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Thank you Gerry!
What was your “That’s it, I quit” moment
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Coach
I always reply. Generally short and sweet with a piece of actionable advice. If the conversation continues, I might critique their book. If I see potential, I might add them to my list or share their book with other CDs.
My first job came from a cold lead. It’s hard to stay positive as a junior when it feels like your job hunt isn’t going anywhere. I know the industry norm (often due to indifference not malice) is to ignore cold emails from juniors. And I know that every time a CD responds when they don’t have to provides a little hope and optimism to someone who needs it.
thank you thank you thank you. i'm in that position right now where my job hunt seems to be so stagnant it hurts. getting any reply or acknowledgement at all makes it known on my end that i'm trying and not just idling. that being said, when you get reached out to-- do you prefer email or linkedin?
Coach
How busy I am when I receive the .message.
+
Whether the message they send feels like a form letter
Their choice of GIF in the email.
I always reply as well. I remember what it was like to be in their shoes when I was starting my career and how much I appreciated any CD who got back to me or put me in touch with others.
Either way works for me. DM me if you want and I can give you my email address.
1) portfolio
2) geography
3) I look for potential, do they have a willingness to learn?
4) education
in your opinion, what are signs of potential?
Then getting my name right. You wouldn’t believe how many cold emails copy paste the wrong name
if there's a portfolio link do usually you click it, whether you get back to them or not?
Coach
If I can answer their questions and feel like I can provide a new insight or POV, I may not click it. If I click it, I may scan it in under a minute, hardly even go into the work, just to see that they do indeed have a portfolio. It’s the first date, after all. If I respond and then they respond and seem eager to learn and appreciative of having a conversation - rather than annoyed I didn’t offer a job - then I’ll spend a little time in their book and provide feedback. It’s a dance and I want to make sure that they don’t have a thin skin and that we’re talking for the right reason: because they want to get better at making amazing creative.
I also always always always reply, but to the many good points above, it depends on how much effort the sender went to. If it just seems like a lazy form letter, or it is rife with typos, I will take a very long time to respond because why should I put in any effort when the person clearly didn’t? If it is short and sweet, not trying overly hard to be “I’m the funny guy/gal“ but shows some personality, and ideally uses a personal reference or mentions a mutual friend or colleague, that helps. Basically I just look for someone who, even at a young age, displays some degree of self awareness, professionalism and effort.
thank you so much for replying! as a new grad who's job searching right now, opening up your email in the morning to a reply is almost as good as getting an actual job, haha.