"What's wrong?" we asked in surprise. For he had always been enthusiastic about his job before.

"Nothing's wrong, except that I've got to start moving ahead. You sold me a long time ago on the idea of looking and planning ahead. I've been aiming for production manager and I know I'm ready for a big jump."

"You're probably right about that," we agreed. "But look, Roy, you've been with Consolidated how long now? Seven years? Well, you've got a real investment in time and effort sunk in that place. Everyone knows you and you know your way around. Why can't you make your jump right there?"  <pg. 215>

"Don't think I wouldn't like to. But J. G. (Roy's employer) still sees me as the fresh-out-of-college kid he hired seven years ago. A raise, a little promotion -- that's easy. But he just can't take me seriously as top managerial material. Like it or not I've got to make the break now."

That laid bare the real trouble. J. G. and Roy liked each other and worked well together. But J. G. failed to realize he had an unusually capable young executive in Roy, a business builder who ached to spread his wings. Their business talks were always cut short; there never seemed enough time for Roy to air his ambitious plans.

Once this was in the open, the way out became clear. "Didn't you forget one important step in working toward your goal?" we asked Roy.

"What was that?"

"You forgot you have to sell yourself continually on your way up. You've got to research each new stepping stone just as you did at the beginning. You've got to trot out new illustrations that show your ability to handle the requirements of your new goal -- production manager. In short, you've got to sell J. G. all over again.

"Maybe that's it, Sid. I can work up a presentation just as though I were looking for a new job. I know I've grown on the job and I can come up with illustrations to prove it."

"After you finish it why don't you invite J.G. out to dinner?" we suggested. "That will put you on an equal plane to begin with. You can show him your presentation, then devote the rest of the evening to your plan for expanding production -- the new benefit you're offering."

It worked.

All this may seem elementary. Everyone knows enough to ask for a promotion right where he is. Sure.

But how many go at it the right way?

When you rest your bid for promotion on your own needs, or seniority -- "I've been here a long time and I deserve it" -- it often fails. Turned down, you walk off muttering to yourself. Only then do you prepare a selling job -- to be used somewhere else. <pg. 216>

Why not do that selling job on your current boss first?

In switching careers, the same reasoning applies. As before, all you've done for your firm represents an investment. Why throw it away? It pays to explore the situation right there.

You have an "in" where you are; you know whom to talk to. Your knowledge of your present firm gives you excellent material for a "rifle" approach. For you must sell yourself in your new career. By doing it where you are you can translate more of the values of your past work into terms of your new field. As Joe Rickert discovered.

Joe was an accountant with a problem. "My eyes are going back on me," he told his Clinic group, "and my doctor said I must give up close figure work. That means no more accounting.

"The funny thing is I was getting tired of accounting myself. Anyhow, I make friends easily, I talk well, and I figure I ought to make a good salesman. I came here for two reasons. I thought you might give me a line on how to start in a new field with no experience. And then I wanted to ask if it was best to quit my job now and put all my time into this."

"What sort of firm do you work for now?" someone in the group asked.

"We manufacture educational toys. They're pretty good, too. I take some home for my kids and they get a big kick out of them."

"Why quit? Why don't you approach your firm's sales manager?"

"He'd think I was crazy. He knows I'm an accountant."

"But you know the firm. You know its policies. You know the quality of its products; your own kids have used them. You know the financial setup. You've got a lot to offer as a salesman for your own firm. Why dump all those advantages overboard for a blind approach somewhere else?"

That made Joe stop and think. "You've got a point there," he admitted.

"Look," said the group member. "Your best bet in any case, as you've already heard here, is to prepare a selling campaign for your new career. You'll want to list all the requirements for a good salesman and show you measure up. Why don't you aim your first presentation at your own sales manager? Make your <pg. 217> main selling point your intimate knowledge of the firm. You've got nothing to lose."

"I'll give it a try," said Joe. He did. And that's how he made a successful career shift without changing his place of work.

But they may not know how much you have grown and improved since you last worked for them. One good way to get this across is to discuss your situation with them.

