Thank you so much for an incredibly helpful post. I've done about half of what you suggested, which means that half of it is new to me. One follow-up question

Thank you so much for an incredibly helpful post. I've done about half of what you suggested, which means that half of it is new to me. One follow-up question for you: Do you have any advice on how to contact the HR department of a candidate employer and have a conversation that's deeper than 'yes, I will send a cover letter and cv'? Thank you again for taking the time to list some specific ideas that I hadn't considered.