Cold calling is an effective method of introducing yourself to potential hiring managers to enquire about employment with their company. In my earlier article called Cold Calling: How To Cold Call Your Way to A New Job When A Hiring Manager Answers The Phone we talked about how to cold call hiring managers and what to say when they answer the phone.

However, what should you do if the hiring manager doesnt answer the phone and you reach their voice mailbox?

Typically, if you call 10 hiring managers, you might be lucky if you manage to get 3 or 4 of them live on the phone. In other words, you might end up reaching the hiring managers voice mailbox more often than not.

Personally, I think if you have made it this far on the call, you might as well leave a message rather than hanging up and calling the hiring manager over and over again until you get them on the phone live.

The best way to leave a voice message for a hiring manager is to script a short, relevant marketing message about you that lasts less than 60 seconds in length and use this as your voice message.

I feel better about scripting a voice message than a live call because with a voice message, there is no chance that someone will butt in and interrupt you. With a live call, who knows what the person on the other end of the phone will say? Your script could go right out the window if they say something you dont expect!

Your goal should be to become so comfortable with this voice message script, that you will quickly be able to recite it by heart and make it sound natural and unscripted.

Here is the model I use to put together a marketing message when I am cold calling an employer regarding a specific candidate and need to leave a voice message. In this case, I have identified a job searcher who I believe is someone that this company needs so I am contacting the company to try to arrange an interview between the candidate and the hiring manager:

Hi, this is Carl Mueller. Im representing a Certified Database Administrator with 5 years of hands-on experience. She has excelled in both small and medium-sized environments and her former manager spoke very highly of her troubleshooting skills. I understand that you have an opening for a Database Administrator and since this candidate matches your requirements and as she has just finished a short contract and is available to begin a new job right away, I thought youd be interested to meet her. Please call me back at your earliest convenience at 555-1234. Again this is Carl Mueller and my number is 555-1234. Thanks.

I got a return call from the hiring manager 2 hours later, got an interview for my candidate four days later, and helped my candidate get the job two weeks after that.

Lets look at the structure of the marketing message that I left:

Opening sentence: I introduced myself. The hiring manager didnt know me so I told them my name as a method of introduction.

Second sentence: I introduced the job candidate I was calling about and mentioned that she is a certified database administrator (they wanted someone certified) and that she had 5 years of experience (they wanted someone with 3-5 years).

Third Sentence: I mentioned that the candidate has worked in an environment similar to the companys to illustrate that she would fit in nicely with them. Further I mentioned that Id already done a reference check with an outside source (her former manager) and that he spoke very highly of her troubleshooting skills (the company wanted an experienced troubleshooter) to add credibility to her background. You could simply refer to a former manager who would verify a specific skill that you have that would be relevant to the company.

Fourth Sentence: I referred to a specific job that the hiring manager had open that Id seen on the company website that my candidate would be suited for and that my candidate could start the job right away. If you arent enquiring about a specific job, you could simply enquire about a possible need for someone with your skillset.

Final sentences: I let the hiring manager know how she could contact me.

My voice message basically told the hiring manager that I had a solution to her problem: she needed to find a Database Administrator and I knew a candidate who was suited for the job and better yet, she could start right away.

Problem solved.

I didnt actually read this script word for word because the truth is that when I left this voice message, I had already used this same script about 15 times when I attempted calling other companies regarding the same job candidate. I was so used to this text, I had memorized it and was comfortable speaking without a script.

Since you know yourself better than anyone else, you should also be able to market yourself without a script once you have become comfortable with your marketing message.

All you need to do is put together your marketing message script that matches your background. Tailor each message for each company you call depending on the situation and if you are applying for a specific job or if you are simply enquiring about possible openings. The more specific the better.

Just remember to speak slowly, clearly and enthusiastically when leaving your message. Practice aloud before actually starting to make your calls.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it’s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it’s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it’s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I’m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!