Ask for their advice and help. Most people feel flattered when asked for counsel. Show your presentation and your plan for getting the job you want. Perhaps you need a letter from your former chief for your presentation. This gives you an excellent chance to remind him of the services you rendered his firm. We know of several cases where this approach has resulted in a good job with a former employer.

We don't say this will happen to you. That's not at all the point of your visit. By reminding your former employers of what you've done for them, and by impressing them with a well-organized job campaign, you may get some very good leads.

That does happen often. Quite often they will arrange an appointment for you, or give you a letter of introduction. At the very least, such a visit will insure enthusiastic references. If you are a beginner, look up those who hired you for part time and summer jobs. They will often add many names to your list, or perhaps offer you a permanent job themselves.

Just because your friends have known you a long time, don't assume they know your value in a business way. Half of them may not even know exactly what you do. Use the same care in presenting your story to your friends and acquaintances as you would to a prospective employer.

Bert Wendell tells a story that shows how important this is. <pg. 218>

"My friend Jack Arnold," says Bert, "knows everybody. So when I was looking for a new connection I told him about it first thing. "‘I'll be glad to help,' Jack tells me.

"I kept myself busy the next few weeks working on my presentation and tracking down leads. And I kept in touch with Jack too. But every time I phoned he'd say, 'I'm sorry, Bert, but nothing's turned up.'

"I must confess I was beginning to wonder; I knew Jack had so many contacts he was bound to hear of something. I decided I'd call him one more time -- then drop it.

"Jack must have been feeling bad about it himself because he said, 'Look, Bert, all I've heard about are some top level merchandising jobs. Your "Goodman" background doesn't fit.'

"That rocked me. 'Can you have lunch with me tomorrow?' I asked, 'I think I've been short-changing myself and making things tough for you.'

"'Meet me at one,' Jack replied.

"The next day I showed Jack my portfolio. He was amazed. He knew I had managed some stores in the Goodman chain. But he had no idea I had brought each of these stores from red to black. Nor did he know I had worked out a cosmetics and drug display that was adopted not only by Goodman's but by several other important chains.

"'I know just the place to send you,' was Jack's reaction. And he made an appointment for me by phone right then and there.

"Moreover, he took the letter I had written, made a few changes, and sent it under his own signature to fourteen of his influential friends. This resulted in four interviews and two offers of jobs."

Without an organized campaign you are a lone worker. But if you plan properly and explain your plans carefully to those who know you, you can be backed by an organization of friends.

Once you have organized yourself an amazing number of people go out of their way to help you. Henry Goldfield found this to be true -- much to his surprise and gratification.

An earnest, middle-aged man, Mr. Goldfield took four weeks to prepare a portfolio and a two-page prospecting letter. Anxious to connect as office manager, he considered the time well spent.

Armed with his presentation he walked into the offices of the <pg. 219> Metal Trades Association and asked for the executive secretary, a Mr. Robinson. He was ushered into an inner office.

"What can I do for you?" Mr. Robinson asked.

Mr. Goldfield explained about his presentation. "I thought if I could get a list of your members I would canvass them," he added.

"May I see your letter?" asked Mr. Robinson. Mr. Goldfield passed it over.

Mr. Robinson read it, then asked, "Do you mind if I see the portfolio too?" "Not at all."

Mr. Robinson became so interested in Goldfield's story and was so impressed by his well-planned campaign that he offered to include the letter in his next mailing to the Association's members. Mr. Goldfield gladly accepted. And that's how he landed his job.

Nor is this an isolated incident. Quite a few Clinic "graduates" have been helped by total strangers who were impressed by their excellent campaigns.

On the other hand, we have known several young men just out of school who have refused to use the contacts they have -- their friends and their fathers' friends. They seem to take pride in locating jobs "on their own.

Now, if your father calls up a friend and says, "Say, Bill, Junior's out of college and I want you to give him a job," that may be pull. But if you go round to see Bill and persuade him he can use you to advantage, that's not pull.

