Say less.

It's hard to know what to say.  The first introduction, the cold call, the follow up email.  I will often hear people give the synopsis of "how that interaction is supposed to go" but I find it takes me a long time to type out those email, to have those conversations, because I want to cushion my message with some fluffy social banter.  This may be an over-compensation being a scientist- I don't want people to think I am direct to the point of lacking social skills.  BUT, if it takes so much time to write up one email, it's hard to move through the many emails I should be sending, yes?

I was getting schooled in job hunting the other evening by a friend who is applying for more senior positions (ie, VP).  I wanted to believe that his job hunt was moving faster and going better because he had experience and a network already.  That might be part of it, but a lot of it is how he goes about his hunt.  He paid for the full subscription on LinkedIn.  He sends a lot of notes to people.  And most of those notes are crazy short.  One note he sends to HR people:

"I am considering exploring opportunities at YOUR COMPANY.  Can you put me in touch with someone I can speak to about this?  Please let me know if I should send a resume." 

He gets lots of nothing from that, but he also got a job offer out of that.  And an email that short, you can afford to send 100 times a day.  He doesn't spend time justifying a career move, he let's his LinkedIn profile speak for itself.

I wonder if this could work for me.  I'll let you know after I've had a couple days to try it.