The very, very best thing you can do is literally walk into the office in question and hand the hiring partner a copy of your resume, flash some work samples, make an introduction and try and setup a time for an interview. This is how I got my current job and its the best gig I've gotten thus far. It's work intensive, but most folks especially in this environment will straight up ignore an email and will largely be uninterested if you call on the phone. Besides, going to the office means you have a better chance of getting past the receptionist.

Apu expresses a view held by some. Such an approach does convey a certain initiative. However, in my view, there is an inconsiderate presumption inherent in showing up unannounced at a firm with an expectation of an on-the-spot interview.

My days are pretty full and I find it hard to give a "walk on" much serious attention in those circumstances. I'd prefer to receive a resume first - if I have a need you can fill, I'll invite you in for a chat. While it's not a universal behavior, I do read and respond to every resume I receive ... eventually.

Having said that, a phone call may work - I'm more inclined to take an unscheduled phone call than an unscheduled visit. Still, if I'm not hiring and if I haven't seen your resume before, I'm not necessarily going to take your call.

Sorry to present such a grim picture, but my free time - while not necessarily valuable - is relatively scarce. In the end, every hiring manager is going to have different preferences. There probably is no universal answer to your question.

I'm in agreement with BG on this one. Take a look at most firm websites and you'll find they request that you not call the office...so I would assume that showing up at the office would be an even bigger intrusion.

In my experience, the "best method" would be to invest time in the quality of your portfolio...your body of work will be doing all the heavy lifting in terms of making a first impression regardless of whether or not it is sent via email or hand delivered.

I am with BG on this one too. It does seem a little disrespectful to presume someone of importance will drop what they are doing to look and talk with someone they've never heard of. Maybe in a really tiny firm when things are slow.

I'd call, find the name of the person you should contact, get his email from the secretary, leave a polite voice mail if you get vm, if you talk to him express your interest with specifics (not "hey man, I really, really need a job!"). Then send a PDF or link.

Emails are great because people can instantaneously forward to other people, no passing the book around, so to speak.

Follow up soon after, with a "just calling to confirm you received it" and try to get an interview. Don't be pushy, though. Initiative is great, but it is the work that counts.

I also agree with BlueGoose.

Email is asynchronous communication and therefore the most efficient from every party's point of view.

Imagine answering hundreds of job seekers' phone calls everyday!...or dozens of strangers wandering into the office trying to show 'initiative'.

Maybe stand out by sending an old-fashioned letter?!

I agree with Goose, and now with Position as well.

Send a brief cover letter, resume', and, maybe, one page with two to four images. This should find its way to the hiring folk, and actually be opened--something the email may not. After that, a phone call makes more sense, at which time you can honestly say, "I"m calling about the material I sent in last week."

Good luck!

I agree with the last few posters - while I have occasionally accepted a no-call first walk-in, I hate to be put in the position of stopping my tasks for someone who took an "initiative" - I greatly prefer a letter, email or even a phone call. ALWAYS follow up your first attempt with a phone call since occasionally accidents do happen and resumes get misplaced - good luck

i agree with Apu. every job i've gotten that was worth my time was initiated by either a walk-in, or a cold call. i've had success with both.

it won't work in all situations, clearly, and it certainly won't work all the time and definitely will not work in an environment with HR departments and standard hiring protocols and what not but for smaller companies the possibility of bending someone's ear for three minutes is pretty good.

THANK YOU to everyone who posted! To update you with my progress, I've been doing some walk-ins, and have spoken to several presidents of firms and/ or hiring agents, most were very obliging and spoke to me for a moment. I've been getting the same response from everyone though... no one is hiring, and most of the larger firms are starting layoffs. I am still hopefull and will continue to try. I have a meeting with another firm president this week, I had walked-in and she was unavailable, but I was given her card and emailed, she followed up and now I have an opportunity to speak with her. Probably will not get hired but hey, it's a foot in the door! I feel like I'm getting somewhere, thanks to all who posted!

minnow - you've gotten a lot of good advice above. i'll just echo a few observations by my fellow owners above:

doing a 'walk-in' is my least favorite method of introduction. absolutely hate to feel like i'm automatically obligated to meet with someone, especially when there's no possibility of hiring at the moment. it's just awkward all the way around.

emails are generally fine - i rarely print them out though. chances are i'll respond faster to them, though.

getting a nice portfolio in the mail (like we did yesterday from some youngster at auburn) is the best way to make an impression imho. doesn't have to be fancy, but you can control the entire process of how i receive the information.

generally, forms of communication that allow me, the receiver, to control how i process it and allow me to set a time schedule to respond are more favorably received. i'm pretty sure there are studies which back that up as a general rule.

good luck.

Minnow... I'm in agreement with the posters here... but just to check- instead of picking firms, have you checked with any alumni from your school? Is there an alumni organization you could talk with to find out about opportunities throughout the US? In this economy any boost you can find will be helpful and sometimes there are closed door job fairs- unannounced and you have to be invited- most alumni will have the 411 on these. (I was just emailed one last week- and it had all the contact information in the email for each and every company that would be there- sort of like a gold mine for jobs)

Good luck!