Like anything else, consider the audience. If you can engage directly with a decision maker, or even a gatekeeper, great. Not always possible, or helpful. I wo

Like anything else, consider the audience. If you can engage directly with a decision maker, or even a gatekeeper, great. Not always possible, or helpful. I would caution that, while generally a solid approach, this does not advantage you in the final hiring, only in the initial screening stage. Not a bad thing, but keep in mind there are multiple stages to getting hired, and avoiding the first filter pass shouldn't be where the majority of your efforts are focused. Of course, if you're goal is to get into a specific company, vs "any company" or "any of these companies", your approach will be different.