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Liz Ryan , CONTRIBUTOR

I tell job-seekers that if they’re planning to base their job search on the activity of sitting at a computer screen and clicking on job ads and then filling out endless online job-application forms, they’re wasting their time. They’d be more likely to get a job by driving down the freeway with a stack of their resumes in the passenger’s seat and the passenger’s-side window open. That way the the resumes can fly out the window as you drive. One of them might end up in the hands of someone who could hire you.

Lobbing applications into Black Hole automated recruiting sites is not only a waste of time, but a mojo-destroying activity to boot!

The minute you take charge of your job search and stop applying for jobs by submitting online applications, your mojo will begin to come back. You’ll have to work a little harder.

• You’ll have to research the organizations you’re interested in. You’ll need to know four things about every potential employer before you can begin to use the Pain Letter approach to reaching your hiring manager directly and avoiding the automated application forms for the rest of your career: You’ll need to know the name of your specific hiring manager — the person who heads up your function inside each of your target employer organizations. Here’s how to find your hiring manager.

• You’ll need to find a Hook for your Pain Letter. The Hook is the opening to your Pain Letter. The Hook talks about a recent (within six months) accomplishment or triumph your prospective new employer is proud of. You’ll find a suitable Hook in the Press or Newsroom section of your target employer’s website.

• You’ll need to develop a Pain Hypothesis. Your Pain Hypothesis is an educated guess about what’s most likely to be keeping your next boss up at night — either the company’s lack of a social media strategy, rising costs from its suppliers, or something else. What kinds of Business Pain is your manager likely to be facing? Read your prospective employer’s website thoroughly, read what bloggers and industry observers say about the company, and ask yourself, “What is my hiring manager’s most likely Business Pain at this stage in the company’s life cycle?

• Lastly, you’ll need to find the organization’s mailing address, but that’s easy – it’s almost certainly on the company’s website, and if not, Google will be sure to find it.

Now you only need one more element in order to compose your Pain Letter. You need to pick a Dragon-Slaying Story from your library and tell your story in your Pain Letter! See an example of a Pain Letter here.

This is how people are getting jobs in the new millennium — by avoiding the broken keyword-search-based recruiting apparatus and reaching their own hiring manager directly with a relevant message about pain and solutions.

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