Does sending out CV's do any good?

slugger09

Just curious, would sending out my CV to employers I'd like to work for do much good or would I just be wasting paper?

lucylucky

Depends how the employer recruits.

If they advertise and use their own forms then unlikely to be of much use but a bit of speculative fishing can often get your name known, and perhaps a little bit of inside info.

For the jobs I used to recruit they were of no use at all.

bristol_pilot

This generally works well in two situations: 1. in times of low unemployment when companies are struggling to recruit good staff (so not at the moment) and 2. if the individual is an experienced professional in some specialist field.

Sending out speculative CVs for general office work would not work so well and you can expect quite a low 'hit rate'. On the other hand, if you can afford all that paper and postage, you only need to be lucky once. Might work OK in London as the employment scene is not so bad there and there are some signs of recovery.

slugger09

So a pointless exercise over here then in NI, I thought it might help as within 20 miles of home it's averaging about 3 jobs per week advertised.

Wellery82

My last two interviews have come from doing this, one of which i had a job offer for. I also had a few e-mails back saying nothing at the moment but my details will be stored on file, one of which i have since been offered an interview with. I would definitely recommend it.

Advertising costs money as does using agencies. Both also are a lot of time and hassle in writing the adverts/speaking to the agency, managing response, sending out rejection letters, conducting all the interviews etc. If your CV lands in an inbox when a company are looking to recruit then they may see you as an option they can consider before spending the money or time. Where this happens bear in mind you may well be the only candidate as well.

Obviously the above does depend on their being a job - unless you have quite specific for skills in an area where it is hard to recruit it is unlikely a role will be created for you. Sales may differ though if you are convincing them you will add profit for them. If you send out enough e-mails though then chances are a few of the companies will be looking.

I'd suggest using sites like yell.com to start building up lists of companies in your industry or location etc you would consider working for, and then use the websites or ring them to get contact e-mail addresses. Send the CV and a short e-mail to each of them, either a generic one or a tailored one, and sit back and wait. At worst you have wasted one or two days of job seeking and at best it lands you a great job. One thing i would say is always e-mail and not post if possible as it allows the company to forward CVs to other departments or individuals, whereas a postal copy this becomes a hassle

toadyfrog

I got my last 2 jobs by sending them my CV. ALthough both did know the previous companies I was employed with and made redundant. I also informed them I was only looking for a job within school hours and both made posititions fit within these hours. Just very lucky I guess that they were taking on people at that time.