Are Sexy Religion? Color? and Nationality Handicaps?
Actually, I have never found that any of these made any real difference; I have placed men and women, of every color, race, and religion, in good jobs. To be sure, there are always some employers to whom these doings do make a difference. It may very well be his employees who are prejudiced and they may have affected his decision. You may as well accept the fact that neither you nor anyone else in the world is going to be acceptable to everyone. This is a country of free choices.
In the chapter on "Developing Interview Leads through Broadcast Letters," I stated that you could expect to get interviews from only about 6 per cent of your letters. Do you realize that this means that the ordinary job-hunter is unacceptable to ninety-four out of every one hundred prospective employers? Note that only six of the possible one hundred employers even asked the job-hunter to drop in for an interview, and these job-seekers were without any so-called handicaps. It is usually you yourself, because of some unfortunate past experience, who have developed a feeling of inferiority about race, sex, religion, or nationality. You are the person who considers them handicaps.
Turn Your Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones to Greater Opportunities
Some years ago I remember hearing the statement, "A man becomes enlightened and educated when he awakens to the fact that stumbling blocks can be turned into stepping stones." I do not remember who the author was, but that statement has made a lasting impression on me. It is the hard ships of life that mold us; our handicaps become advantages, if we give them half a chance.
Jimmy Durante made a fortune from his extraordinarily large schnozzle. Did he ever cover up his nose when he went on stage? On the contrary, he never failed to call attention to it, and accentuated it even more with a long cigar. Myron Cohen, the great Jewish humorist, doesn't hide his religion; he uses it, and the public adores him for it.
Do you remember the story about Dr. George Washington Carver? As a frail young slave, he was traded for a broken-down horse. When this Negro was over seventy years old, Henry Ford asked him to come and work for the Ford Motor Company. He offered to set up a laboratory and supply him with ample research funds. He also offered him a salary as large as a king's ransom. Why did Ford do this? Was it out of pity, or was it the outgrowth of a charitable impulse? No, absolutely not, not the way I have read the story. Dr. Carver, working in his little laboratory at Tuskegee Institute, had dis covered some uses for the lowly peanut and sweet potato.
This completely changed the economy of the one-crop agriculture of the South. He went on to develop hundreds of new industrial and food products. Henry Ford wanted this man to go on finding even more uses and products, unhampered by lack of equipment and money. His underlying reason was that what was good for the South and good for agriculture would also be good for the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Ford says in his autobiography, ''If I want the farmer to buy cars and tractors, I have to help him to make the money to do it. A farmer can get money only through what he produces. The more he produces and the more money he makes from his products, the easier it will be for him to buy my tractors."
Do not expect any business to be charitable. You, no matter what your handicaps, would not want to take advantage of them. You, as much as any other person in industry, have an obligation to help your company make a profit.
Be Objective
If you will think objectively about both yourself and about business, your job-getting battle is half won. Disregard completely your age, your sex, your color, your race and your religion and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You, in common with everyone else with a sincere purpose in life, have something to offer. It is your big job to present your past in such a way that it is acceptable. To accomplish this, wage a job campaign as though you had no handicaps. You may, however, have to send out many more letters than others do in order to give the law of averages a chance. It will work unfailingly on your side.
A Caution about Salary
How necessary is it that you must have as large a salary as you earned before you retired? Some people turn down a perfectly good salary, feeling that anything except what they got in their prime is beneath them. Is it not much better to get on the payroll and try to show how much you can contribute to the company's well-being? Don't forget that not too long ago you felt you were not wanted on account of your age.
Now that someone has enough faith in you to give you a chance, might it not be up to you to show a little confidence in your employer?
The following are copies of letters sent out by people with so-called handicaps. They are included here to give you an example of the style to achieve, not to copy. You must be yourself or you will lose out in the interviews. Do not exaggerate. Tell the truth and nothing but the truth; otherwise your job will be short-lived.
How a Seventy-Five Year-Old Man Got a Good Job
A seventy-five-year-oldster, Mr. C., was doing odd jobs as an accountant. He would set up a bookkeeping system and then go in once a week to make entries for small service companies. I knew this man because he had done just such a job for some of my friends. I had supposed that he was content with his varied but very small undertakings. I had no idea that he had aspirations to get into something that would give him more substantial earnings. One day he stopped me and said, "Mr. Boll, I see you help many people get jobs. Is there any help you can give me? I will gladly pay you for it." I assured him that I would see what I could do for him, but as for pay, that was out. I had never taken a penny from anyone for helping them, and I was not about to start now.
