Gary Will's WORKSEARCH:
Selling Yourself To An Employer
Chapter 6: (continued)
THE COMPANY:
The information you'll want and where to look for it
From the book How to Prepare for an Employment Interview.
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This book shows you how to sell yourself in an employment interview.
[Chapter 6: continued from here
] ...If you live near a university or college, don't overlook their libraries. Even if you're not a student, you can usually get access to their holdings, and they often have some of the best resources available. You should probably become familiar with every library in your area since each is unique and each will probably have useful materials you can't find elsewhere.
Reaching out to people who can help
What you'd most like to know about the company probably won't be in the library, but it's almost certainly in someone's head or at their fingertips. There may be no skill more valuable in a worksearch campaign than the ability to identify people who could help you -- either friends or complete strangers-and to pick up a phone and call them.
Unfortunately, this isn't something that comes easily to most of us, no matter how many times we rationalize that "the worst that can happen is they'll hang up on us" or maybe tell us to get lost after a brief tirade about how busy they are.
When you force yourself to pick up the phone and make contact, you'll be way ahead of most others looking for work. The first few calls are always the most uncomfortable, but you'll find that you get much better at it as you gain more experience. You'll soon see that most real people aren't nearly as hostile as the ones in your imagination.
I know many people find it easier to make the call if they use a different name. The fear of rejection is easier to overcome when it's "Steve Taylor" or "Roberta Wilson" who might be hung up on. Telemarketing consultant Kathy Sisk says that the use of "stage names" is popular even among professional telesales reps for the same reason.
Anyone you know or can contact who works at the company (or who recently worked there) is obviously a ... [continued here]
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