Bob Molluro ⋅ Wilmington, DE Benchmark Consulting Services ltd. ⋅ 30 years experience

Don the key to becoming a real candidate is to get your resume in front of the right person and out of the pile of all the other resumes. You need someone in your targeted company that will personally introduce you to the right person. Logically this probably sounds like HR however in many cases if you can get to the manager who is going to do the actual hiring you will have broken the code.
One of the best ways to find the information you need is thru LinkedIn. Hopefully you have already joined. If not please do so as it is free. Next you need to know how to really use LinkedIn's capabilities. 95% of the people do not. I am going to share a proprietary presentation that we developed for our clients in the financial services business. The techniques will enable you to see exactly how they can be applied by you in your quest to get to the right person.
The link is:
http://portal.sliderocket.com/AHKHS/My-Presentation-1102214 (just copy and paste it)
The pass word is: Financial Partners (two words /case sensitive).
The extra effort you put forth in learning how to really use LinkedIn will pay off no matter what you decide to do. By demonstrating your initiative to reach out and be different from the rest of the pack will impress your perspective employer and will separate you from the rest of the pack.
Good luck.
Warmly,
Bob

barbara hawes ⋅ Brielle, NJ Aflac ⋅ 28 years experience

First of all, thank you for your service, Don! I need to reach out to HR managers and other specific individuals much of the time. MANTA.COM may offer specific individuals in leadership positions, but simply calling and finding out who the HR director or hiring manager is may be the most direct route. A thank you letter is a great touch to personalize and enhance your chances of getting attention. Keep in mind that a large company may have thousands of applications on hand, and your letter may not connect with it. Try to find personal connections through LinkedIn, networking meetings, and any organizations that have members who work in the companies you are seeking out, to leave that indelible mark and enhance your chances of being recognized when they come across your name.. or better, seek it out among the applications.

Barbara Hawes, PhD

James Bishop ⋅ Columbus, OH Morgan Stanley ⋅ 8 years experience

My opinion is forget the thank you note. You are expecting that being human will by-pass a process for an extremely overworked HR person. Focus on making sure your application addresses exactly what they are looking for in their job description and make sure your resume demonstrates success.

As for LinkedIn, focus less on your network and look for people from the Navy or at least the military. Also, contact the company directly and ask them who manages their veteran affairs programs (probably will get a pause on the other end of the line), if they have a name reach out to them, if not then ask who leads the area you are applying to and see where it goes.

Kevin Spain ⋅ Lafayette, LA Fugro ⋅ 10 years experience

Don, that can be tough, because Hiring Managers usually don't want their contact information readily available to all candidates for their open positions. This is not to say that you will, but some candidates can abuse that information to the point of being a pest. I believe your best bet is to connect with someone in HR or someone in the company who is a veteran that can be an advocate for you - if you have the skills their looking for.

Melissa White ⋅ Morristown, TN General Electric ⋅ 15 years experience

Don,
If it is a local company it is sometimes easier than a national search. Even if it is national and you call the local branch. Simply call the local office and become friendly with the guard or administrative persons and they will share, and asking for the HR person or hiring contact they may be aware of. You could also simply reply back to where you initially sent your resume or re-apply.

I hope this helps.

Douglas Lavelle ⋅ Chatham, NJ Financial Services ⋅ 24 years experience

Many thanks for your service. Your approach is spot on to get to the decision maker. I concur with the suggestions thus far. Contacting the company directly may prove helpful and demonstrate your initiative. Best of luck on your efforts. Best- Doug

Annie John ⋅ Herndon, VA Ntrepid ⋅ 19 years experience

Hi Don,

I would suggest using your network (or even search on Linked In) to try to find an employee of the company and then ask them to forward your resume and cover letter to the hiring manager. Employees can usually determine who the hiring manager is, either through their internal systems, or being well connected. They may not be willing/ able to give you the person's information, but they can usually forward an email on your behalf.

Annie

Krystal Yates ⋅ Lewisville, TX EBR Consulting, LLC ⋅ 19 years experience

Unfortunately, there is no "right" way to follow up. Different companies have different preferences. Have you reached out to your network to see if you know anybody that works at that company? LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for that. If you can't find out through your network, go ahead and call. Just don't be surprised if you aren't able to get the information. Some companies are happy to share, others are not.

Gerald Mannikarote ⋅ Houston, TX dMann Training Technologies ⋅ 20 years experience

Don,
There's nothing wrong with asking for the name of the hiring manager, in my opinion. You can send an offline cover letter to them as well. In my opinion, that shows tenacity.
But I agree with James in focusing on making sure your application addresses exactly what the job description is looking for.
LinkedIn is good to use to scope out the hiring manager and see what they are about and their track record.
But as James, and others have mentioned, your best bet is to strengthen your network and therefore have a better in with any job you are applying for.
I hope this helps.

Jeff Shoemaker ⋅ Lake In The Hills, IL Colorado Technical University ⋅ 20 years experience

If you have/are interviewing for a certain poition you should know at least the hiring mgr's job title. Once you have that
1. Call and ask the operator for the mktg mgr.
2 Mine Linkedin
3. Mine applicable local professional associations or societies
4. Look at group like iVet
5. If they are a Fortune company they should have a military relation or vet hiring mgr and use them

Peter Edelson ⋅ New York, NY JNK Securities ⋅ 18 years experience

Pick up the phone and call the company and ask for that person. Don't be shy! You'll be pleasantly surprised how far this can get you simply by being a sweet heart to each person you're on the phone with.