Cold Calling
Cold calling is literally calling someone you don’t know.
I haven’t gotten there yet.
- Do your research. You have chosen to contact this individual for a reason. Prepare a summary of what you know about the person and their organization. We have discussed finding out about organizations at some length.
- What is the name of the organization?
- What do you know about it? What sector is it in? What are the main products and services? How big is it?
- Who do you want to speak to? Do you know a specific person’s name? Or the position (like production engineer)? Or just have a general area (like R&D)?
- Make your cold call. Prepare a short script and practice it out loud several times.
- Introduce yourself.
- Explain that you are investigating potential careers in a particular area, and that you would like to meet with someone knowledgeable in that area to learn more about it.
- Be clear in your expectations. Suggest 15 minutes for the meeting so that the person knows it will not be too time-consuming.
- Explain that you will follow up by e-mail.
- Try to avoid the word interview, since that is associated with hiring.
- Be prepared for not getting through. Think about what you will say if:
- Your call goes to voicemail. Be ready to leave a clear and concise message and indicate you will call back (you can still leave your number because they might call you). If you get through to voicemail again, explain that you will follow up via e-mail.
- You get through to the wrong person. Can you adapt your script to explain who you would like to speak to?
- The person says no. Maybe they can suggest a different person to contact.
- Be polite and patient with everyone you speak to. You might get passed through to several different people, so be ready to repeat yourself. Make sure you say thank you!
- Promptly follow up by e-mail:
- Repeat the key information from your script.
- If you have agreed to a meeting time, put this right at the top. If not, provide a selection of times that you can be available.