Applying directly to a company who haven't advertised a job

yeahimhere

I was just wondering has anyone ever actually gotten a job / given someone a job if they applied directly to a company where no role has been advertised?

I was discussing this with a few people the other day and there were varing opinions. Apart from the positive "what do you have to loose?", other opinions were that this route isn't that popular in Ireland and can come across as desperate, i.e seems like the applicant has gone through every other possible route without success. Another was that no one would really pay much attention to a CV landing on their desk if they weren't hiring.

I'm in the "what have you got to loose" camp, but has this actually worked for anyone other than looking for unpaid work?

Atomic Pineapple

The job I'm currently in was never advertised.

I was offered the position when the company came across my website which had my portfolio, they liked what they saw and asked me in for an interview and then offered me a position in the company.

I had also approached companies who hadn't advertised positions showing an interest in what they do and got positive feedback, no interviews or job offers though

yeahimhere

That's interesting, so basically no joy approaching companies yourself but your current company found you. Seems to tie in with the school of thought that while it's a nice idea to approach companies directly, it'll be fruitless.

lol and you just reminded me that I should do some work on my website, I created one a while back but got caught up with other stuff and never finished it.

Surfing_Xboxer

yeahimhere wrote: »

I was just wondering has anyone ever actually gotten a job / given someone a job if they applied directly to a company where no role has been advertised?

I was discussing this with a few people the other day and there were varing opinions. Apart from the positive "what do you have to loose?", other opinions were that this route isn't that popular in Ireland and can come across as desperate, i.e seems like the applicant has gone through every other possible route without success. Another was that no one would really pay much attention to a CV landing on their desk if they weren't hiring.

I'm in the "what have you got to loose" camp, but has this actually worked for anyone other than looking for unpaid work?

I just got offered 2 jobs last week from companies I applied to , without replying to a advert... It pays to be proactive...

Best of luck job hunting !

surfer

theg81der

Hi,

Any of you guys who got jobs that were not advertised can I be nosy and ask what field? Just wanted to know cause its a lot easier to demonstrate skills based stuff isn`t it? Like Draff said they saw his website so do I take it Draff is a builds websites?

Atomic Pineapple

yeahimhere wrote: »

Seems to tie in with the school of thought that while it's a nice idea to approach companies directly, it'll be fruitless.

I dont think so, at the time the recession was at it's height so everyone was being very cautious, I got to chat to HR people in some companies, got some great feedback on what was available and most importantly increased my work network contacts

theg81der wrote: »

Hi,

Any of you guys who got jobs that were not advertised can I be nosy and ask what field? Just wanted to know cause its a lot easier to demonstrate skills based stuff isn`t it? Like Draff said they saw his website so do I take it Draff is a builds websites?

No I'm a software programmer, very little graphics or design stuff so the website was just to show my projects to the world

yeahimhere

draffodx wrote: »

I dont think so, at the time the recession was at it height so everyone was being very cautious, I got to chat to HR people in some companies, got some greate feedback on what was available and most importantly increased my work network contacts

Glad to hear that to be honest. When I mentioned that I wanted to start approaching companies and got mostly negative feedback that it doesn't work I was a little disheartened. I thought I might end up wasting time that could be spent on more productive things.

/goes and finds a list of companies to apply to

dan_d

If you don't ask, you won't get!!

the_syco

yeahimhere wrote: »

/goes and finds a list of companies to apply to

A bit of advice: when applying to lots of companies you may get away with a general CV and covering letter. If you want a specific job in a specific company, tailor both your CV and covering letter to it.

brian ireland

the_syco wrote: »

A bit of advice: when applying to lots of companies you may get away with a general CV and covering letter. If you want a specific job in a specific company, tailor both your CV and covering letter to it.

Agree 100%. You have to look at the skills required for the job you are applying for. Word your cover letter in such a way that you can demonstrate how your skills and experience can be adapted to the role you are applying for. You may find yourself applying for jobs outside your area of expertise but they could be quite enjoyable.

dudara

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But, as other posters have pointed out, make sure to write a suitable cover letter and tailor your CV for the company. Put in the research first.

Good luck

BlackWizard

I got my current job back in Jan 2009 by just sending in a nice cover letter and CV into the job. They had no positions advertised so I was just hoping for one of the 20 or so companies to get back to me

I'd say half of them responded and overall a third said they will forward my CV onto someone else. After about two weeks I had a job arranged. I work in IT and I had nothing but a cover letter and CV.

onemorechance

This whole cover letter thing! Does anyone have any tips? I just write a few lines according to a job spec I see, detailing what parts of the job spec i can or have done, and those which I cannot! I have now decided to just send general cover letters with CV to companies, and bypass the agencies. Does a cover letter need to be long as I usually only write a few lines?

the_big_kahuna

is it worth sending in your cv when contacting directly or is it best to just enquire about job availability first?

3DataModem

The key thing for unsolicited applications is the cover letter;

dear blah
I am interested in a position in your company.
As I have worked in blah blah and have experience on blah, I believe o would be an asset to you; in particular in the blah, blah or blah areas.

I attach my resume for your consideration.

Yours faithfully,

onemorechance

the_big_kahuna wrote: »

is it worth sending in your cv when contacting directly or is it best to just enquire about job availability first?

I would expect so. You will be doing well enough to have them get back to you with a CV attached, so I think the chances of them getting back to you without one is much less.

getz

yeahimhere wrote: »

I was just wondering has anyone ever actually gotten a job / given someone a job if they applied directly to a company where no role has been advertised?

I was discussing this with a few people the other day and there were varing opinions. Apart from the positive "what do you have to loose?", other opinions were that this route isn't that popular in Ireland and can come across as desperate, i.e seems like the applicant has gone through every other possible route without success. Another was that no one would really pay much attention to a CV landing on their desk if they weren't hiring.

I'm in the "what have you got to loose" camp, but has this actually worked for anyone other than looking for unpaid work?

i know of a person who when driving between liverpool ,noticed wharehouses being built at warrington ,he phoned up the company who was building them to ask who they were building them for,he then phoned the company to find out when they will be interviewing,he then[when the building was finished]phoned the interviewers and said head office has told me that i was to contact you about the job that are filling,as the interviewer was from a outside company, and believed he had been sent by the clients office,he got the job with only a formal interview