Executive Resumes, Personal Branding & Executive Job Search

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Why can't I get anybody to try this one particular job search strategy? I know a lot about the best ways for my clients to get jobs. I've been writing about them for years. I've coached a lot of clients in job search. I've even had a book published by Happy About on the subject. But, for the life of me, I can't get ANY of my clients to try a strategy that has worked amazingly for at least two of my colleagues! It doesn't matter how persuasive I think I'm being!

To be fair, my clients are getting jobs way faster than average without this method. But, imagine their choices if they actually DID THIS ONE THING! Can you hear the frustration in my writing voice?

Here's where I've come to on this: I am offering to write FOR FREE a value proposition letter (VPL) for any of my current and prospective clients who commit to trying this method! I'm so hesitant to tell you what it is for fear that your mind wil just shut down on it. But, here goes...

Execute a direct mail campaign - that's right - a snail mail campaign, with stamps and all - to decision-makers at companies you directly target. Select 30-50 companies and mail them a value proposition letter (VPL). This has worked for 5- to 7-figure earners. Or, try a letter to 5K-10K companies, as the late coach Mark Hovind, who authored this method and worked with $300k+ clients, found successful. Still with me? Here's why it works:

1. Getting your value proposition in front of the CEO or other C-level gives them a chance to be intrigued by you as a solution to their company's problem, pain, challenge, etc. They get a chance at hiring someone really good for the job!

2. This method bypasses HR, which is, in most cases, a good thing, at least initially. Because HR's job is, in part, to rule people out - not rule them in - and to color between the lines (select only candidates who most closely match the job description/keywords). I'm not dissing HR here, just acknowledging that the flood of resumes recieved requires some brutal method of paring down the numbers. However, this doesn't always result in the best person for the job (maybe YOU!) who can bring awesome accomplishments, creativity and spirit to the job.

2. Sending a VPL alone, without your resume, actually works better than sending a resume with the letter. Why is this? When an executive receives a resume, s/he knows to route it to HR. A letter alone demands to be read on its merits. Sending a VPL letter is a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!) method. Done right, it motivates the line-of-authority decision maker to contact you. I say this even though I am a resume writing professional :)

3. Sending a letter by US Mail (or or USPS priority mail or FedEx or UPS overnight delivery) is effective simply because it is LOW-tech! Emailing has a low chance of success. Faxing has worked for some but is going the way of the dinosaur. Picture an executive receiving a Priority Mail envelope directly addressed to him/her in one of those white envelopes. Hmmm, probably worth an open.

So, what makes a great VPL?

• Addressed to the decision-maker by name
• Is short - 150-200 words
• Expresses your value proposition
• Gives 1-3 examples of the results you've produced
• Mentions something you can deliver relevant to the target company
• Suggests you talk
• Says you'll contact the person shortly to see if s/he is interested
• Includes a PS that is intriguing - perhaps an expression of your brand or a link to your LInkedIn profile or website

To find out more, please visit Mark Hovind's website, which his wife, Cheryl, has kindly left up since he passed away. And here is his example of a VPL:

http://jobbait.com/JobBaitSampleLetter.pdf

Thanks, also, to Mary Elizabeth Bradford, who gave a recent teleseminar on the subject to Career Directors International. Find out more about her Job Search Success System: http://www.maryelizabethbradford.com/ here.

Will my last ditch attempt to get my clients to try the Direct Mail Campaign work? I'll let you know!  I'll have the answer in my next eNewsletter. Why not give this direct mail method a whirl?

PS Please tell you if you did and what they results were. It would do wonders for my self-esteem as a job search coach :) JC

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Image attribution: Butchbellah.com

Resume writers have to come to terms with a new reality.

ATS - Applicant Tracking Systems - are now so ubiquitous that job seekers have to assume their resume will be processed electronically. Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark, in their recent Webinar on ATS and resumes, cited the statistic that more than 90% of resumes will be processed this way.

