Contacting a prospective employer can be a nerve-wracking proposition. Why not lighten the burden by doing a bit of research before stepping out onto that plank. Finding your way through the maze of business takes time, effort and opportunity. To make use of this involves more than networking. Knowing what you need to do is a great start, and being able to target your efforts goes a long way in making your journey shorter. How do you do this?
Research is the answer – on the Internet, through your contacts and through your on-the-job expertise. The Internet is a great resource for learning about people and places. Want to know about a casting director and the type of people he usually hires? Look it up. Check and see if he has a Facebook profile. Linkedin is a great resource when trying to find out what you need know about a person. Need to know what kind of company you are applying to? Perhaps you have the hiring manager’s name. The same two places can be used for information. Use search engines for company or personal websites. Get a feel for who your talking to and what they are looking for, and you’re further along the path than the competition. Most every place you can think of has a Web presence today. Search them out.
Your personal contacts can be of great help in this regard, even more so than the Net. Knowing people gets you information more tailored to what you want faster and usually more accurately. If you know people who work in the field you’re interested in, ask their opinions and get some options on how to best proceed. Now, do some more research and be prepared for whatever is next. The objective is always to get enough information to identify the best method for meeting your contacts needs so you can get what you want. This is all research and its important to do, for obvious reasons.
So now you should be better prepared, as prepared as you can make yourself through research. Now go get what you want, and don’t be timid about it. Just like every other business out there, timidity won’t help you get what you want. So attack. Go all out, and put everything you have into what it is you’re aiming for, and your odds of getting it go way up!