In writing – crafting speculative applications

Approaching a business ‘on spec’ rather than responding to a job advertisement is a common approach in some sectors, such as charities or the media, but it is also something that an SME is more likely to respond to than a large company with a carefully structured application process.

Top tip – addressing your application to a specific person and tailoring it carefully to reflect everything you’ve learned about the business, will give it a much higher chance of being read. Even if they don’t have any vacancies, they might be impressed enough to keep your application on a shortlist to consider in the future.

Writing a speculative application

A speculative application usually consists of a CV and cover letter.

The FutureLearn courseThink Like a Recruiter covers writing CVs and cover letters in more detail if you want to explore this further. The University of York’s Careers and Placements website also covers these topics in detail.

As you’re not responding to a job ad, you’ll need to work harder to investigate what the employer’s needs might be and decide what you want to tell them about yourself. Remember, you’re asking them to create a role for you so you need to be really clear about why they should bother doing that.

Cover letters

A good cover letter is vital when making a speculative application. It needs to contain some key pieces of information:

• A reference to any member of their team who has encouraged you to send an application in.
• An explanation of why you’re applying now and what it is about the business that has attracted your attention, e.g. their values, projects they’re working on.
• Details about the kind of role you are looking for.
• A taster of your most relevant skills and experiences that makes them want to find out more.
• An explanation of what you could contribute to the business if they hired you.

As always, try to match your tone to that of the organisation (which you got a feel for when you were researching their website and social media). Is it formal/informal, technical, people orientated etc. Remember to remain professional though!

CVs

A speculative CV should always be tailored to the needs of the employer. You’ve already considered how you might ensure that your discussion of your skills is a relevant as possible, but there are other elements to consider:

• Write a new CV each time you send a speculative application. You may be able to use some of the same points, but DO NOT send the same CV to several similar companies hoping someone will get back to you. They won’t!
• While there are mixed opinions about the value of a ‘personal statement’ on the CV of a new graduate, a clear and concise statement at the top of your CV explaining what you are looking for and what you have to offer, will give readers a quick and easy way to see who you are. In this speculative context – this could be really useful. Jemma Smith (2023) offers some useful advice on the Prospects website.

Following up

If you haven’t heard anything back after a couple of weeks, follow it up. If you have some contacts within the business, ask them for some feedback. If your application hasn’t led to anything this time, keep your contacts warm with appropriate questions about their work or the wider sector, and try again further down the line.

Over to you

Think back to the website you reviewed in the last section and what you discovered about the company culture. Can you see how you might communicate with them in a way that reflects their tone and style? For example there might be certain words they regularly use, or they might place an emphasis on certain skills or values that you could reflect back at them in a persuasive letter or your CV!