Back in 2011 (when I wrote the blog post I'm quoting, with a few changes, below) I recommended that applicants write both a highly formatted resume meant for human eyes and an ASCII resume (saved as a .txt file) in case the company used ATS. But my thinking now, along with Louise, is that applicants should have only one resume - an ATS-compliant one - and skip the highly formatted one.

It is a dilemma for resume writers and job seekers alike. We like the resume that has been formatted for visual effect with color, tables, graphs, and other visuals! We want it to be easily scanned visually in 6 seconds! Because resumes are, like it or not, a representation of who we are.

And wouldn't we rather go out into the world with awesome clothes on (whatever that looks like to each of us) than a black and white uniform? Fortunately there are a few newer ways that resumes can look more distinctive even with ATS-mandated restrictions. This is due to the advances in the ATS technology. We can assume that the day will swing around again when we can dress up the resume. But for now...here is what I recommend:

1. Create your resume according to the ATS-compliant standards below

2. Submit it and it alone - online, in person, all the time

The reason I am not suggesting that you use a highly formatted one when you present it in person is that, though the resume you hand over will most likely make a great impression, it will eventually be processed by the ATS. And then you're sunk. Wendy and Louise pointed out that companies use ATS at all job levels to help them meet government reporting and fair hiring regulations. So even C-suite candidates have to expect this.

I actually continue to recommend an additional step though. It's been a great idea for years now, but you have to love it now! Create an online resume, website, blogsite, or other Internet property to showcase, not only your resume, but recommendations, projects, PP presentations, other visuals, outside interests and anything else you want your prospective employer to know about you. And put the URL under your name on your ATS resume.

Use the Internet's amazing visual potential to present a more in-depth, attractive, enticing, and well-rounded personal brand!

So, here's 2011's blog post brought up to date:

1. Format: Stick to a simple format in Word (saved as a .doc or .docx) or save your highly formatted resume as a .txt (ASCII) file and then clean up the places that translate wrong. Most ATS will scramble tables, graphs, graphics, italics, and unusual fonts, defeating your purpose in using them. Simple bullets, keyword symbols, bolded words, and lines that don't touch letters appear to be OK.

2. Keywords: Don't assume that it is enough to include the common keywords for your position, level, function, and industry or the ones in a job posting! Many ATS will identify as keywords the uncommon, unique-to-the-job-posting words or phrases in the job ad. This practice doesn't feel fair but cuts down dramatically on the number of resumes hiring managers or recruiters have to read :)

3. Headings: Most ATS will only recognize the common headings like Professional Summary, Work Experience or Professional Experience, and Education. Eliminate creative headings such as "Career Highlights".

4. Sections: Extra sections - that is, those that don't have the common titles listed in #3 - may not be processed. So if you have information essential to your application, such as certifications, community activities, publications etc., I suggest you include it under the Education heading.

5. Contact Information: Leave it out of the Header and Footer sections. Put it at the top of page 1, right UNDER your name. The name stands alone! And use your personal mobile phone number, LinkedIn profile URL, social media URLs, blogsite URL and any other relevant info. In terms of location - street address, city, state, zip - use it only if your job search is confined to your current geographical area.

6. Process: Don't paste your resume into a field online. Rather, upload it, if given the opportunity. Chances are better that the formatting will remain intact with this method.

7. Acronyms & Abbreviations: Don't rely on acronyms alone. Include the full language. For instance, don't use "USPs" without including "unique selling points". Use BA, MS, and MBA and spell out their meaning. Do the same with other tech and business acronyms.

8. Keyword Use: Newer ATS recognize keywords in proper context within a sentence or word group. In other words, they can use Boolean search to see if keywords are being used meaningfully. So don't rely on the keyword list. Let the job ad be your guide about which keywords to use in context. You may still want to provide a keyword list - "Additional Relevant Keywords "- at the end of your resume under "Education" to cover ones that apply to you but couldn't be woven into the content of the resume.