I got him to tell me about himself. As his story unfolded I became more and more interested. At one time he had his own public accounting firm, employing more than fifty auditors. He was a graduate of one of our best preparatory schools and also of an Ivy League college. I questioned him exhaustively about what he had done and asked him to try to dig up one thing from his memory that he was especially proud of.
Finally he said, "Yes, there is something of which I am especially proud-I designed and installed the accounting system for all the towns in Westchester County. This system was then copied by many of the other counties in the state, and it is still being used." Later on he continued, "It may interest you to know that I used to do the auditing for Sing Sing Prison." I asked him how many times he had been in the prison. "Twenty-six times" was the reply. I jumped at this and said, "Man, this is wonderful!" "I don't see anything wonderful about it," he said. "Yes," I replied, "This is truly wonderful; we can mention this in your opening sentence and say something like this-I have been in Sing Sing Prison a number of times." "Oh, really!" he said. "I couldn't possibly say that; I am a professional man; I am a certified public accountant. What would the profession think of me?" I persuaded him that the profession had not worried about his bad luck heretofore, and they were not likely to start now. I re member saying to him, "Let's try it. You are looking for a job and not a professional engagement." Thus, the following letter went out to several hundred New York corporations: Mr. John Doe, President, Products Company
-Building New York, N.Y.
Dear Mr. Doe:
I have been in Sing Sing Prison twenty-six times. Each was a professional visit as a public accountant to examine the accounts, costs, and management of the prison. That is but one type of my work.
Your company may need on its regular staff a man of seasoned experience to assume the accounting control. If so, you will undoubtedly be interested in my training and achievements.
I have done general audit work for governments, for nearly every kind of business enterprise, light and heavy industry, and public and private institutions. I have installed many systems of accounts, of financial and cost controls, trained personnel to operate them, and managed as treasurer or controller the accounts and finances of various corporations.
For the townships of Westchester County, New York, I designed and installed an accounting system that was recommended by the State Bureau of Municipal Accounts as a model for other townships of the state to follow. It has been widely copied and is still in use.
I have been office manager and supervising senior for some of the best-known accounting firms; have been a certified public accountant since 1916, have lectured on accounting at Columbia University and elsewhere; and have managed my own accounting business for over twenty years.
Accounting can be learned from books, but there is no substitute for experience. I can boast of a long period of active years in the profession.
I am draft-exempt, in perfect health, and am used to turning out two or three times as much work as younger men. I have prepared a more detailed resume of my training and equipment which I would like to discuss with you with a view to serving your company in a productive capacity.
Very truly yours,
This letter was a fabulous success. Two weeks later, Mr. C. had accepted offers from two companies-one on a four-hour-a-day basis with a manufacturer of scientific equipment and the other with a maker of heavy machines. For this latter concern he became an internal auditor, working from 2 p.m. to 9 P.M. each evening. Just one month later he was promoted to take charge of all internal auditing. He then dropped his part-time job.
See how this letter has a "ho hum" opener. It is a topical opening sentence. Of course, an opening with such power is not always available. Notice how the second paragraph and the others follow the magic formula. Note also that this letter prepares the recipient for the fact that this man is mature. "I . . . have been a certified public accountant since 1916" and "I . . . have managed my own . . . business for over 20 years." Accounting can be learned from books, but there is no substitute for experience. ... I am draft-exempt . . . and am used to turning out two or three times as much work as younger men."
I am stressing these points: First, the man is using his so-called age handicap as an asset. Second, he is preparing the reader not to expect a young squirt. Third, if this man had come in in a wheel chair, or leaning on a cane, the inter viewer would not have been shocked.
How a Russian Army Man Got a Good Job After Letters of Recommendation Failed
Alexander Igor G. had been a colonel in the Russian White Army. He told me that he and his group had held back the Russians in the Crimea until they could evacuate the thousands and thousands of people fleeing from the Bolsheviks. He himself was one of the last to get out. When he arrived in the United States he took a job shoveling coal for a huge boiler.
His second job was a little better: he became a baker with one of the large biscuit companies. His third job was acting as an armed guard on an armored car which delivered valuables. By now he had earned enough money and had learned enough English to get into graduate business school. He was very-eager to learn the American way of doing things. When he got out of school he got a job as financial editor of foreign securities. This job vanished in the early forties, and it was then that he came to see me. His case, even to me, seemed a tough one.
