Hi,
When a job advert includes a person that you can contact for informal enquiries, do you normally get in touch with them? I've done this a couple of times with mixed results ie. got a very nice reply from one and a bit of an offhand reply from the other.
It's obviously a good thing to do if you have a specific question about the vacancy but what if the advert covers everything? I've asked a few people this - some say that you should always get in touch to introduce yourself while others think that it is pointless if you have no specific queries. Any thoughts would be much appreciated - thanks!

I'd side with the 'pointless if you've not actually got anything to ask' camp. It must be incredibly irritating to be on the receiving end of pointless phone calls / emails.

I agree as I've had mixed results too. Generally people are nice and just answer the query but I once got a ratty person who gave me a very offhand reply too! I think if you have something useful to ask it's fine but if you are just asking to make yourself known it's pointless and may well annoy the person at the other end who could've have a hand in whether or not to shortlist you!

As far as I know ALL correspondence between you and the company/organisation is kept and given to the review panel. Therefore I would only ask a questions if I genuinely did not know the answer. I have done it a couple of times to check if I am eligible to apply for the advertised post. If you contact them with a question which has been covered in the advert or is on their website, it doesn't really make you look efficient.

Thanks for the replies. I've always been of the same opinion as you all - only contact if you've got a valid question. However, I recently went to see a university career advisor who was shocked that I've never made use of an informal contact and recommended that I changed my ways. I wasn't convinced but then spoke with a person fairly high up at a university who said that all the people that had been employed in their lab had made some sort of contact prior to applying for the position. There's also an article in jobs.ac.uk which stresses the importance of making informal enquiries to make yourself known - apparently it gives the impression you really want the job.
I still don't like the idea of getting in touch for the sake of it but was just wondering if I was the only one who isn't doing it! Pleased to hear that I'm not! thanks