This is No Way to Find a Job...

Yesterday I received the following unsolicited e-mail to my work address:

"Good Morning [Shadox],

Thank you for the consideration. I apologize; this is the first time since I graduated from college that I am actively looking for a new sales opportunity. Typically I have networked my way up during my career. I am sure you know more than most about the current conditions in the economy. I am also sure I am not the only sales professional on top of their games looking for other opportunities. This was my creative way to make connections with other professionals like you to get an understanding of what is going on out there.

Suffice it to say, is there anyone that you would like to introduce me to that I might be able to help in a similar or even greater way?"

The e-mail also included an attached resume and a request for a phone call.

Here are a few thoughts on the topic:

The guy clearly showed initiative. I don't know him, and never heard his name, but he made an effort, got my e-mail address from someone and threw a Hail Mary. Of course, he didn't quite connect.

The bottom line is that I never opened the resume, nor would I consider taking the call. There are several reasons for this, but I'll only give you one: I'm too busy. I am an executive and I spend my days (and much of my evenings) running around trying to get things done for my company. If there is no compelling reason to take on a work related task, I don't take it. There's just not enough time in the day to finish everything that I would like to accomplish.

Second, I think that this guy is pretty lazy. I mean, I am guessing this is one of many e-mails that he sent to several or maybe even hundreds of executives. Would I hire someone based on an e-mail solicitation? Except for the fact that I used his e-mail as a topic for my blog post, I treated this e-mail solicitation just as I would any other piece of SPAM, and no, I don't want to buy Viagra, thank you very much.

I don't want to knock a guy who is clearly feeling stressed and desperate to find a job. Believe me, I respect the sentiment and appreciate the initiative. Alpaca (my wife) is also still looking for a job. However, let's think about this from a utilitarian perspective for a second. I think that this guy would have done dramatically better for himself if instead of sending me a blind e-mail, he had asked someone to introduce him to me. If one of my acquaintances had asked me to take a call, I would probably agree. That's the way these things work.

Bottom line, on the efficacy front, I bet this basically yielded zero results, even if hundreds of e-mails were sent as part of this "campaign". When you're looking for a job, results are all that counts...

In this kind of job market, the only reliable way to get a job is to network your way into one. It's tough. Some people consider it nasty. But it's the only method that stands a chance in an economy where jobs are very tough to come by. That, or get very lucky. I guess some people choose to roll the dice.

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