Do speculative applications work?

[PaulHollywoodsSexGut]

Have you ever speculatively applied for a role in a company and got it?

I’ve not managed yet and all my successes have been via recruitment agencies.

But I’m eyeballing two firms who I specifically want to work for but their vacancies boards on their website is blank.

I’m basically middle management and I can’t work out if I risk my CV being filed in the bin as I’m not applying for a “live” vacancy or not.

Anyone applied to a firm they liked the look of and been hired?

Hi OP
I'm a headhunter and a career coach. YES! Definitely approach directly. Organistions find attracting the right talent incredibly difficult. If a fan candidate arrives in their inbox it is welcomed and from those I know who have done it - yes there are individuals who have secured interviews with hiring authorities.
I recommend connecting with the key people via LinkedIn- HR, internal talent teams, executives and sending them an in mail saying that you are keen to be considered for opportunities in the business should they arise and you can share your CV when the timing is right.

Good luck!!!

I’m in HR and if I get a speculative CV I immediately refer them to our website. The idea being that our international organisation has guidelines for applying for jobs and if you can’t follow those guidelines at the outset then we probably don’t want you.

I have. Targeted the MD, phoned him and he took my call - you need something good to get through the gatekeepers. He told me he received so many CV’s by email but because I phoned him he was interested. Had a really good chat. Had a face to face. Met the team. 5 years ago now and still enjoy it.

Wowers two completely conflicting replies!

May I ask what field you both work in? Is it HR for FMCG/Utilities/Energy/Consultancy as two radically different responses make me hope you’re from two different worlds :)

I work part time and earn >£100k, this wasn’t a 2 bit job, but I’m good at what I do, so he wanted to speak to me. Clearly you have to pitch to the right person.

I fear our HR department wouldn't know what to do with a speculative CV and it wouldn't go anywhere.

Can you target it via linked in, head of department or Director level.

I work in financial services. I’d never approach HR - speak to the people that make the actual decisions. Networking is king.

Emailed CV’s are an irritation, I’d never bother.

I wish I lived somewhere that this was allowed, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to recruit that way where I live. It would be amazing to be able to think 'I'd love to work for X company' and then actively try to pursue it.

I agree that it’s probably going to be a case of typing in “Head Of [x] at [x] company” and then location... into LinkedIn.

I seem to recall I (apparently) got very close once, it was for an Olympics related project and the guy did call me back months later but it was for something way below my level.

So it seems that so far we have one successful speculative applicant and a couple of “don’t do its”

I used to do this when I was younger for HGV driving jobs. However, there's usually a very good reason why some firms will accept an unknown quantity: they're utter shits or barking mad. One of the latter was a farmer who gave me £1000 cash for diesel and said "come home when that runs out". After 10 days I got back, he gave me £80 per day, and we never saw each other again.

I really think it depends on the sector you're in. I really can't imagine it working in the sector I work in (museum and culture). We tend to revive public money so have to have fair and accountable recruitment processes. Also there's often very little money around so there is only money to pay for roles we are recruiting to.