Apple had it right -- in intent, if not in grammar -- when they came up with their popular ad campaign, "Think Different." If you t hink and act apart from the crowd, your chances at getting a job you want are that much better.
Of course, there's no reason not to read the classifieds and scroll through scores of online job listings. Just remember that everyone else is doing the same thing. To get the job you want, you need to go where others don't even know to tread. Here's a tip: Read between the lines. It worked for me.
When looking for my first job out of college, I followed the advice of a mentor who told me that advertising was a good place for smart English majors to start their career. I immediately decided to look for a job on Madison Avenue. This was in 1993. The job market was wretched that year, though I realized that plum jobs at top agencies were always hard to come by, I knew I'd have to be creative to get an advertising job without experience or connections.
I didn't go to the classifieds, rather, I started reading the advertising column in the business section of The New York Times. One day while perusing the industry notes, I noticed something beautiful. A job opportunity waiting to happen.
" John Follis is leaving Follis/DeVito/Verdi over 'philosophical differences' and is opening up his own shop."
Perfect. I figured that the renegade executive needed to staff up his new agency - pronto! I immediately called 411 (this was before information was readily accessible on the Internet) but his number was not yet listed. I was only able to get the former agency's name and so, by default, I wound up faxing my resume to the remaining DeVito/Verdi. Upon receiving my resume, the president called immediately. We set up an interview for the next day. I was hired within the week.
The times may once again call for that kind of creativity. You can no longer sit smugly in your cubicle, expecting bidding wars to break out over your continued employment. So here are some fresh job hunting ideas.
Brand U
In 1997, one-man think tank Tom Peters introduced "Brand You," an assertive marketing concept where you promote yourself as the ultimate commodity. Peters refers to modern times as "the age of the individual" and proselytizes we all become CEOs of Me, Inc. With the economy slouching as it is, Cecile Marie, a New Jersey-based personal career coach and trainer, thinks self-branding is an idea whose time has come.
Recession lays a golden egg
Recession means you may have to be flexible. If you can't find a job that matches your skills, Marie suggests you look at related jobs and take one of them. Taking a job that's a bit outside your area of expertise means you'll expand your skill set. When the market picks up again, you'll be that much more attractive to employers
Sales help needed. Inquire within.
One area that might afford opportunity is sales, in any capacity. In economic slow downs, companies scale back on support staff and beef up their sales force.
"If a person gets a job selling, even for a little while, he or she is going to be a better employee in other areas and other ways. There has never been a job, that I am aware of, where sales experience hurt a candidate," says Marie.
And of course, that goes hand in hand with selling yourself. If you can sell a product, you certainly should be able to sell yourself. "If you believe in yourself, then you should be able to sell yourself," says Marie.
5 Tips for Creative Job Searching
- 1. Go to where the jobs are
Or, more precisely, frequent the haunts (bars, lounges, restaurants) of the heavy hitters in your desired industry, and make yourself a fixture. Note I didn't say barfly or stalker, just a semi-regular. Over time you'll be able to start chatting up some of these bigwigs and hopefully land yourself a bona fide job. (Bonus: tax-deductible bar tab.)
If you're looking for your first job, or otherwise unemployed, get a job bartending or waiting tables at these popular establishments. There's no better way then to get yourself up close and personal with influential folks than on their own turf.
- The Internet is your friend
Marie is especially fond of online communities, specifically Yahoo! Groups. There are literally thousands of groups with millions of members in almost every industry, topic or theme you can think imagine. If you're interested in management consulting, there are more than 1,000 groups you can choose from. If you can't find the group you seek, start your own.
"Groups are great networking tools. They're one of the hottest things going right now. They're better than listservs, which are strictly email. You can share files and engage in real live chat," says Marie.
Another great networking resource is Vault.com with hundreds of industry-specific message boards that are hotbeds of activity.
- Six-degrees of email
Everyone knows someone who knows someone, so when you're looking for employment, shout it from the rooftops. Email your friends and attach your resume and ask them to forward it to any contacts who might be in need of your skills. Referrals hold much more weight with potential employers than cold contacts.
- Read and write
You can follow my lead and read for your leads. Fast Company, Wired and Business 2.0 are all full of information and job leads. Get into the habit or reading relevant publications, both trade and consumer, to stay on top of events, trends and other vital news in your industry.
If you see an interesting article that you think an employer might find useful, clip it out and send it along with a little note about who you are and why you think he or she might like it. It's a great way of introducing yourself as it's non-threatening yet shows you have an interest in their business.
One of Marie's tried and true networking strategies is simply responding to editorials. Sometimes her letters get printed. The Internet works especially well in this vein. She got a client once by responding to an article on fastcompany.com. Her posting included her "signature", which in essence is an advertisement with all her contact information. She's also reviewed books on amazon.com, which has also elicited responses.
- Pay attention
If you think simply posting your resume and waiting for the phone to ring is going to land you a job, you're kidding yourself, especially in this softening economy. You must be alert to any and all opportunities.
Be creative and good luck! Share your innovative job seeking tips with me at Working Girl.
