When more resumes go out, more offers come in...
Increasingly, executives and upper level managers seem to be catching on to the benefits of mass mailing their resumes directly to high-ranking, non-human resource, company officials. Unfortunately, they seem to be preoccupied by the number of immediate offers they receive, rather than the more subtle yet lucrative benefits associated with the dynamics of the process. It’s important to be aware of the fact that the first offers you receive will not necessarily be the best offers your campaign yields...
Of course job offers will come in, but patience is a well-rewarded virtue...
Lets face it, the logic behind sending resumes out to high-ranking corporate hiring authorities is clear, at least as far as the obvious benefit goes. It’s partly a numbers game, plain and simple. The more resumes you send out, the more responses you will get back. (Of course, this is making the assumption that the resume is effectively written.)
What’s troubling is the premature vigor with which talented executives, worth considerably more than they quickly agree to accept, leap at the first opportunity promising a 15 or 20% increase in their present or most recent salary. When this happens, executive candidates seem not to realize that although a 20% increase in salary may be impressive in terms of a promotion, it may not at all be worth writing home about when it comes to winning a new position at an entirely different company.
Your first offer can be your worst offer...
Keep in mind that it is within the company’s best interest to hire the best talent at the lowest cost, or at least make every attempt to do so. In many cases, first offers are nothing more than lowball efforts to take advantage of an executive level candidate unaware of his or her own worth. Of course in some instances, relatively minimal salary and compensation packages are all that some companies are ever willing to offer. However, assuming that this is standard hiring practice, especially during the early stages of the response period, can be a costly mistake.
Different companies will need you differently...
It is important to realize that the offers you receive are based on several factors, the most important being the degree to which a particular company requires your services. For example, executive level and management shakeups are a common occurrence today, and for all you know you may have contacted a company about to undergo a major reorganization effort. In such a situation, a seasoned executive that can jump right in as a competent restructuring force is worth his or her weight in gold.
Remember, one of the first rules of negotiating any contract is never show your hand, especially during the early stages. So, by delaying your decision and continuing to field offers from competitors, leveraging them against one another, you will steadily be fueling the desperation that prompted the response in the first place. Potential employers will begin to feel the two-fold pressure of not only losing you, but perhaps also losing you to the enemy. You will suddenly hear about recently discovered cash reserves and budgetary surpluses previously unaware of. Believe me, you would be shocked at a company’s ability to magically come up with cash flow once they really believe they are on the verge of losing someone they need.
Sometimes, the best is saved for last...
After sending your resume out on a mass scale, give yourself a few weeks to receive all offers. People work at different speeds and corporate office traffic procedures can sometimes be inefficient. Never assume that your first offers will always be the best and most interested in you. In many cases, these first bites will be the most lackluster of your campaign.
