Is it weird to email an organization with only six full-time employees and ask about job openings? (average, owner)

[freedom125]

And if it's OK to do so, how would I go about wording it carefully?

Obviously at bigger companies people are inquiring about jobs all the time.

But I've come up with a list of 20 or so very small organizations around the country I would love to work for, and they average about 6-10 full-time employees per organization.

Therefore, it's not like there are people coming in and out of their organization all the time.

Would it be weird to email these places asking about job openings? If not, what would be the best way to go about doing it without sounding weird?

Thanks.

[Eastcoasting]

Nope not strange at all, don't worry about the wording just be professional and customize your approach for each org. to show that you aren't just taking a shotgun approach.

People come and go, new jobs, relocation, maternity so it's possible that your resume might hit at the right time.

Contact them with your best foot forward and good luck.

[davenj08]

I am not sure why it would be weird. You are expressing interest in employment and it does not matter if the organization has 6 or 60 employees. Even Google and Apple at some point had only 6 employees!

[AV8n]

It probably depends on whether the organization is looking to grow or is satisfied with where they are at currently. In the latter case, they probably won't have any openings. You would need to think about how making room for you would help them out and use that to make your case for why they should consider adding you to their team.

Also, they are probably more likely to hire someone who they either know directly or through someone they already know - not some stranger across the country who found them on a web site. See if you can find contacts there on LinkedIn. Maybe they know someone you know.

[Hemlock140]

I'd stick to the local ones and go see the owner in person. I can't imagine that a company that small (I had one for 16 years) would consider hiring someone from out of state that sent an e-mail inquiry even if they needed help.

[freedom125]

Do you think I should automatically attach a resume to these succinct emails, or is a short email simply to inquire about any possible openings good enough, with the assumption that if there was an opening I would pass along my information after that? The reason I ask is because I would of course like to tailor my resume a bit to fit the slightly different types of positions I am looking for.

[freedom125]

I just wanted to say that I went ahead and tried this with someone the other day, and it seems to have gone over quite well.

He apologized that he didn't have any full-time openings at the moment, but praised me for stepping out and trying to make things happen. He also accepted my offer to keep my resume and cover letter on file there for when an opening does come around in the future.

We sent a couple of message back and forth, and I tried to subtly drop in hints of what I could add to the organization that they don't already do, if they considered ever adding an additional position in. But without being overbearing.

Obviously this has not gotten me a job, but when they do have an opening in the future, at least I will likely know now and not miss out on it, and I would start with a distinct advantage. I will probably do this with a number of other places and I encourage others thinking about something like this to try it as well.