Here was a man nearly sixty, with a foreign accent, and foreign manners. I happened to mention this man's handicaps to one of my neighbors, an officer in one of our large banks. This neighbor spoke Russian, for he was in Russia during World War I. He was most sympathetic and invited the Russian colonel to come to see him. During the visit he offered him five letters of introduction to friends who might be able to help. The colonel accepted the letters gratefully and started on the round of visits. When I next saw the colonel he told me that he had had an unbelievable experience.
His five letters had produced many letters of introduction to others, and he had kept track of his calls. Altogether, he had received 150 letters of introduction, each passing him on to another. Every letter had been sympathetic and friendly, but not one of these letters had resulted in a job. This is the saga of letters of introduction; and I have seen it happen over and over again. They very seldom produce results. Often this has a demoralizing effect.
I persuaded Colonel G. to try the direct-mail approach, and, consequently, he mailed out the following letter to ten public accounting firms:
Dear Sir:
In my recent job, I audited the financial statements and accounts of hundreds of organizations. I have probed in depth into their earning and pay-off ability.
Your organization may need someone of my experience and training for its auditing division. If so, you may be interested in what I have done.
I specialized in accounting at a school of business administration. I took every course they offered in accounting, industry, auditing, costs, budgeting, and statistical control.
As financial analyst, I wrote the financial reports which banks and investment companies used as a basis for making extended loans amounting to many millions of dollars.
Before attending the business school, I had received engineering and mathematical training in the Russian Army. I rose to the rank of colonel.
I will be happy to discuss with you the possibility of employment in your organization. Yours truly,
I felt that we could have improved on the letter, but it worked, so we had no chance to write it over again. Three weeks later, Colonel G. was working as an auditor for one of our top-ranking accounting firms. He was putting in a full day's work, plus overtime, working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., also working Saturdays. Incidentally, one of the first audits he made was of the baking company where he had worked as a baker.
Note that in his letter he prepares the prospective employer for the fact that he is a Russian immigrant, or refugee, so that the employer will not be surprised when he sees him. There never was a more excited person than my Russian colonel when he called to tell me he had a position. Here is a paragraph from his letter to me:
May I express my feeling of gratitude and highest appreciation. Without your kind personal attitude toward me, your authoritative guidance to help me solve my difficult problem, I would probably still be idle.
Color Was No Bar to This Black
The following letter was mailed out by a younger man, a black:
Dear Sir:
I am a recent graduate of-University where I majored in marketing. I have just completed my military service. Your company may be looking for a man in your marketing division. If so, you may be interested in what I have done. In my present job I have organized direct-mail campaigns for mailing up to 1,700,000 letters. I have done Market Research and Sales Forecasting.
I created a promotional gimmick which established sales distribution and gained label recognition for a previously unknown recording firm.
During my war service, I was program director of a Far East network on Okinawa.
I was graduated cum laude from-University where I was also a varsity letter man. I was the first black ever to receive the "Student of the Year" award.
I will be glad to discuss my education and business experience with you in a personal interview.
Very truly yours,
This is his report to me: "The results of my campaign were very successful. I mailed out 249 letters and received almost 50 per cent return in answers. Out of these, I had a total of 16 interviews-a 6.4 per cent interview rate. The interviews were very interesting and showed up several really good opportunities. The one with the-Company was so outstanding that I could not pass it up. My job is to organize the market for blacks. Eventually, I hope to be in charge of this end of the company's business for the whole United States. I just could not pass up this job."
How a foreigner who had a Bad Leg Injury and a Speech Impediment Got a Good Job
I have mentioned before that there is always someone in the market place who wants to buy your special talents. All you have to do is to let enough people know about the "merchandise" that is available.
Recently, a young Pakistani national came to me for help. He had been having a very difficult time getting placed. He was a most remarkable person. He had been educated at Punjab University in Lahore. He graduated with top honors in international law. He had managed a 1,000-acre land development company and had carved a productive farm out of virgin land. He had been selected to be the leader of a farm exchange group to come to the United States. He had lived for a year with American farm families in the Middle West.
He was an excellent speaker and had seventy-five times ad dressed different audiences, including the U.S. House of Representatives Agricultural Committee. He spoke English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindustani, and Punjabi. The year before he came to me he had been in a serious automobile accident. The accident had left him with a limp and a temporary speech impediment. Consequently, it was hard to understand him. In his letter campaign he paid absolutely no attention to his handicaps. Instead, he stressed his knowledge of the Middle and Near East. This is his letter:
Dear Sir:
Recently, I graduated from the-Business School. I am a national of Pakistan. I am in the United States on a resident's visa, free to remain as long as I wish.
