The Unadvertised Job Search Strategy

How do you strategize your job search?
Do you use:

• Classified ads
• Temp Services
• Employment agencies
• Word of mouth
• Word of mouse (searching online)

Congratulations. You have just joined the unwashed masses that are in your same situation and doing the same thing trying to find a job. The reason you are not standing out from the crowd getting noticed by employers is that you are not doing anything that makes you noticeable! You are just a nameless face among the score of other job seekers. Your job search so far has been cookie cutter.

Are you ready to try something different?

Step 1 - Info Gathering
In your industry, decide how wide you want your search to be. I counsel my clients to start local (5-10 mile radius) and search for every company in that area. Do your homework. Who is the Top Dog? This is the owner or CEO - NOT the HR department or manager. This is your first point of contact. If you need to broaden your search area, so be it, just use the 5-10 mile radius as a starting point.

Step 2 - Draft Cover Letters
I'm not talking about a generic intro cover letter, you need to personalize this directly to the owner/CEO.

Step 3 - CONTACT!
If you can locate an email address send the email with your resume attached. This might take a bit of doing if it isn't readily available so go to plan B - SNAIL MAIL with an enclosed resume. Better yet, pay the company a visit and drop your resume and cover letter off personally. If it is a relatively small company and the owner is present just quickly introduce yourself and hand him (or her) your resume and cover letter in an envelope addressed to them personally. The only conversation you should have is short and sweet, saying something along the lines of quickly introducing yourself and that you were in the area on another appointment and just wanted to drop your resume for him to review in hopes that there is a position available now or in the near future you can help fill.

If it is a larger company, a similar strategy can be used with the gate keeper but the envelope containing your resume would just have the CEO's name on it as opposed to company name and address.

Here is the effect this strategy will have. Once your resume is in the Top Dogs hands and there is another department or person that handles hiring new employee's, psychologically, your resume coming from the CEO will get more attention than one delivered by the mail carrier.

Think outside the box. It happens to be a highly competitive job market and job seekers MUST do things that separate them from the pack of other hungry job applicants.

Tomorrow we will discuss how including a short, 60 video link in your cover letter, increases your chance of being interviewed by 60%. Until then, get your resume critiqued by a professional and DO YOUR HOMEWORK about where and who you will be sending your polished resume to.