I’m not an employment guru. I’m a mostly self taught person because of my personality; not by choice. I prefer to discover the way to do things by trial and error; the hard way by experience. This is how I discovered how to get hired by a company to do interesting work I really enjoy. Perhaps it can work for you.

Let’s set the scene. It was the year 2000. I was newly married, just graduated from college and needed to find a way to pay off loans and my share of our meager expenses. I had been out looking for a job for months. Replying to help wanted ads had not resulted in a single interview. I updated my resume by paying a professional to overhaul the entire document and still I had no luck in getting even a single interview. In the year 2000 we were approaching recession and hiring managers were being more selective of whom they would allow an interview though at the time I wasn’t aware of this. Regardless my approach was not working so I knew I had to make a change. This is what I did.

I began to research companies, not the help wanted ads.

I looked for a company which produced something that got my attention and made me excited. I knew from experience I work best when I’m truly interested in the product and direction of my work.

As a kid I built a simple rocket lab in my parent’s basement. I worked diligently making multiple types of rockets for different applications and would spend hours going over subtle details of design. It intrigued me keeping me interested and focused. I loved when my work kept me up late at night thinking about ways to improve wing design or pondering different glue to use. I wanted to find a job where work, dedication and focus would come to me easily like when I would burn hours away in my rocket lab.

The best way to look for companies and what they do is, of course on-line. Look for trade specific sites or government sites that group companies together based on a theme. As I am primarily interested in biotechnology, I found mass.bio.org which lists biotechnology companies in Massachusetts along with a brief explanations of what they produce. Most have links to the company’s website so you can look in depth at what these companies can offer.

Learn everything you can about the company

Once you have found a company or companies that get you interested, use the resources you have at hand to investigate everything about the company. Start at the company website and develop a working knowledge of what they produce. Know what they do, how they do it and read any journal articles they have published in the past. You want to be prepared to impress the hiring manager with your working knowledge of the company. Know the names and faces of the people in charge so you can greet them by name in the future and introduce yourself.

Apply hard.

When you send in your application and cover letter, make sure they are well written, clear of errors and are short enough to grab the attention of someone who will be sorting though many stacks of applications (resume and cover letter). Limit your resume and cover letter to one page but choose your words carefully. Make it seem obvious you are the perfect person to work there. Send your application by mail, e-mail and any other way you can imagine. Make it known you want to be hired! Call directly and ask for the people in charge by name and request a tour. Once you get a meeting use this opportunity to interview them. Show the CEO or hiring manager you know what this company does and that you have initiative.

In the end, you will have demonstrated your determination to work there and knowledge of the company. Not all companies are hiring at all times but if you show these qualities, when they are ready to hire, your name has a greater possibility of being on the list. Furthermore, if your research uncovers things about a company you find will keep you from wanting to work there, you will save time and possibly be able to find another appealing place to work.

This approach can also be used to find a post-doc lab, business partners and even clients. I’ve used the technique for multiple uses with success.

In my personal job seeking experience, I found a company that really got my attention during a search on-line. They produced cloned cows. Not something you heard a lot of back then and it caught my interest! I learned all I could about the company. I sent in 3 applications per day. One each to the companies CEO, COO and CSO. The CSO (cheif scientific officer) finally responded after a month and a half. I was granted a tour and an interview. It went very well because of the people I met as well as my little knowledge of what the company produced. I was hired soon after and did exceedingly well in that company. Though I am working in another company at this point I still produce cloned animals. I am now a partner and director of cloning with InVitroBrasil Clonagem Animal. The technology still really excites me and keeps me up at night thinking; just like in my old rocket lab.

Give this technique a try and let me know how it worked for you!