short closing with a call to action. I suggest inviting readers to call you if they’re interested. Don’t say you’ll follow up on your letter with a phone call. If a recipient isn’t interested in you, making a personal follow-up call won’t change anything except make you more discouraged. (See the accompanying letter for an example of a well-written marketing document.)

One effective attention-getter is to tailor your letter to the needs of specific companies, says Nancy Hutter, a partner with Career Strategies International, a career consulting and personal marketing company in White Plains, N.Y.

"The most effective direct-marketing letters are those that are a little out of the ordinary," she says. "The most powerful letters are ones where you really hit the reader where they live by mentioning a need or something you have done that solves a business problem. You want to tantalize the reader and generate curiosity so that a reader wants to call and perhaps meet with you. It’s a creative letter [that] goes without a resume."

Should you mail a cover letter and resume instead of a single broadcast letter? Informal surveys show that one-page marketing letters usually reach hiring managers more often than cover letters sent with resumes. Many busy executives have programmed "gatekeepers" to send cover letters and resumes to the human-resources department, but a personal letter generally is forwarded to the boss.

A well-conceived and executed direct-mail campaign should generate a 1% to 3% response rate. You should plan on mailing a minimum of 1,000 letters, which probably will generate 10 to 30 leads. Some people might balk at sending so many letters but direct-marketing is a numbers game: the greater your exposure, the more activity you’ll generate.

With luck, your letter will arrive after the company has identified a staffing need but hasn’t advertised it yet, says Harvey Brickley, president of Corporate Transition Solutions, an Atlanta outplacement firm.

"In these cases, there’s an advantage for both parties," he says. "The candidate has less competition, and the company has lower recruiting expenses."

You should receive most of your positive responses within three weeks of your mailing. This moves your job search quickly to the interviewing stage.

Think of your universe of prospective employers as a haystack. At any given point, there are a different number of needles, or jobs, in the haystack. You need to find the needles quickly since they’re always disappearing and rematerializing. Networking is like standing in front of the haystack and pulling off straw one piece at a time. Direct mail is like blowing the haystack away, leaving just the needles. Don’t overlook this powerful tool for uncovering unadvertised job opportunities in the so-called "hidden" job market.

-- Mr. Ferrel is president of Career Marketing Consultants Inc. in Roswell, Ga.

Sept. 15, 1998

Mr. John Q. Nelson, President
Acme Office Products
1234 Main Street
Lake City, Ill. 60004

Dear Mr. Nelson:

As a recognized leader in field sales management, I built and led a sales district that achieved 26% revenue growth in 1996.

I have successfully implemented strategies for improving sales performance and productivity and managed direct sales organizations and alternative channels. In my most recent position as manager of sales operations-central Florida for XYZ Corp., and in prior positions including branch manager, district sales and district marketing manager and national/key account manager, I have:

• Achieved best performer status either regionally or nationally in every position from 1987 to 1997.

• Led a business unit generating $27 million in new equipment sales, creating annual business plans and establishing revenue growth objectives and strategies.

• Increased sales productivity 10% to 20% with a turnover rate of less than 10%, while achieving benchmark customer satisfaction ratings.

• As district sales manager, achieved 32% and 20% year-over-year revenue growth in 1993 and 1994.

• In 1993 and 1994, installed the highest number of centralized office systems nationally, with the highest productivity per sales rep in the Southeast region.

• In 1990, named #1 district sales manager in the nation.

• Experienced in marketing to federal government accounts, securing the largest systems product order in XYZ’s history. Named #1 national account sales manager-federal government region.

A proactive builder of successful organizations that exceed profit objectives and meet changing customer needs, I not only create and implement effective strategies, but I also get results. I have demonstrated success in consultative selling and executive-level relationship building in both the private and public sectors.

If you’re interested in increasing your sales and business unit profitability, I know I can do the job. Please call me to discuss your company’s needs and opportunities. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Sara Jane Smith