Because you are your father's son the barrier will be broken down for you; you'll get in to see Bill and he'll listen sympathetically. But if you insist on going in only on your own merits, because you can serve him well, and prove it in your presentation of your story, there's no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of a personal introduction.

Organize your campaign and your friends will be glad to go to bat for you. And strangers will chip in too.

Employment agencies prosper by pleasing the employers they service. They can do this by sending out only those applicants likely to make a good impression. Some send a bulletin to their clients, listing the experience of applicants.

Upon occasion, if they get someone who has organized his story unusually well, they will do much more: they may actively try to develop an opening. We have known agencies to introduce such an applicant to many of their best clients.

In the case of Arthur Beeman, the man who wanted to stay in the mortgage business (page 2), the agency manager personally talked to scores of prospects in Beeman's behalf. Such cases are exceptional, true. But they do show that if you organize your case well, the agency can serve you to better advantage.

The Y.M.C.A. and some private clubs have placement services or employment committees that may help you. And be sure to consider your college placement bureau.

Wherever you may turn for leads sell your story to the best of your ability. A good presentation and an intelligent campaign win respect -- and that extra bit of help counts.

The bankers who take over properties, and investment bankers who pioneer new enterprises or finance large expansions may place executives in these enterprises to protect their interests. There are many other groups that often serve as clearing houses for jobs. They include:

Manufacturers' associations
Trade associations
Chambers of Commerce
Credit bureaus <pg. 221>
Sales and market consultants
Management agencies and business counselors
Industrial relations consultants
Accountants and tax consultants
Consulting engineers
Public relations counselors
Lawyers and patent attorneys

From all these sources you can get names for your prospect list. With all these groups a well-organized presentation will make clear what kind of job you want and your right to hold it. Where they show a desire to help you, you can leave copies of your presentation. It will help them sell your story to others.

Some of these groups and certain clubs have bulletin boards or house organs. We have known both media to be effectively used in locating jobs. Usually there is no charge for using the space.

The cold call will always be with us. It has secured many jobs in the past and will undoubtedly net more in the future. Walking directly in on your prospective employer sans letter or phone call to smooth the way, is, however, no longer the most favored method.

For the executives or department heads you wish to see are likely to be among the busiest. Their secretaries are expected to say "No" to unknown job seekers. Hence cold calls may take lots of time and more shoe leather to snare a few interviews. With no time set aside previously, these interviews are often hurried and harried. The number of offers resulting will probably be quite low.

In telling of her experiences and her husband's in trying to locate engineering positions, Betty Slocombe Welch discusses the question of cold calls: * [Footnote: * Betty Slocombe Welch, "Getting a Job," Mechanical Engineering, May, 1938. <pg. 222> ]

We decided to write letters instead of making uninvited calls; and this decision was not an arbitrary one. Letters get into engineering departments, and usually applicants who make uninvited calls do not. If you appear at a plant, hat in hand, looking for a job, the first (and probably the last) person you will see will be the employment manager or a receptionist. If the company is looking for young engineers, and you are admitted to the office of an employer, the interview will not be prearranged and you will probably be introduced by a person of minor importance in the company. On the other hand, if you write to the chief engineer, and he is interested enough to ask you to call, he will see you himself, or will turn you over to one of his assistants.

If the company is not interested at the time you apply, and if you call in person uninvited, you will not get past the outside desk. If you are lucky, you will be allowed to fill out a blank that records your qualifications. Perhaps the person you see will simply take your name; and too often these names are written on small, odd-sized pieces of paper, destined for the wastebasket as soon as your back is turned. In this case, there is no possibility whatever of your being called to a position with that company when one is available. However, if you have written to the president or chief engineer, the letter will probably be filed somewhere in the engineering department where the opening you desire will be known about first, and it is then possible that you may receive a call from that company some time in the future. . . .

It is interesting to note that before my husband launched his letter campaign, he had called at several employment offices, with badly discouraging results. At one plant, the employment officer started shaking his head as soon as he saw my husband coming, and refused even to take his name. This company was included in the letter campaign a few days later, and the first job offer that resulted was with the same company.