9. Job Description: Don't forget that the ATS software will be searching for keywords that can be found in the descriptions of your jobs. Many people have been leaving that section out in favor of just achievements. Time to put them back in!

10. Cover Letter: Write a short-form cover letter and repeat the most important keywords in the content.

If you are like a lot of people, you probably wish that the resume you worked so hard on to make visually attractive and easy to grasp would be seen on the first pass. Unfortunately, it probably won't even be seen on the second pass. The resume you submit gets mined for data that then may populate fields on a form. The HR employee or recruiter may see just that form. Your resume may in fact only be seen at the time of an interview or maybe not even then.

One further thought on length. If you need to go longer to adequately communicate what you've done and integrate keywords into context, go ahead. The software doesn't care! Don't go wild, though! Stick to 2.5 pages if you need them.

So, observe the guidelines above - and make sure your resume gets past the electronic gatekeeper so you can really strut your stuff! Good luck!

 

 

 image attribution: Asktheheadhunter.com

First job boards were in vogue, then they weren't, and now they are in again, but in one very specific way. Let's review all the advice you've heard from me and every other job search coach for years. We said job boards are not a great way to get a job. Unfortunately, people were using MOST of their job search time sitting at their computers and searching the job boards for jobs and then sending in masses of resumes. Or posting their resumes on job boards and waiting for recruiters to contact them. NOT effective ways to get a job: too much competition for a limited number of jobs; posted jobs represented only 20% of jobs available at any one time; and submitting online meant that your resume would go to HR not the hiring manager (not the best idea).

How annoying it must have been to job seekers to hear that advice! It meant they had to do really hard, time-consuming work, the nature of which was murky at best. Also, introverts don't like to get out there, make appointments, and meet with contacts. Busy people don't like to do it. Neither do people who think job search shoud be simpler and easier. Linear people don't like it either. People who don't like to ask contacts for favors don't like it at all. In fact, most people find it a great big drag.

So, what has changed to restore the job search to sanity (borrowing from 12-Step-Program lingo)? Take a look at these stats and what do they tell you?*

• 94% of recruiters - we assume both internal and external - are active on LinkedIn. That means they are sourcing candidates, posting jobs, and making connections.
• ONLY 36% of job seekers are active on LI - MAJOR MISMATCH with first bullet!
• 88% of F100 companies - a vast majority - are paying for and using LI's recruiting software.
• You can be sure a high percentage of SMB companies are as well.
• Of all hires made using social media, 73% of them are sourced on LI.

So, what have we got? Yes! There IS a job board that can really help you get a job - a job board that is way more than a job board. LinkedIn is a networking tool par excellence. Remember "networking"? Yup, still important, but now you don't have to leave home, have a networking in your target location, or have a wide circle of friends to do today's networking. (Yes, traditional networking is still a good idea, but I'm talking to all those job seekers who don't want to do it :))

And with relatively few (36%) of job seekers taking advanatage of LI for job search, your competition is significantly reduced (for the time being - until the others catch on). Whereas, on Monster, Indeed, and other of the traditional job boards, everyone and her brother are using them and applying to jobs posted there.

I'm not saying that using LI for job search is simple. There are lots of moving parts for you to learn. You'll find blog posts and white papers on this site that will fill you in. But I am saying that LI is a powerhouse. Here are some tactics to use on LI to find jobs:

• You can search and apply for jobs using the JOBS tab
• You can go to company career pages, company groups, related industry, functional, and role groups, and job search groups and find job postings
• You can follow recruiters and join groups where they are active and see the jobs they are posting

And that's just to find the jobs. As for networking, social media style, you can:

• Mine your connections to see who works at your target companies and connect with them by phone
• Mine your connections' connections
• Inventory the groups you are a member of to make key connections at your target companies
• Join groups where your target company's recruiters and employees hang out
• See who is in your alumni group(s) who can get you closer to the hiring manager
• Mine your other special interest groups
• Do a search by geography and title to find employees with profiles on LI whom you'd like to connect with
• These are just a few ways to network using LI - there are many more!

