Speculation letters - are they worth it?

MrsB2100

Hello, I wanted to get some opinions on whether sending speculation letters (as opposed to emails) is worth the time and effort involved? Hubby has been out of work for a year now, no JSA anymore as I work full time, so pointless him wasting the bus fare to get there for no money, hence he's no longer signing on.

All the usual avenues to secure employment arent working, so I wonder whether spec letters are the next step forward perhaps? I understand that companies are probably swamped with emails, so I'm hoping to tailor his CV to fit and gear the letter up for their business. I've tried to get a name I can address to directly, but sadly no one's giving out names these days.

Any advice would be appreciated - thank you!

(I'm at work at the mo, so will sign on again tomorrow and see what people think with regards to this)

DCFC79

It varies really,it can work but what could work even better is if he went in person smartly dressed armed with his cv and a letter,

angel.cake_2

I don't think I would waste the time and effort (and cost) in doing spec letters. Highly unlikely that he will strike lucky in this climate and all it will do is make him dispondant with the lack of responses.

In my opinion, the best way to be pro-active is to look through company websites and check their recruiment pages. Lots of jobs are adertised this way but never make it to job boards or other advertising. It will also mean slightly less competition with other applicants.

jdturk

i would say there is no harm in doing it but just expect a huge lack of response and lots of disappointing news and then if that is how it is you are not to despondant and if something comes from it you'll be happy

ParkeyBoy

What does he do/want to do? Perhaps he should look at using sites like LinkedIn?

Oldernotwiser

Apart from a few quid on paper and stamps you've nothing to lose with this approach, as long as you don't mind risking disappointment if nothing comes of it. I've known people to get jobs by this approach so I'd say go for it.

bristol_pilot

Spec letters work best in times of high employment (so not now), or if you have specialist skills to offer and can target firms in that area. But if you are looking for work that 'anyone' can do, I'd say not to bother with spec letters in the current economic climate if you are paying for the postage yourself.

cazziebo

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Apart from a few quid on paper and stamps you've nothing to lose with this approach, as long as you don't mind risking disappointment if nothing comes of it. I've known people to get jobs by this approach so I'd say go for it.

Agree with this. Twice I've got jobs by speculative applications.

As oldernotwiser says - nothing to lose. You are taking the right approach by tailoring letters.

(trick I used to use to get names - it's not very ethical but there have been times in the past I've been pretty desperate. Call up and say you are holding an event at the City Chambers/Town Hall/other interesting prestigious venue. You want to invite the IT Manager, HR Manager, Admin Manager- whoever the relevant person is. What's their name for the guest list please? Nearly always worked!)

DCFC79

cazziebo wrote: »

Agree with this. Twice I've got jobs by speculative applications.

As oldernotwiser says - nothing to lose. You are taking the right approach by tailoring letters.

(trick I used to use to get names - it's not very ethical but there have been times in the past I've been pretty desperate. Call up and say you are holding an event at the City Chambers/Town Hall/other interesting prestigious venue. You want to invite the IT Manager, HR Manager, Admin Manager- whoever the relevant person is. What's their name for the guest list please? Nearly always worked!)

good idea, glad to hear it worked

tls1974

I think it does depend a lot on the industry your hubby is targeting.

I've done a fair bit of recruitment within the IT industry and can honestly say that, judging by the companies I've worked for, speculative CVs are lucky if they even make it past HR. A lot of the bigger IT companies (IBM for example) won't even accept them online.

Mind you, professional recruiters don't actually read CVs anyway..... Not a joke btw - the totally unsuitable candidates agencies used to send through because they hadn't actually read the CVs were beyond belief!

Either way, you could save yourself the cost of printer ink, paper and postage and send them electronically.

Best of luck!

tls1974

Before I forget, this website might be helpful: http://www.businessballs.com/

It's got absolutely TONS of stuff on it to do with employment, CVs, interviews etc. Hope it's of use.