Dispensing Unsolicited Advice

There are probably quite a few of you out there with children and grandchildren coming into the graduate job market or grappling with higher education choices. The other day I posted this piece on LinkedIn and it got some response so I thought I'd share here. What I'm suggesting is clearly not rocket science but it might just be a perspective which is helpful to someone you know.

Here goes:

We're often getting speculative CVs sent in to us. Yesterday I happened to read one and, because I've been dispensing advice to my own children, I felt moved to reply. in a way which I hope is constructive. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Please feel free to share your suggestions so I can advise better next time - or you, dear LinkedIn tribe (that goes for you Potholers too!), might finally make me realise that dispensing unsolicited advice is always wrong...

Here's what I wrote to the applicant:

"Something in your message made me want to reach out to you to offer a couple of pointers for future approaches. I hope you take this is in the spirit it's intended - you've got a great degree from a great university, congratulations. Next step is for you to put it to great use! Here are some ideas to consider:

1) Do your research to find the right company for you. Work out what they do, pick one which really appeals - be clear why you think they are great and what difference you could make to them. You should be confident about the impact you can have.

2) Have a clear think about what aspect of travel you want to work in. In a travel business you will typically have sales, marketing, product, operations and finance. Work out which sort of area best suits your personality type - ask people who know you if you aren't clear, they'll be able to tell you. In a smaller company you'll tend to have to muck in and do it all anyway so think about company size from the get-go.

3) Never send a purely speculative cover letter. A 'Dear Sir/Madam' is never going to work. Call, ask 'for some advice' and get the name of a person to whom you address your application. Make it clear that you are getting in touch because you love what they do and would love to know if there are any job opportunities...Even if there is no specific job available, send it. Initiative counts for a great deal.

4) Craft your communications around what value you will bring to the company. Think about it as a business case that you are making. Any employer is investing a lot of time and money in you so you need to give them confidence that you are a great investment.

5) Follow up by phone at a time/date to make sure that it's arrived and to answer any questions. That way, if they really are not interested, they'll want to give you an answer before your call comes in. If they are intrigued then they'll be watching and waiting for you to call when you said you will. Perseverance matters, so does punctuality and reliability.

6) Don't apologise about not having sector-specific skills and/or having not yet found a job. You've just graduated, nobody's going to really question what's happened June-August. If they do have questions, they can ask at interview, you can tell them that you took your time to find the perfect company.

I hope that's helpful to you and gives you some confidence to go find the job you deserve.

Wishing you all the best in your search."