Five Unconventional Ways to Find a Job
By Kevin M
Even with hints of economic recovery in the air, getting a hired into a new job has never been harder, even for the fully qualified. I know many people who are or have been on extended periods of unemployment in the past year and one common theme is that the usual methods of getting hired aren’t working.
Getting a job is largely about getting noticed, and the best ways to do that are to approach employers in ways most other job seekers aren’t using. Try one or more of these and see if your luck doesn’t improve.
1. Send a letter without a resume
This sounds about as unconventional as it gets, but that’s the point. Try sending a letter without a resume. Think of it a strong cover letter, but it should summarize your abilities to fill the job with an emphasis on further discussions of the job and your qualifications.
Sometimes a resume can be a disqualifier since employers use them to cull the list of prospects. Sometimes it’s best to get them interested before sending a resume. It’s a back door approach in a job market crowded with good looking and often embellished resumes.
The idea is to approach the hiring process as though you’re entering a multi-step business deal. You can write something like “my resume is quite lengthy, but here’s a summary of my skills, this is what I believe I can do for your company, please call me at your earliest convenience and perhaps we can explore this further.”
A good letter may get the interviewer to pick up the phone and call you, at which point you have three advantages: direct contact, a request for more information and the forcing of all important multiple contacts with a prospective employer. The more contact you have the better your chances of getting an interview and of getting hired.
Everyone sends a resume and cover letter, and at that point the employer has all that they need to begin comparing your resume to dozens or hundreds of others. Using a letter as an ad can invite a phone interview which exponentially speeds up the process. The central idea is to begin a dialogue with someone in a position to hire you and as much as we like to think that resumes do that, they don’t always.
Try it and see what happens.
You wouldn’t do this as a matter of course, but it would be worth the effort if you’re not having luck going the more traditional route
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