Office Employers: How do you feel about job seekers showing up UNannounced looking for work? (applying, job interviews)

[scarletneon]

for those that have a problem with it, i need to know, what's the best way for someone to stand out? because it seems nearly impossible to stand out as a candidate when you're flinging your resume through cyberspace for god knows who to read.

by the way, i've shown up to places to deliver a paper resume and cover letter for a job that i've applied to online, just to maybe stand out a bit more, and was told that they only accept resumes through the web site. it's ridiuclous.

[Hester Prynne 417]

It is important to follow directions. Standing out does not get you a job; it gets you noticed in a bad way as someone who is unprofessional and does not know the rules of jobseeking. The way to get noticed for a job is to be a qualified, experienced candidate. The only jobs I know where you can walk in off the street and maybe talk to a hiring manager are fast-food positions.

I have been invited for an interview to 99% of the jobs I've applied to online because I only apply to jobs where I fit the criteria. I'm not trying to kick anyone while they are down. I am a single mom and I can only imagine how desperate I would be if I were unemployed. But there is no "magic trick" to getting hired.

[JBower]

Originally Posted by Hester Prynne 417

It is important to follow directions. Standing out does not get you a job; it gets you noticed in a bad way as someone who is unprofessional and does not know the rules of jobseeking. The way to get noticed for a job is to be a qualified, experienced candidate. The only jobs I know where you can walk in off the street and maybe talk to a hiring manager are fast-food positions.

I've talked to people in my profession (architecture) who have taken the initiative and walked into firms that are not hiring and landed interviews (and eventually jobs) this way. It's not the norm, but people do it. Some employers respect it, some don't.

I am qualified and experienced by the way.

Originally Posted by Hester Prynne 417

I have been invited for an interview to 99% of the jobs I've applied to online because I only apply to jobs where I fit the criteria. I'm not trying to kick anyone while they are down. I am a single mom and I can only imagine how desperate I would be if I were unemployed. But there is no "magic trick" to getting hired.

99%? That's seems like a stretch to me, at least in the 'great recession' era we are now experiencing. Have you been out there in the trenches looking lately? It's brutal to say the least. I've been through recessions before, but those were a bump in the road compared to this. I'm certainly not looking for a 'magic trick', just exploring my options.

[sinsativ]

You run the risk of being annoying. If there is a job available, it will be posted, this is not the age of we will have it posted this weekend in the paper, you can place an ad online and have it out there for the world to see in 15 minutes. The odds of you walking in off the street and getting a good network contact without disrupting the flow of their workschedule are less than the $2 million check that Letterman gave Halderman will clear.

[JBower]

Originally Posted by sinsativ

You run the risk of being annoying. If there is a job available, it will be posted, this is not the age of we will have it posted this weekend in the paper, you can place an ad online and have it out there for the world to see in 15 minutes. The odds of you walking in off the street and getting a good network contact without disrupting the flow of their workschedule are less than the $2 million check that Letterman gave Halderman will clear.

If there is a job available it will be posted? Perhaps at your company. The majority of jobs in this country are not advertised. (Not my opinion, look it up). Especially in this recession. In my field, firms are getting bombarded regularly by people seeking jobs. They don't need to spend money advertising.

[tallydude02]

It probably works better in jobs with high turnover (fast food places, hotels, shops at the mall, etc.). However, in this economy, even the traditional high turnover jobs aren't hiring as much. People are hanging on to their jobs, even the lower pay ones.

But at my accounting firm, jobs are not advertised. I knew one of the accountants and was able to get a job when an opening occured. When we get an unannounced applicant presenting their resume, we quickly read it and if meets our criteria, we thank the applicant for their interest and file it. This may sound harsh, but if doesn't meet our criteria, we trash it after they leave.

[mcb1025]

I'd say what do you have to lose by going in. If anything, they'll tell you they're not hiring and you can leave it at that. Just the fact that you're expanding your search, I'd say you're increasing your odds of finding something.

[Hester Prynne 417]

Originally Posted by JBower

I've talked to people in my profession (architecture) who have taken the initiative and walked into firms that are not hiring and landed interviews (and eventually jobs) this way. It's not the norm, but people do it. Some employers respect it, some don't.

I am qualified and experienced by the way.

Cool. I did not mean to infer that you were not. It seems to me that this kind of ambush tactic is not something someone who was qualified and experienced would need to resort to.

99%? That's seems like a stretch to me, at least in the 'great recession' era we are now experiencing. Have you been out there in the trenches looking lately? It's brutal to say the least. I've been through recessions before, but those were a bump in the road compared to this. I'm certainly not looking for a 'magic trick', just exploring my options.

I have been in the trenches lately, albeit as someone who is still employed. In the last year and a half, I applied to 14 jobs and I received 12 invites for interviews, so you're right that's not actually 99%. I work in higher education and there is always hiring being done at the various colleges and universities in my state. In fact, I recommend higher education as a relatively stable field for someone to pursue. It's one of the few industries that doesn't value youth over experience.

Back to the topic, as an office hiring manager (which I currently am), I would not be impressed by someone stopping in. It screams of desperation on their part and inconsideration of my time.

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by sinsativ

You run the risk of being annoying. ...

That might be a risk, but it's a risk of no consequence.

If you annoy someone - so what?

Originally Posted by sinsativ

... you can place an ad online and have it out there for the world to see in 15 minutes. ...

Yeah and you have no idea who is answering the ad.

People walking in off the street leave nothing
to the imagination - appearance-wise.

Originally Posted by sinsativ

... The odds of you walking in off the street ...

Again. So what?

If you are unemployed, what have you got better to do?

The odds of you emailing an employer and getting a job
via the internet are mostly nil also.

I've found work as a public accountant before by walking around.
I've gotten interviews and not gotten a job by walking around also.
I've had receptionists take my resume 'to the back' and had someone
come out and talk to me like a real human being.

I've also had receptionists just take my resume and put it in somone's In-Box.
That's mostly what's going to happen.

If you email a response to an open job req. your resume is mostly
going to go to the same place where the [Delete] key is going to
be hit before it ever gets read.

Reality is that there will be 100's of resumes in the email stream
and no one will dedicate the time to actually consider each and
every one of them.

Even more real is that more and more, resumes will be sorted by
computer and if your resume doesn't meet the search criteria,
it will just disappear.

Originally Posted by Hester Prynne 417

... as an office hiring manager ...
I would not be impressed by someone stopping in.
It screams of desperation on their part and inconsideration of my time.

That's the risk the job-seeker on foot has to take.
See above comment on "risk."

I've had other office hiring managers say they were impressed with
someone willing to walk the streets in a suit. I've had them say that
even when they had no job to offer. I've had them say that they
would have considered me if they were hiring.

The risk of meeting someone who is not impressed with me ... [ see above ].
You don't care about me. I don't care about you. We're even.

[sinsativ]

If you don't make that much of an impression face to face when you drop off a resume, then you don't have anything to worry about. Apparently you are very easily forgotten. Most professionals remember annoying people. You asked for an opinion, you can disagree with my opinion all you want, but, it is my opinion, and I have earned it thru years of experience. If you don't want to listen to other people's opinions, don't ask. Simple as that.