And, to advertise your credentials where recruiters and hiring managers can find them and to attract their interest, there are many great ways to optimize keywords, formats, and content on your LI profile - many of these ideas are also in blog posts on this site.

And to use LI for company research, either to directly approach your target companies (job or no job), to prep for an interview, or to assess financial viability and culture, you can use LI's search capabiity. Although I prefer to go out to Google and do an LI search that way - their search function is better than LI's.

So, kick back, get a cup of coffee, listen to your favorite tunes on your iphone and get cracking!

Really USE LinkedIn. Become a Power User. Stretch it. Squeeze it. Wring it out to dry. And make a toast tonight to finally having a way to job search that makes sense and feels less like a shot in the dark and/or an exercise in oh-so-miserable networking!

 

* Thanks to Brenda Bernstein for hunting up these stats! BTW, she has a helpful book to read - use link.

 

Image credit: Medixteam.com

Everybody is always telling you that networking is how most people get jobs. But I can't think of anyone who hears that who doesn't feel a sinking sensation in their stomach and a sense of...

- I don't have a big enough network

- My network is out of date

- My network is in another industry

- I've moved and I don't know anyone in the area

- I hate to call people and ask them for a job

- I hate to call people out the blue anyway!

- I have no idea how to use networking to get a job beyond just calling my contacts

Concerns like these are normal, and there is a lot to learn about networking in the world of LinkedIn and social media that can enable you to leverage existing contacts, connect with hiring managers, and avoid the cold call.

But today I want to focus on one aspect of networking that most people don't consider. Let's call it the "Above & Beyond" aspect. If you adopt this approach, networking will become easier, more fun, more natural, and, yes, more rewarding in terms of getting you in front of the hiring manager. This A&B approach, once learned and implemented, will become a solid foundation for ongoing networking that will most likely yield your new jobs of the future, as well as new customers or clients, if that is relevant for you. Here are some examples:

- When you talk to people at networking events, parties, church, your club, or work, go beyond the superficial. Dare to inquire seriously about the other. "How are you?" can be said in an offhand, rote way. Or it can be said with a real desire to know something about what's going on in that person's work or personal life.

- Dare to be deeper in your self-disclosures as well. Maybe it will be about what your passion is - in work or in avocation or in values. Maybe it will be an opinion of yours that is thought provoking or controversial, anything but boring! Not only will what you say differentiate you, but it will invite a more emotionally rich connection that will greatly strengthen your ties going forward.

- Follow up in warm and meaningful ways on a regular basis. How many of us do this? And yet our success in business and job search and a lot else is determined by our care and feeding of our networks. Get a system that works for you. You'll need a contact management system and a tiered system of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree contacts.

- Become a connector of people with other people and resources. Help your connections gain access to information and people who will benefit them. This is a very rewarding practice, if time-consuming at times. This means going the extra mile for your connection, an act of caring and concrete support that will not soon be forgotten.

You can see people of the A&B school in almost any group. They stand out because of the strength and number of their connections. Because they care - about the other person and/or about something that matters to them - they have richer bonds with others.

A book I love on how to become a great networker is by Keith Ferrazzi and is called "Never Eat Alone." He is an inspired enhanced networker par excellence. Do yourself and your career a huge favor and read his book - or get the audiobook and listen to it on your commute.

Relationships formed in the A&B manner will be there when you need them. When you are next in your job search mode, you will have a tiered network of contacts for whom you've been a boon, with whom you've connected on a more personal level, and by whom you are known for who you really are.

The A&B strategy takes networking from a place where you feel helpless, vague anxiety into one where you feel natural, sincere, and in charge of your fate. It's a strategy for every place and time. It's a strategy for a lifetime.

