Today’s post was inspired by the many cold emails and texts I have received over the years from job-seeking professionals. I do not want this to just be an opinion-based article but would want to share 3 tips on how you can get potential clients to take notice.
1) Poise: Before reaching out to anyone, collect yourself and be mindful of what you are doing. When you put yourself out there, its not just about your resume. There is more to it. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, The universe is always conspiring to help us. So be confident and sure of yourself. Your presence should preceed your message. It most likely will be felt by the other person on the other side of the screen through your introductory words, thoughtfulness, effort in summaring who you are. You need to have the assurance that you are worthy of the other person’s attention.
2) Preparation: This is a crucial step. Preparation meets opportunity has all the truth to it. Preparation should be done in many areas – your messaging should be perfect ensuring your language is simple yet creating trust and compelling for the reader to take action. You need to be emotionally resilient because learning to deal with people is paramount when trying to land clients. You also have to learn to be level-headed, take feedback open-mindedly, and not as a personal attack.
3) Politeness: This may sound rudimentary and idealistic to many job-seekers given their experiences of rejection. Also in 2024 everyone knows manners and etiquette doesn’t land a job. But guess what, it may not land you a job but it sure will keep you in one. People like to work with decent, civilised, cultured and no-nonsense peeps. Corporates and management may not vocalise “being a good human” as a pre-requisite, but ask any manager or senior leader in a workplace, the attitude and peer relationship are carry high scores and will work advantageous for you in the long haul.
Well, there are a couple of more things I can add to the list which are more actionable items. However, for a beginner or someone who’s been struggling to get people to notice them, I feel these 3 pointers are golden as it speaks to the overall personality rather than what the resume says. You can find 1000s of articles on how to sharpen your resume, but the points I have mentioned cannot be schooled but acquired. True, we are living in an extremely indifferent and disconnected society where fakeness is celebrated, but the workplace and job market still houses a lot of real ones like you and me who will see the value you can offer. So chin up and get cracking.
Want me to detail on anything, let’s talk in the comments.