Stop spamming people with your resume

(MoneyWatch) I got an email on Friday. Subject line: IT JOB APPLICANT. I opened it. No text. Just 5 attachments containing a resume, cover letter and three letters of reference. It was sent to me and 14 other lucky recipients.

Because my whole career is based around helping other people with their careers, rather than hitting delete I replied:

I hope you sent this by mistake. This is not an effective way to find a job, at all.

People will treat this as spam and will not open your attachments. You need to apply to each company individually with an individual cover letter. Good luck.

She replied:

Thank you for the advice Suzanne, I am doing that also, using all resources that I have available.

I responded:

This method is not a good one. It is actually harmful. I know it's difficult to find a job. How's your networking going?

And she replied once more, explaining that she had been looking for a job in her field for some time, and had had no luck. Then this sentence:

Please tell my why do you think that distributing my resume in this manner is harmful? I do appreciate your feedback.

I do believe she is being sincere, and I know she's not the only person out there who is trying to find a job using the spam method of getting her resume out to as many people as possible. But the method of trawling the internet looking for remotely applicable email addresses and then blasting your resume will not help and could possible hurt.

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Why? Let's assume (even though it is false) that I was actually looking for a new IT person. When I open this email and have nothing addressed to me, or my company, and 14 other names, I have every reason to believe the following:

-- This person did no research. She is not aware of what company I work for, what positions I have available and if she would be a good fit for the positions I do have.

-- This person does not want a specific job, she wants any job. On it's surface, that doesn't sound so bad. I mean, work is work, right? Well in the current market, I can afford to be picky with my IT folks and I want someone who really wants to be doing what I'm doing.

-- This person is sloppy in her approach to work. If you send out one email, copying 15 people so that we can all see each others' email addresses, she doesn't care about privacy or protocols or what have you. This is not what one needs in an IT person (or any person).

-- This person is lazy. It takes time and effort to research a company, find an applicable job, customize a cover letter and tweak a resume. It takes almost no time and effort to gather up as many email addresses as possible, paste them into one email and hit send.

Now, these are the thoughts that are running through the recipients' minds. But that's not the only place you miss out. Here are some other problems:

-- You've lost the chance for a real position. What if I was hiring for a position that you would be perfect for? The above black marks mean I'm not likely to even open the resume. And even if later you do apply properly, if I remember your name, you're most likely out.

-- You've lost the chance to network. In reality, I'm not hiring for anything right now. If you'd taken the time to figure that out and approached me anyway, with an explanation of what you are looking for, there's a possibility that I could point you in the right direction.

What to do instead?

-- Research, research, research. Take the time to look at companies and find positions that you are actually interested in. Figure out if the company is a potentially good match.

-- Network, network, network. You know people who know people. If you're not on LinkedIn, get on LinkedIn. Talk to actual humans at church, your kid's school, the grocery store and the beauty parlor. Let your college roommate know what you're doing.

-- Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. You're an IT person, so help the school set up a database for PTA membership. Teach the neighborhood kids how to design a website to advertise their babysitting services. Ask the local homeless shelter if they would be interested in teaching people some basic computer skills. Why? It keeps your skills fresh, it helps other people, it gives you a reason to take a shower every day, and it will introduce you to new people (see above).

-- Customize, customize, customize. Every person who you contact deserves an individual email. Every position deserves a customized cover letter.

These things are much more helpful in conducting your job search. Don't give up, even though it's discouraging. Just work a little bit smarter in your job search.

Have a workplace dilemma? Send your question to [e-mail].

[careersplus]

Susan,

I must agree totally on this idea. Blasting out your resume can have many negative affects. It is very important for a job seeker to understand the industry they are targeting and take time to carefully research each job they apply for. One of the main reasons for this is that employer technology has become much smarter. They are using applicant tracking databases which parse and store candidate information. When a job seeker blasts (spams) a resume everywhere, not knowing if they even qualify for the job, their information gets stored in those databases for a long period of time. If they are rejected for a job because the did not carefully research the job requirements, that employer will flag their information in the database for future reference. Therefore, if a job does happen to come up that they meet the qualifications for, and a job seeker re-applies to that same employer, the HR department will notice where they failed to do the research the first time around and this could hurt any chance they have now. I am a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with over 10 years of experience in my field, and I see this problem nearly every day. Anyway, great post and great advice.

Sincerely,

Justin - CPRW
www.cpresumes.com

[drewroark]

Suzanne, great post. I am a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and I have to give this advice to my clients on a daily basis. "Spamming" employers is a terrible way to find a new job, and the importance of researching potential employers (and corresponding employment openings) cannot be denied in today's job market.

Drew Roark, CPRW
http://www.drewroarkcprw.com

[shehzad hanif100]

Hi Suzanne,

Valuable thoughts.! I agree with your inputs.

I would share one personal experience here. You came across a potential candidate who sent her resume to many whereas I came across a recruiter looking for some suitable candidate and she sent the job requirements out to around 300 candidates with all candidates there in the 'To:' field instead of 'Cc' field. How would you comment on such a situation?

[Suzanne Lucas]

Really? Wow. I'd be so tempted to find her boss and forward that because wow. If I was interested in the job, I'd pretend she hadn't done that.

If I wasn't interested in the job, I'd email back and ask, "Did you mean to give out our email addresses to random people?"

[phileaux]

Suzanne:

I appreciate your interest. However I don't understand why I should apply to your company. Your job listing is just posted on the internet for anyone to see. You've done no research into who I am, you've made no efforts to target me, and you don't even know if your company does things I would be interested in. I'm not sure what would possibly compel me to do research on you or your company in the chances that the job you offer is what I really want to do.

In the future, I suggest you put more effort into your job listings, describing the projects you offer, the work environment, the personalities of likely coworkers, your own idiosyncrasies, and the length of the average work week for all the employees you've had with similar positions. Once you've posted that, please feel free to contact me via email or SMS with a URL for me to review before I decide if your company is worth my time to interview.

If, on the other hand, you fill your positions with people based on a cover letter written with enough personalization to stroke your ego and make you believe the applicant cares about you, and a standard resume, then I don't believe that we would be a good fit. I prefer employers who show they actually care about what they can do for their workers, and not just show interest in who sucks up to them the best.

Kisses,
Philo

[gerardleroux100]

Hope that's a job Philo! I do love the sentiment though, sticking it to arrogant employers. When I have skills rare enough I'll certainly take this approach! Or when I've built a successful company, big enough to hire a bunch of people, then I'll make to use this kind of letter!

Until then I'll research, network, volunteer and look for ways to serve the employer. Thanks for the advice Suzanne.

Gerard le Roux | Guerrilla Job Search Coach
www.wowcv.net | www.facebook.com/gerardlerouxonline
Get my free job search e-course: just send an e-mail to [e-mail]

[Suzanne Lucas]

Philo,

That was totally awesome. I agree that companies go about this th wrong way as well. Alas, they have the power right now.

Suzanne

[JHWrite82]

This is all great advice! At Granted.com, we've seen firsthand the damage that these "spampplications" can have! Thorough research into an applied-for position not only demonstrates professionalism and commitment to a potential employer, but also ensures that the potential employee is well-suited to and will be happy with the position.