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I received 4 emails from a big company — yes, 4 emails with the exact same text in each one. Here is the text of that email:
Hi Shmula,I came across your blog (My research identified you as an active member of the supply management community) and I’m very interested in learning more about your professional background. I am a recruiter supporting company_name Entertainment & Devices Division Procurement & Supply Management team (think product_name). My division is responsible for the entire company_name Supply Chain and provides logistics for the US Retail Channel. My team is seeking key individuals to meet increased demands on our supply management process. This is an area of company_name where an individual can still make an impact.
If I have caught you at an appropriate time in that you would like to explore one of these opportunities, please let me know by selecting the position of interest.
If you do not see the level of position that is consistent with your career objectives, I encourage you to register with our talent network and we will automaically notify you of future openings. It is excellent and discreet way to monitor company_name career opportunities.
On the other hand, if the timing is not good or these roles are not consistent with your career objectives, I would appreciate “tapping into your personal/professional network. It is probable that you would be aware of someone who would be a good match for our opportunities—I would appreciate your referrals or recommendations.
Thank you in advance for your consideration—I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
fname lname
Sr Recruiter
company_name Entertainment & Devices
Most likely, this recruiter did a search for “supply chain”, “six sigma”, “operations”, and “lean” and ended up on shmula.com; I’m grateful that this recruiter contacted me, but his approach of sending 4 emails having the exact same text is a little strange and does not really build trust. The first contact — in this case first 4 contacts — was riddled with defects:
- If you wish to contact someone sincerely, do it professionally and make it targeted. I bet that the response rate will be higher with that targeted, 1:1 approach.
- In paragraph 1, you state “This is an area of company_name where an individual can still make an impact.” What does that mean? Are you saying that people can’t make an impact in other areas of this company anymore? Statements like that, while meant to “build-up” the area that you’re recruiting for, has an unintended consequence, instead, of not making the candidate very confident in the company. Why? Because that statement shows that the recruiter has little confidence in the employees’ ability to contribute to the company.
- If you are truly interested in me as a candidate, then explain what you see in me that may be of interest. That will show me or any other candidate that you’ve done your due diligence and that you are serious.
- Related to (3) — don’t mass spam people.
- Shmula is the name of my blog, not my real name.
- By the way, “shmula” means absolutely nothing. I just made up the word one night while thinking of a domain name to buy.
This is not the first time this company has contacted me. Over the years, they’ve contacted me ~8 times that I can remember. I’ve always said “no thanks” because they are not located in a geographic location that I’m interested in. I have nothing personal against this company — in fact, this company’s Entertainment and Devices Division is probably the best division in the company and one that I would consider but, again, the location isn’t my preference. It is a division, though, that I think has a lot of potential and opportunity. The parent company is the wealthiest company in the world.
Big Company, thank you for contacting me not once, but four times. Your products are cool and the gaming console is a winner in the space; regarding the new product you just released — the jury is still out on that, but it could compete with the winning .mp3 player on the market today.
Keep on plugging along; I think the entertainment division has a ton of potential. In the meantime, work on the recruiting tactics and place yourself in the candidates’ shoes before contacting him or her.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The reverse side of this also happens to candidates.
Some candidates really want to make an impact on a company. They do thorough research on the company, its products, its management team, and more of its directors and staff. They write a very targeted letter, and it’s never heard back from. They may do followup too, but aren’t taken seriously. Why not?
There are so many other job candidates who send form letters. And some of those actually get hired, including the very people you did your research on. To them, it’s foreign to see somebody actually take interest in the company and do actual study.
It’s a real shame how employment and recruitment has become a form of junk mail. Technology has only exacerbated this. Sometimes, the Internet is the worst thing that ever happened to job hunting.