Does cold-calling employers work in India? Stakeholders dissect the method

Last week 25yearold Vatsal Nahata posted how he coldcalled and emailed his way into a job at the World Bank At the time of going to press the LinkedIn post had garnered around 19000 likes and shares In a job market still recovering from pandemicimposed downsizing this seemed just too easy Nahata moved to the United States of America in 2019 from Kolkata to pursue a Masterrsquos degree in International and Development Economics and graduated into a world crippled by the pandemic and where ldquocompanies were on a spree to fire employeesrdquoKolkata boy Vatsal Nahata 25 sent over 1500 connection requests on LinkedIn wrote 600 coldemails got on 80 odd coldcalls in a span of two months to land a job at the World BankIn March 2021 two months before he was to enter the job market Nahata resolved that his first paycheck would be in dollars He determinedly sent ldquoover 1500 connection requests on LinkedIn wrote 600 cold emails made 80 odd cold calls to all types of peoplerdquo The sheer scale meant Nahata was rejected more times than ever before but ultimately he had four concrete job offers by the first week of May He chose the World BankldquoThey were willing to sponsor my visa after OPT Optional Practical Training for F1 Studentsmdasha temporary employment directly related to a studentrsquos area of study and my manager offered a chance to coauthor a Machine Learning paper with the director of research unheard of for a 23yearoldrdquo says his post Emboldened by the response to his post Nahata has been holding webinars on the networking strategies that landed him his first job and also the current one at International Monetary Fund He covers how to write an effective resume or essay to apply for a Masterrsquos program and how to make cold calls So far he claims to have worked with over 6000 people ldquoMy biggest lesson was that networking is not just walking up to people and speaking to themrdquo says Nahata making a case for networking online ldquoThese job opportunities at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund didnrsquot exist they were created for merdquoBut can cold calls emails and direct messages on social media help land a job Or did Nahata just get luckyAryan Surana found his way to a full time position with a Londonbased publication after he submitted a series of articles to different publications one of which offered him a fulltime positionIn 2015 Shivam Shahi reached out to Blue Tokai Coffee Roastersrsquo founder and CEO Matt Chitharanjan via LinkedIn expressing his interest in working with him Today Shahi is cofounder and chief operating officer at the firmldquoI had just returned from Canada after studying at the University of Alberta and was looking for a fresh startup that had received a round of seed fundingrdquo says the 33yearold graduate from the National Institute of Technology Surathkal ldquoI had a wish list of firms based on my areas of interest and Blue Tokai was on it because I had experienced the vibrant coffee culture in Canada and it wasnrsquot thriving in India back then Cafes had only a handfulof customersrdquoKalpan Desai and Gauri Aras VaidyaAnd what made Blue Tokai sit up and take notice Shahirsquos profile and bold approach ldquoHe had studied in good collegesrdquo says Chitharanjan ldquoand had also worked on his own so was wellversed with how startups work What appealed to me was that he had put a lot of thought into his messagemdashhe spoke about the nascent coffee culture in India and the opportunities lying ahead After two or three meetings he came up with a detailed and structured business plan Not everything in it could work for us but a lot did and his approach set the ball rollingrdquo Chitharanjan hired Shahi as head of operations and later he was made cofounderGauri Aras Vaidya owes 70 to 80 per cent of work in her 14yearlong career to networking cold calls and emails ldquoJust two weeks agordquo says the content and social media strategist ldquoI reached out to an author who is also a public speaker and entrepreneur Although he has been on the Forbes 40 under 40 lists his website social media and LinkedIn accounts didnrsquot reflect his achievements and the information on them was outdated I wrote how I can be of help to him and it workedrdquo This is not the first time the strategy has worked for Vaidya ldquoSome years ago I reached out to a travel portal on Facebook asking for work and our association lasted two yearsrdquo she saysA keen observer Vaidya spends a lot of time on social media and when she comes across an account that hasnrsquot cashed in on its potential she reaches out ldquoMany small and medium scale brands have an email ID or contact number listed on social media Another option is to look for them on LinkedIn and message themrdquo is her pro tipAnother trick is to avoid using a message template ldquoDo your homeworkrdquo she advises ldquolook at the areas the brand can work on and ensure your message details how you can