In many lines it is probable that an opening may exist in the mind of an executive or department head before he takes it up with the employment manager. A good letter which just fills his unspoken need may inspire him to action. Calling on one hundred prospects will consume many weeks. Besides, you will not always succeed in getting your qualifications before the right man. A letter to these same one hundred men would place before the majority of them just the story you wish. Exceptions abound in all things. Men with outgoing personalities may find the cold call quite advantageous. We would hate <pg. 223> to tell our old friend Bill Bronson not to make cold calls. He can walk in and get an interview with about anyone.

Then there was Jeff Hanson. He specialized in hotel accounting and methods. He originated many ways of improving services and cutting costs. Nevertheless, he could not find the job he wanted in the hotel field.

He began to call on hospitals. When we met him last he had called on almost fifty. His experience and personality were good enough to get him in to the heads of the institutions on which he was calling. In fifty interviews he had gathered five tentative offers.

Given the proper temperament, the cold call can be useful. But it will be useful only if you prepare for it in advance. A cold call does not mean a cold presentation. Work over your oral approach as carefully as you do your written presentations. That way you can make your cold call pay dividends.

Steve Gromek, a young copywriter, came to New York from a small western city. Because he needed a job quickly, he decided the telephone was his best bet. Imbued with the Clinic spirit, he planned his approach as carefully as if he were writing a shotgun letter.

Spread out before him he had a couple of sheets of paper covered with illustrations of different facets of his talents. That way he could quickly give a benefit-to-the-prospect reason for an interview in accord with his prospect's initial reactions. He spent one day phoning the presidents or copy chiefs of selected advertising agencies. He secured four appointments, one of which resulted in his getting the job he wanted.

Sometimes you may phone for an appointment to get advice. You may wish to show your presentation to one or two executives in your field for constructive criticism, and to get names of firms that might be able to use your services.

Most people respond to a sincere request for guidance. But don't abuse their good nature. Don't ask for a job when you've arranged to come in for advice. Excellent suggestions and persomal <pg. 224> introductions to likely prospects have developed out of such advice-seeking interviews.

If it does nothing else, a wire does command attention. One young lady in one day answered three help-wanted ads by telegram. In each wire she asked for a reply collect. Her three wires brought three interviews. Undoubtedly, the power of the telegram to arouse interest was a factor in getting those interviews.

A few hours' work in the library will pay off handsomely. Your prospect list will thrive on a diet of such meaty manuals as Thomas' Register of American Manufacturers, the Standard Advertising Register, and McKittrick's Directory of Advertisers. The last two list advertisers and their officers as well as advertising agencies.

Ask your librarian for the Industrial Directory of your state or region. It is an invaluable source book for job leads.

Tap such standard works as Moody's or Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys for the information you need when planning a rifle approach. Dip into them too when preparing for interviews. Scouting the firm in advance may well mean the difference between an offer and a turndown.

Trade papers and the financial sections of metropolitan dailies yield many clues to good jobs. News of a new product to be added by a firm may bring you just the opening you want. Re-organization, or a change in executive staff, may also herald "opportunity knocking at your door." Inquiry in such cases can land you in your job or fan out into other useful contacts.

Ask your librarian to suggest other reference works. As you learn your way around your library you will unearth facts that will help you in every stage of your campaign.

With your sales presentations and prospect lists in hand, you are open for business. And selling your services to the buyer of your choice is a business that demands sound organization. <pg. 225>

As you build your prospect list allot each firm a separate index card. Enter firm name and address, name and title of the person to contact, and the nature of the business and its products. Keep notes on correspondence, phone calls, interviews, and follow-ups. Always indicate the steps you plan to take next. Review your card file every two or three days.

The reproduced cards show how others have done this.

International Meter Company
320 Second Street, City SOuth 3-2171

Mfr. of parking meters (we have them on Main Street)

Mr. A. B. Cleverly. Employment Mgr.
7/21 I called. Mr. Cleverly said I would have to speak to George Dixon, head of the production department, but now out of town. Phone his secretary 7/24 for appointment.
7/26 Saw Mr. Dixon. He wants someone who is a little inventive and can think up new production ideas. Follow-up in one week (8/2). Bring letter from R.M. White praising my innovations for United.