Your company may be interested in someone of my background to plan the marketing and selling of your products to countries of the Near East, if so, here are a few statements of my experience. I read, write, and speak fluently the four major languages of the near and Middle East-Arabic, Urdu, Hindustani, and Punjabi-in addition to fluent English.
The ways of life, customs, and laws of these lands are an integral part of my heritage and existence.
I organized and managed the placing of 1000 acres of land under cultivation. I also supervised one of the few large mechanized farms in Pakistan.
I graduated from Punjab University of Lahore with a major in International Law, where I ranked first in my class. I then practiced law in Pakistan.
I was elected leader of a delegation of Pakistani exchange students. After I came to this country, I lived for a year with several American families. I often spoke to different groups and made 75 speeches in all-one to the House Agricultural Committee of Congress, and one to the Rotary International Convention. I shall be happy to discuss further my experience in respect to my being useful to you in your Asian market. Very truly yours,
He mailed out 112 letters. He received 76 replies, which resulted in ten interviews. He is now working for one of the nation's largest banks. Every single statement in the above letter gave direction to his specialty and knowledge of the East. He was a leader ... a man who could be sent out to represent his company with stature in the foreign field. Who, among you readers, would have traded places with this man? He not only had a physical handicap but was of a religious and national minority.
You Are Never Too Old
Eric L. was sixty-two years old with a shock of white hair. When he came to me he stated flatly that he was unemployable. He had lost all his self-confidence and perspective. In his last job he had been making less than $10,000 so his wife had gone back to teaching school to help out. After I placed him in a new job he wrote, "I was positive that no employer really wanted me on account of my age and consequently I had little to look forward to. First, you persuaded me that my big trouble was lack of confidence; that if only I could get in to interview prospective employers there would be no difficulty in proving that my years and experience were assets. Second, you showed me that it was necessary that I prepare the employer in advance that I was no fledgling just out of school, so that when he caught sight of my pure white mane he wouldn't start looking for an excuse to terminate the interview." This is the paragraph wherein we solved the age problem: "I have spent thirty-two years in selling, from cold canvassing to sales management." Thus we turned his age handicap into an advantage. This did not affect the pulling power of his letter. Five hundred letters were mailed out and they brought in thirty requests for interviews. Here is his complete letter:
Mr. H. R. Johnson, President -Co. -Third Ave, New York
Dear Mr. Johnson: As manager of new business development of a firm selling intangibles, I increased business 80% in one year. To do this, I opened 14 new accounts totaling 1100,000 in services to top executives. Among others, I developed and supervised sales training programs for three corporations, the largest in their field.
If your company needs someone in sales management, you may be interested in some of the other things I have done.
Previously, as Regional Sales Manager for a large firm selling in tangibles to business executives, I built up the New England Region from the ground. My sales force led the entire country in average sales per man.
I opened an office at-, Conn, to pioneer a District Manager plan, which was adopted nation-wide, and trebled sales volume in four years.
As a member of a departmental training staff, I recommended a new training policy which resulted in more than 50% reduction in the mortality of trainees.
I am a graduate of the-School and a member of the Sales Executives Club of New York. I have spent 32 years in selling from cold canvassing to sales management.
I will be glad to discuss further details of my experience in a personal interview.
Very truly yours,
It was impossible for Eric L. to take all the interviews that were offered him, because when he had had half of them he received an offer which satisfied his requirements. He told me that each interview had helped to increase his confidence and his feeling of being of value to his employer.
Handicaps Never Keep You From Getting a Job If you are a person with a handicap, I hope the experiences related in this chapter will inspire you, inspire you not to forget your handicap but to make an asset out of it. Never forget that in the market place there is a buyer for every product, but that buyer must be alerted to what is available. The job-getting techniques outlined in the previous chapters can be made to work for everyone. Use them and create your own future.
I received this thank-you letter only a month ago: Dear Mr. Boll;
I can't tell you how grateful I am that you wrote that book Executive jobs Unlimited. Please thank your wife too for her "nagging”
I had polio when I was twelve years old and so I am slightly lame but I have always wanted to be in the business world. I have a magna cum laude from a women's college in Massachusetts and then went on for a M.B.A., also in Massachusetts.
I sold lingerie for two years in a large department store and then-a miracle-I found your book. I studied it and studied it and after working over my accomplishments for over a month, I sent out 30 broadcast letters. Yes, Mr. Boll, I remembered to say I was a bit lame. I got three interviews and am now assistant buyer of lingerie for a large department store. What a book! God Bless, Mary H. P.