be useful Also try to begin your message with something else besides the usual greeting Notice if someone in the company or the firm itself has won an award and start by congratulating them It increases your chances of getting a replyrdquoAryan Surana a cricket journalist in Barwaha Madhya Pradesh networked for a side hustle As his contract with a news portal drew to an end last year he started looking for opportunities He responded to a post on LinkedIn asking for freelance writers who could write long form articles that would be sent to various sports portals One of them was Londonbased Guerilla Cricket which offered him a fulltime jobldquoIt was an article on English cricketer Alex Hales who was banned for 21 days in April 2019 after testing positive for recreational drug use that secured the jobrdquo recalls Surana ldquoThe article suggested burying the hatchet and giving him another chancerdquo Surana applied this strategy to the rest of his work ldquoMy job involved writing a bunch of short articles every day but I like long formrdquo he says ldquoso I would write three to four wellresearched articles every month and send them out for publication I did this for six to eight months before requesting to be paid for themrdquo Thatrsquos how Surana established a second stream of income His advice is to tailormake the content for the platform by knowing what it wants ldquoAs Guerilla Cricket is based in London I wrote about an English cricketer and not an Australian Pakistani or Indian player That worked in my favourrdquo he saysWhile younger professionals donrsquot shy away from sliding into DMs of prospective employers some of the latter still prefer the oldschool referral system of networkingAbout five years ago a Mumbaibased professional landed an opportunity to work with the one of biggest basketball leagues in the world purely through networking ldquoI knew an excolleague who worked with the companyrdquo says the senior marketing professional ldquoI had reached out to him for someone I was representing We were supposed to meet but it didnrsquot materialise A few months later he invited me home to discuss the same talent but by then I had quit the firm I didnrsquot want to be rude and went to tell him in person When I told him I had quit he offered me a job at his companyrdquoAsked whether networking in person is essential to career growth the 46yearold agrees ldquoWhenever I have hired people and when people have hired me it has been through personal meetings and referralsrdquo he says ldquoThe sports industry is very niche and everybody knows everyonersquos flaws and strengths So cold calls wonrsquot work but referrals and networking dordquoKalpan Desai lead talent acquisition professional for the Management Trainee Programme and Campus Relations at Sony Pictures Networks backs this up ldquoRandomly reaching out to a recruiter might not workrdquo he says ldquoWhat works is following the right people on social media and LinkedIn so that you are in the loop for vacanciesrdquo says Desai ldquoI repost every opening that my company page lists But just sending CVs doesnrsquot help after all we can accommodate you only if there are jobsrdquo To apply for senior positions the best way according to Desai is to find a strong common credible connection ldquoReferrals work very wellrdquo he emphasisesWhat is networking etiquette ldquoHave clarity about what you are seeking to pick the companies to speak tordquo says Shahi ldquoThe two important things that must be in your message arerdquo adds Chitharanjan ldquoWhy you want to work for an organisation and why should the organisation hire you He advises against calling people directly ldquoA direct message on social media emailing or walking up to me at an event is all good but cold calling means you donrsquot respect my timerdquoThe golden rule everyone agrees is to develop a thick skin ldquoWith networking everything is in your controlmdashfrom how you talk to how you pitch yourselfrdquo says Nahati ldquoSo if things donrsquot work out despite this you take it very personally It did take a toll on me but I was clear that since I had spent so much on my education and lodging in dollars I would earn it back in dollars too Besides I wanted good exposurerdquoThe Vatsal Nahata way to network Look up a company on LinkedIn and send connection requests to all employees The acceptance rate is usually 50 per cent Message those who accept but donrsquot ask for a job ldquoI simply say I like their profile and would like some career advice I ask if we can connect over a phone call On the call too I talk about them and their workrdquo Out of 10 people you speak to you will ldquoviberdquo with a few Send them your resume and follow up ldquoThese second order connections play a crucial role Converse such that they become your champions A CV bears more weight when an existing employee sends it to HRrdquo Be innovative Add hyperlinks to make your resume interactive HR and managers notice this Donrsquot hesitate to follow up Use LinkedIn very well