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Abilities Overview |
Career
Clubs International Reprint: Work Abilities
Chapter 7
"Using a Man Power Specification"
Intro | Prelim | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 | 10 | 11 |
Comment
Note: This is recommended reading.
This chapter lays out the core concepts of using the Work Ability
Statements. |
p. 69 |
CHAPTER VII
USING A MAN POWER SPECIFICATION
IN COMPOSING our Man Power Specifications we have at least tried
to think and act logically and clearly. The product we have developed should give us a
fresh and vital outlook on the problem of what we are and of what we are good for. If we
are not proud of the result of our labor, if our morale is not improved, if we cannot hold
our head a little higher in seeking work, then we had better go over our work and see
where we have gone off at a tangent.
In hundreds of cases those have been the first results and they are by no
means unimportant. The degree of personal satisfaction resulting from the completion of
the Specifications is a very good measure of its degree of perfection. A little analysis
will help here. If you are not satisfied that you have put your best foot forward, how can
you expect anyone reading the Specification to appreciate you at your best? |
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p. 70 |
| Assuming that you are pleased, that you feel
you have painted a truthful and satisfactory word picture of yourself, the next step is to
put that picture to work for you. The first consideration is courtesy. You
have used the names of former employers and friends as references. Very likely it has been
impossible to ask their permission for such use, but the least you can do is to let them
know that you have mentioned them as knowing about you and your work. The same applies to
the personal references if you have given some. Send them copies of your folder with a
letter telling them what you have done and suggesting how they might be of help not only
to you but to other friends of theirs. The points to be covered in such a letter will be
found on page 76. Use these as a guide for the writing of a letter in your own words,
using the principles which they illustrate.
The value of advertising has been mentioned previously. You now have
something that you should be proud of and that you should be glad to show to your friends.
Do so. Send with it a letter telling them why you want them to read about ... |
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p. 71 |
| you. Something along the lines of the letter just written.
Include in this mailing former associates or superiors in business. They may be surprised
to find that they can use you to their advantage. They may know of someone looking for
just such a man as you are-though they did not know what kind of a man you were till you
told them. If your lists are complete and well thought out the copies you have sent out
should have covered the general pub- licity angle. Often the results of this step remind
one of the bread cast upon the waters. Having given yourself some publicity
it is time to get down to cases. This is where you use the "Functions I Can
Perform" as your guide in look- ing for the kind of work you want to do and are best
fitted to do. Take the first paragraph of that page, pick out one of the fields in which
you have said that you can do a certain type and kind of work. In that field make up a
list of firms that either you know to be responsible or for whom you would like to work.
This list can be made up from your knowledge of the field or industry or can be worked out
from directories of one kind or another. Do the same thing for each field in ... |
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p. 72 |
| each paragraph and you will have quite a sizable list of
possibilities. Prune this growth as much as you want to and separate it into two
divisions, those you will approach by mail and those you will visit in person.
In a mail approach the attack should be affirma- tive and not too aggressive. Your folder
should arouse interest if it reaches the right man in the right firm. The next step then
is to find the name and title of the man in each business to whom you wish to send your
Specification. With that infor- mation in hand you are ready to write a letter to
accompany your folder and to introduce your qualifications to the unseen executive whose
inter- est and attention you desire. On page 77 will be found samples of the kind of
letter that has proved successful. Write your own letter along the princi- ples outlined
in those examples.