 

image credit: blog.recruitalliance.com

RETAINED RECRUITERS

Curated information for technology executives in transition:

My clients often ask me, “Which are the best retained recruitment firms?”

The top 5 recruitment firms for 2012-13 were:

• Boyden
• Korn Ferry International
• Transearch
• Egon Zehnder
• N2Growth

Here is a list of the top 20 retained recruitment firms:

http://www.topexecutivesearchfirms.com/category/executive-search-firms/

Find out how to work with retained recruiters here:

A good resource on the Web is the Riley Guide. You can get a good overview of what’s involved in dealing with recruiters. You may also be able to find industry-specific, boutique, retained recruitment firms here, such as ones that specialize in IT or healthcare IT, for instance.

Another good site to explore how to work with recruiters is BostonSearchGroup.com.

Fee-based Membership Sites Boasting Special Access to Retained Recruiters and Jobs:

• Execunet
• Netshare
• BlueSteps.com  

(I am omitting TheLadders.com because of bad press concerning their claims.)

Sites which allow you to search recruiters, usually by location and specialization:

RileyGuide.com

RecruiterRedbook.com (paid)

searchfirm.com

i-recruit.com.

http://www.recommendedrecruiter.com/Home/ResultList

onlinerecruitersdirectory.com

LinkedIn.com Do an advanced search to identify retained recruiters in your niche who conduct searches for jobs in your geographical area.

Other ways to find recruiters:

• Do your own Google search to identify retained recruiters in your industry niche.
• Network with the more senior-level members of your network to see who they know or use.
• Network within your industry association(s) to identify recruiters who are members.

This quick guide will get you started. But keep in mind, retained recruiters...

• Work for the company not you
• Are usually interested in you only if you fit an open job profile
• Appreciate you referring top people to them to help them in their searches (ones you aren't going for)
• Are only one of the 6 Pillars of Job Search and not the one with the highest probability of success

Good luck!

 

Image credit: Sadhbh Warren

Everyone's head is spinning with the rapid pace of change in the employment market. Many more workers are contract workers or consultants, whether by necessity or choice. Many have a business on the side. Many have 2-4+ jobs they are juggling at any one time. Those who have more than one employment gig at a time have "portfolio careers." Why do they do it?

1. They can't find or don't want a full-time job that uses only their primary skillset.

2. In order to make ends meet, they need to have more income, income that they can only get through a second or third type of employment.

3. Employers are more often asking for contract workers at all levels to lower their business risk, increase agility, and control costs - and formerly full-timers are now contractors because of this shift.

4. They don't want to just exercise one part of themselves or their interests in their worklife - they want flex-time, variety, and a sense of broad fulfillment.

For all of these reasons and more, you may find yourself with a portfolio career one of these days. Most commonly, it is Gen Y and Boomers who are experimenting with this model, but folks in the middle may find themselves needing to put together a package of gigs to meet their personal and professional and financial goals at some point.

To learn more about whether a portfolio career is for you,  I suggest you read: And What Do You Do? 12 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career. It's written like a workbook to help you get clear on what you may want to do.

To add to the content in the book, I have written down some thoughts to consider:

1. Avoid tunnel vision in your full-time job. Keep alive your extracurricular interests and read widely in the areas that interest you. See what new businesses and jobs are happening in those spaces.

2. Mulll over, on your commute home, what kind of business you'd like to start - on the side at first, perhaps, or maybe ongoing. An eBay business? Specialized mail order? A design shop in your garage for product prototyping with overseas manufacturing and fulfillment? Read Inc., Fast Company, Wired and any other magazines that open your eyes to the new possibilities out there.

3. Are there certifications you could get that would right away give you an entree into part-time work? Think healthcare, hazardous waste, biotech, education, fitness etc. Your local community college or vocational-career high schools will have certificate programs.

4. Go to networking groups for independent business people like BNI International. There will be local groups in your area. Get ideas.

