With the current economy, it's no secret that the job market is going to be a difficult one. However, success is going to be based on how you approach the job hunt. You need to look at things optimistically and always remain on the lookout for new opportunities. To be successful, recognize that finding a job is hard work and that you'll need to roll-up your sleeves to find the gem that's right for you. Don't be so quick to just send out your resume to a 100 different employers. Think differently...

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	Josh Levy

Think of yourself as a new store that will be opening in the local mall. Any smart business owner would never just open for business without putting a lot of hours learning everything they can about their industry and customers. Make no mistake about it, you are a new product on the market and it's up to you to learn everything you can about your customers (also known as your future employer) in order to market to them properly. Follow the steps below to standing out and marketing yourself in today's precarious job market...

1) PR Yourself by Blogging or Twittering
If you don't blog, Twitter, or speak passionately about what you do...start NOW! People want to hire the best, regardless of the job. In order to demonstrate your expertise, you need to speak out and have opinions about your industry, competitors, or even just about the weather. Whatever it is you want to write about, make sure it gives people a glimpse into who you are and exactly what they can expect by hiring you. If you want proof this works, you can Twitter @PatrickTulskie...our most recent hire, who we knew was a must hire once we started reading his posts and got great insight into exactly who he was both personally and professionally.

2) Visible Yet? Now Enhance Your Online Reputation.
According to Career Builder, 77% of executive recruiters use search engines to research candidates. Furthermore, 43% of recruiters eliminate candidates due to information found online. The first steps are easy, clean up that MySpace or Facebook page and make sure you are putting a professional image out there. If you use LinkedIn, recruiters will have an easier time finding you and you may be able to broadcast that you are looking for a job to a larger audience. Many recruiting professionals spend their days looking for new candidates on LinkedIn.

3) Google yourself because EVERY employer will.
If you Google yourself, are you happy with the results? As mentioned in the stat above, almost all employers will be Googling you to find out what comes up. It's your job to ensure that they do not find anything negative as you do not want to hinder your chances in any way. If there is online content that you do not like or that is simply not true, contact the website that is housing it and ask them to take it down.

4) Make Your Accomplishments Stand Out at BeenVerified!
After that, check out our service www.BeenVerified.com, which was specifically built to help job seekers stand out from the crowd by being able to PROVE their accomplishments to potential employers. Additionally, you can show off your work experience, education, industry certifications and more anywhere you go online. Employers recognize that in today's online world, anyone can claim to have accomplished anything and employers love seeing job seekers that are pro-active and take initiative when finding a job.

5) Market Research...Do it!
Once you have identified the companies you want to target and have made sure you are looking good online, get down and dirty with learning everything you can about the companies and people you will be contacting and interviewing with. This is one of the most important parts of the entire process and where most of your time will be invested. Success or failure will depend on the relationships you develop with the people you will be interviewing with. This is exactly like dating, as you may know or remember first impressions are what get you a second date.

Send emails that are relevant, flatter them by using knowledge of who they are and what they have accomplished, and most importantly tell them exactly how you can HELP them.

Be persistent, be aggressive, and make sure every employer knows you are someone who is in high demand and will not be around forever. If they don't snap you up soon, someone else will!

About the Author
Joshua Levy: Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Josh combines his passion for Web technology and experience in finance to help the team look at BeenVerified from multiple perspectives. Having spent the dot com boom as a founding pioneer of an online video and social networking site he is experienced with the fast-paced world of startups. His company was one of the first to implement online video advertising for companies like Yahoo, Netzero, and BIC.

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