Similarly make up a list of the men you intend to meet
personally. The approach here, especially after you have entered the office and are ready
to present your case, is vitally important. If by this time you have not forgotten the
existence of "jobs" and have not grasped the importance of Work As ... |
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p. 73 |
| The Issue, your way will be hard and rough. You know what
you can do, you believe that your abilities can be useful to the man you are about to
address, so maintain an attitude of wishing to arouse interest, to offer help, and
remember that you are there prepared to render a service or offer a product for sale. Each
of us will express himself in his own way, but the general attitude should be "Will
you take three minutes to read this first page and tell me if I can be of help to you and
your organization, now or later?" Few men will refuse you that courtesy. Whatever
discussion comes from such an approach will at least have an atmosphere of friendliness
and helpfulness. If the man you are talking with is certain that you will not meet any
need of his, either known or developed from your presentation of yourself in work
language, you can ask him to keep the folder and pass it on to some friend that he thinks
might like to see it and to whom it might open up an avenue for profit. There is always
a best way of performing any task. Few of us can reach perfection. Usually we can improve
on our first attempts if we use our |
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p. 74 |
| heads and think out the problems we have to meet. Whether
our first approaches are by mail or personal interviews, it is advisable to handle them in
small groups, ten or fifteen at a time. From the replies we get to these first contacts we
can judge whether our approach by letter or in person is good. If not, study the results
and find out what is wrong. The philosophy, principles, and methods have been tried and
found both sound and successful. The trouble is not there, it is in the application, which
must be personal and will differ with each of us. Study the replies and discover what
common reaction exists that arouses a negative feeling. Change the method of submitting
the next series so as to eliminate that reaction and improve the feeling of the recipient.
On an average, there should be at least a 65% response to your letters. If you receive a
smaller percentage, something needs to be changed. Find out what it is.
The over-all percentage of placements, including those who after making up
their Man Power Specifications do not use them energetically has averaged above 80%. Most
of these placements |
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p. 75 |
| have been at higher compensation than received previously.
The efficacy of the Rahn Plan has been proved in practical application and a mark has been
set for you to aim at and, in time, to hit. |
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p. 76 |
| SUGGESTIONS FOR GENERAL LETTERS TO REFERENCES, FRIENDS,
ETC. Whom Do I Know?
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1:- |
References |
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2:- |
Friends |
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3:- |
Associates |
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4:- |
Former Contacts and Employers |
The people to whom you will write under the classifications
above may be considered as giving yourself general publicity. They are not written to with
any idea of securing work, but more with the idea of letting as many persons as possible
know that you have something real to offer. These letters should cover the points listed
below. They should of course be written in your own words and language.
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A:- |
I have used your name as a reference and you should
know that I am doing so. I am enclosing a copy of my folder so that you will see how I am
handling it. |
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B:- |
You may wish to pass this on to some one else who
might be interested. I shall be glad to furnish addi- tional copies of the folder to be
sent wherever you feel they would be of mutual help. |
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C:- |
I need names of companies and people where I ... |
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p. 77 |
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might serve. Will you suggest any you may think of? |
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D:- |
I shall appreciate any constructive suggestions. In talking
with people you may suggest I shall use your name only if you give me permission to do so. |
SUGGESTION FOR LETTERS TO PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS
A
My approach to you does not fall in the category of job
hunting or of undertaking to fill a vacancy, but is made in spite of existing jobs or
vacancies. This presentation is made to enable you to reinforce your business as it exists
and to enable you to determine whether what I have to offer can be of use to you in
generating new activities and services, from which your business would gain a profit or
reduce losses.
Will you consider the attached folder as a business proposition and grant
me the courtesy of an interview? A discussion might well develop something of mutual and
profitable interest. I have organized this presentation of what I can do, supported as it
is by what I have done, so that I could submit it to you to show how I might be useful to
you and gain a reward for myself.
I will consider it a pleasure to make an appointment when and where you
direct.
May I hear from you?
B
In asking your courtesy and time to look over the
enclosed presentation, I do so on the premise that anything, to warrant your business
attention, must indicate the possibility of a profit.
The attached is a resume of my work ability. If these abilities fit some
plan or problem you are facing or will contribute ... |
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p. 78 |
| to the smoother operation of your business, they deserve
your consideration. Will you therefore look on the attached as descriptive
of an objective service, available to be acquired, to help in generating a profit or in
minimizing losses in some phase of your business. Useful work is the issue and it is that
idea which is reflected in this presentation.
If, from this objective viewpoint, my abilities have a definite or a
potential value, I shall be glad to meet with you or anyone you may designate for
interview and discussion. My desire is to be made use of to the extent of my capability
and, in so being used, to merit a portion of the profit my efforts create. |
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