5. Read magazines devoted to artisanal anything: like the "Edible" series. Here it is "Edible Boston." See what other solopreneurs are doing around food.

5. Go to your local arts and crafts society - do you want to resurrect your handicraft?

6. Think about where the growth areas are: senior services, real estate rentals, security etc. Do you have an exciting idea about how to exploit a market opportunity?

The book mentioned above will give you some useful exercises to find out what your skills are. if you don't know already, and will help you assess whether you are up for the risk and the other downsides of a portfolio career. It will help you understand the considerable benefits as well.

In summary, my main message to you is: Keep thinking about other income streams than your main job. Keep your eyes and ears open. You may well need and/or want a portfolio career someday soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I can totally understand it. No question. In a reasonable world, a world where the job seeker's need for a fast, easy job transition would take priority, these three facts would prevail:

1. You could expect enough real jobs that match your skills and background to be posted online so that you and others like you could easily snag one of them.

2. Or, you could turn to a recruiter, a specialist in matching candidates to open positions, to find the best job for you and then smooth your path to an offer.

3. Or, that you could send your resume, scattershot, to a large number of jobs, some of which you don't qualify for very well on paper, but that you could probably do, and the recruiter - internal or external - would give you the benefit of the doubt and interview you.

Sadly, none of these three beliefs hold water in today's job search environment. And if you believe any one of these three commonly held understandings and act accordingly, you will be acting out of denial and wasting precious job search time on dead ends.

Here's the true state of affairs about conditions 1, 2, and 3:

1. There are a prohibative number of people applying for each job posted on a job boards. That means that recruiters are obliged to spend only about 6 seconds on each, or, if they use an applicant tracking system, your resume will likely never be seen by a human being. Sometimes there are so many resumes that contain the right keywords that the recruiter simple breaks off the search after finding 10 or so matching resumes. Even the keywords they search for can be designed to limit the number of resumes retrieved. These may be words or phrases that are non-obvious (and not even good for determining a good candidate match), but that allow the system to discard a large number of resumes, simplifying the recruiter's task.   

2. Recruiters, what they are not: They are not your personal job placement partner who will make every effort to find a job that will match your credentials and requirements. Who they are: service providers to organizations. Recruiters, whether contingent or ratained, are compensated by those organizations. Their incentive is not to find the best person for the job, necessarily, but to find the low risk candidate - the one currently employed, holding a similar position in a similar industry with a record of steady progression and tenures of ~ 7 years maximum and 3-5 years minimum per company. Here's the thing: They are completely uninterested in whether you can do the job if you don't have exactly the right background. Completely uninterested.

3.  Increasingly, the search technologies that process resumes posted on job boards or submitted via company websites are more sophisticated. They can perform Boolean searches and therefore can determine whether you've front- or back-loaded keywords that are not used in context. So it makes no sense at all to submit a resume to a job whose written job requirements don't quite closely match yours. Even if you are sure that the recruiter will receive your resume directly, s/he will be unlikely to try to massage your not-quite-matching background to the job requitements, even if you know - and maybe even the recruiter knows - that you COULD do the job given the chance. Remember the risk avoidance point made in #2.

Giving up a state of denial is not something most of us care to do. We'd much rather believe the first three things above. But, when you embark on a job search, if you are able to reject those beliefs and instead focus on more productive avenues of job search, you will come out way ahead.

I'm sorry for the harsh truths in the last 3 points. But please don't shoot the messenger! My job is to get you your next great job as quickly and cost effectively as possible. To find out about what really works in job search in 2013-2014, click below for my 6 Pillars of Job Search eGuide. Best of luck to you!

 

 

People have been telling you for years now to drop the objective on your resume - it automatically dates you and makes your resume look old-fashioned. Well, that is undeniably true, if we're talking about the typical objective statement that reads like:

Objective: Seeking a position as a Project Manager where I can contribute to the company and continue to upgrade my skills.