---

Furness and Smith
71 Atlantic Avenue,
City LAke 4-4182

Insurance agents (fire and casualty)

Mr. Benjamin F. Smith, co-owner
2/14 Wrote them letter No. 2.
2/17 They asked me to call.
2/18 Interviewed by Mr. Smith. Clerk will be married in March. All their clerical help must be good at figures.
2/19 I wrote of my interest in job, enclosed my marks in algebra.
2/25 Saw Mr. Furness, brought letter from my algebra teacher. Phone them next week (3/4).

How many prospects will you need? That's not easy to judge. But it is surely wiser to err on the side of feast rather than famine.

The late William D. Camp, who was one of the leading place <pg. 226> ment men in this country, told us the average person should be actively considered for seven specific openings to be reasonably sure of getting one. Relatively few are considered for that many jobs before taking one. But it's best to aim in that direction.

How many names will you require on your prospect list to get seven active leads? If you have something of unusual value to offer for which there is a demand, you may not need many. The average person may need several hundred names.

When jobs are scarce you may need a thousand names and more. And you will have to put more "sell" into your campaign. This does not mean high-pressure selling, nor sympathy appeals. It does mean harder work.

It means creating more polished and salesworthy presentations; it means compiling bigger prospect lists; it means more intensive follow-ups of leads.

You need not wait to complete your list before starting to use it. Usually it pays to send out a test mailing first, say forty or fifty letters. This lets you check how well your letter pulls. It will also enable you to follow up promptly all requests for interviews. Or if your first letter does not pull sufficiently, you can change it for the next mailing.

In judging the value of your letter, do not be guided by the number of replies. The higher the position, the greater will be the courtesy response. Judge your letter only by the interviews produced.

It is important that list and letter should be considered in their relation to each other. Sometimes, the same letter may do for both large and small firms. But it may be that a letter that appeals to General Electric will shoot over the heads of smaller firms. You may need to angle your letter accordingly.

George Crosley had been with one of our great international corporations. His letter described all his varied activities. He sent it first to fifty prime prospects and had a good response. Encouraged by the returns, he sent it to the next hundred on his list. This brought just as many replies -- but no interviews.

George puzzled over the matter. Then an analysis of his lists and the replies told the story. The first fifty were fairly large firms that could use his wide experience in export problems. The <pg. 227> second list comprised smaller companies that reacted favorably but felt he was much too big a man for them.

When he omitted the international angle and pointed his letter directly toward sales management of a medium-sized concern, he got a good response from this group.

If you close your letter with a promise to phone for an appointment, you may run into considerable expense, but you will get more interviews. For a large mailing an enclosed postcard may serve, particularly if your job is not in the higher income brackets. A card shows forethought and initiative and can be a real convenience to your prospect.

Make it simple for your prospect to fill in your card. It might read something like this:

I'll be glad to see you. Come in for an interview on (day) ____________ (date)__________ at (time) __________.

(signature) ______________________
The John Doe Company

Whether you hail from Mankato, Minnesota, or Chicago, the same principles and methods will serve you equally well. If you prefer to stay in your own home town, your prospect list will be shorter. But you can compensate by more intensive work on each. You are likely to know more about your prospects; at any rate the facts on which to base a rifle approach are easy to obtain.

If you are prepared to move out to a larger town for the job you want, the same principles still apply. But you may not want to leave your present job until you have another. In this case the written word becomes even more important.

When faced with such a problem it makes good sense to use a letter as advance agent for a portfolio. When both letter and portfolio excite interest, a trip for an interview should prove worthwhile.

Most employers will ask you to come from out of town only if they are definitely interested. Often they will pay the traveling expense, or half of it.

It will also pay to send your portfolio to several employment agencies in the city. If your presentation is sufficiently unusual <pg. 228> you will probably command attention despite the handicap of distance.

You can time your campaign so that leads may mature just before your vacation. In that way you can handle interviews without loss of time.