Because you are competing with so many people who are job-hunting, it becomes increasingly important to use a networking approach to establish personal contacts, rather than relying on your resume alone.

But what about the other side of the coin? Consider the busy executive receiving numerous requests to meet with and counsel job seekers.

The growing awareness of the informational interview techniques may be creating a demand that busy executives are unwilling and unable to meet. How can you "network" when people are unwilling to commit the time and energy to meet with you?

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I recently began reading "What Color Is Your Parachute?" by Richard Nelson Bolles. I found the book very interesting and helpful. I plan to use the techniques for job hunting in the book during the next few weeks. I hope they work as well as the author says they will.

I guess I find it hard to believe that busy executives and presidents of companies would be willing to meet personally with career changers and job hunters for informational interviews. I hope that I am wrong, but I would think they would just delegate the responsibility to their personnel functions, which would treat the situation like any other unsolicited job inquiry (circular file).

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Many managers, who have counseled job hunters in the past, are finding themselves swamped with requests for help. Although it may be more difficult to make contacts in this environment, it's still worth the extra effort required.

If your efforts to plug into a network have been short-circuiting, you may find these suggestions helpful in making a connection.

Introduce yourself by letter and tell the recipient you will make a follow-up call on a specific date. Your letter and resume will probably be read because the individual is anticipating your call. This also keeps your letter out of the "circular file" and reduces the chance of it ending up on someone else's desk.

Use the name of someone the recipient knows in the first sentence. Using a referral gives your letter a personal appeal that makes it difficult to send it to personnel. The executive doesn't owe you anything, but may want to do a favor for the person who referred you.

Don't say, "Sue Brown gave me your name." Rather, "After talking with Sue Brown at some length about my career objective, she suggested that I contact you."

Ask Questions
In your letter, ask two or three specific questions about your resume, your field of interest, their job, etc. This approach makes your request sound less time-consuming, and encourages the reader to formulate a reply. It could look like this, "I know you must be very busy, but if you could answer these two questions when I call it would be extremely helpful."

This make you appear well prepared, sensitive to the reader's time demands and far enough along in your job search to know what you want.

If you simply ask for "20 minutes of your time" to talk about your general career goals, the executive may envision a lengthy, fuzzy discussion that has little payoff for either party.

This two-question technique often works without an introductory letter. But if you use this cold call approach, write your opening introduction (including the name of your referral), a brief summary of your job objective, purpose for calling and your two questions. This outline will help you to be concise and organized when the other person answers the phone.

On the bottom of your outline, write a reminder to yourself to ask for names of other contacts. If you are given any names, request permission to use the individual's name as a referral. When you call, ask the person if he has some time to talk. This simple courtesy is often overlooked. If he is busy, ask him to suggest a better time. This consideration on your part sounds professional and will ensure more attentiveness when you finally get his ear.

Write Down Advice
If you are invited in for further discussion, after your phone conversation, mention that you intend to stick to the time limit that has been agreed to. While at the interview, write down the advice you are given. This makes the executives feel that their comments are important to you and encourages them to tell you more.

If your attempts to contact "the person with the power to hire" are unsuccessful, ask him if he can refer you to one of his subordinates. A subordinate may be closer to the actual work you want to know about, and might be able to give you the names of some colleagues in other companies.

Finally, always send a thank-you letter - even for a telephone interview. When a busy person takes time away from the job to help a stranger, he or she deserves a thank you.