Ditch it, if you've got one like it. But let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. True, the old Objective statement was usually self-serving and even when it was about making contributions, it was usually boiler plate and boring.

But it did serve one very useful purpose - one that most resumes that get sent to me fail to achieve. It told the reader what job you are going after. Why is this important? Because the recruiter or hiring manager with just 6 seconds to spend reviewing a resume needs to know whether what you want is a match with what's on offer. If it's not, they'll pass on the resume. If it is, they'll take the full 6 seconds :)

Often it is unclear whether the candidate is seeking a promotion - a title that is one level higher than the job title they currently hold - or looking for another one of the same. You can't afford not to tell the reader this right at the top of the resume.

Or, it's hard to tell what industry the candidate is looking for. Again, if you don't tell them, they won't know and take action on your resume. Your industry is also a key piece of your brand. If you promote the industry you've been in for awhile at the top of the resume, then you give the impression of having a determined focus and exertise in a sector - something that is REALLY important to recruiters.

My recommendation? DO NOT use the word "Objective." Do not under any circumstances say something self-serving about your goal and how the job will benefit you in some way.

But DO give yourself a headline, a title. By boldly stating it and your industry at the top of your resume, the recruiter already can breathe a sigh of relief that they don't have to struggle to find out if you're any kind of fit for their open position.

Feel free to give even more enticing and valuable information in your heading as well. This is where you can elaborate on your niche expertise and your brand in a quick snapshot - so helpful to the reader, which means it's helpful to YOU. It might look something like this:

 

 

The recruiter hiring for either a VP or Senior Director level in IT will be saying to herself: "OK, this guy is definitly someone I want to find out more about." And isn't that exactly what you want to have happen?

So let's bring the objective statement into the modern world. Make it about your brand and let it help the reader to decide whether to read further!

 

Job seekers send emails to hiring authorities and recruiters for a number of reasons:

1. To ask for a job interview
2. To ask for an informational interview
3. To ask for a meeting
4. To send a thank-you email after an interview
5. To inquire about the status of an application
6. To follow up on a letter they mailed

In each case, they want their email to be opened! A catchy and/or appealing subject line can make a difference. But so can the day of the week and the time of day. Marketers are very attentive to statistics about open and click through rates at different times of the week. I came across some data pertaining to email marketing that can shed some light on when job seekers might best send their emails.

Becaus ~24% of emails get opened within the hour of receipt, it only makes sense to pick your times strategically. Buffer.com has reviewed a number of studies on open and click through rates for email marketing. Here are some of Hubspot's findings Buffer reports on:

• 10pm–6am: This is the dead zone, when hardly any emails get opened.

• 6am–10am: Consumer-based marketing emails are best sent early in the morning.

• 10am-noon: Most people are working, and probably won’t open your email.

• Noon–2pm: News and magazine updates are popular during lunch breaks.

• 2–3pm: After lunch lots of people buckle down and ignore their inbox.

• 3–5pm: Property and financial-related offers are best sent in the early afternoon.

• 5–7pm: Holiday promotions & B2B promotions get opened mostly in the early evening.

• 7–10pm: Consumer promotions are popular again after dinner.

Picking which of these match most closely the type of email you might be sending would suggest that:

• 10pm–6am, 10am-noon, 2–3pm, 3–5pm, and 5–7pm are the times to avoid.    
    
•  6am–10am, Noon–2pm, and 7–10pm would be better times to send your email.

Other studies suggest that Thursday is the best day and Monday morning early is also a good time.

Other relevant findings are:

"For more general emails, open rates, click-through rates and abuse reports were all found to be highest during early mornings and on weekends." MailChimp, however, finds that weekends have low email open rates.

Buffer states that there is contradictory information in the studies, so I recommend you follow the above guidelines generally and keep your ears open for new data as it becomes available.

So, time your emails, but don't hesitate to send another after a week or two if the first one didn't get a response and you want one. Good luck