Unconventional Job Hunting Strategies

’Focus on how you can distinguish yourself, Cohen says, ’and make up for lack of experience through additional training and certifications. Often, older employees are less committed to professional training and development, so what you lack in hands-on experience, you offset through continuing education.

For recent grads who can’t quite picture going back to school just yet, John Francis, president of Theonera Inc., suggests taking a less radical approach and starting by fine-tuning your resum?® and cover letter in order to appeal to potential employers by doing something a little bit different. ’Offer potential employers something like a PowerPoint presentation or a video resum?®, he says. ’Those things have a much greater chance of getting you noticed and hence getting hired.

However, if you want to stick to something a bit more traditional yet still stand out, Perry says that resum?®s and cover letters do work, but most candidates forget that the purpose of a resum?® and cover letter is to explain to the employer, Here’s what’s in it for you [if you hire me].’ A big mistake students make is that ’when they go looking for a job, in a cover letter, they say, I, I, I. Me, me, me.’ He says that this often proves to be ineffective because employers want to know how hiring you will benefit their company, not how their company will benefit you.

’You start your cover letter and swap out the I’s and me’s, and replace them with you’s and you’re, he says. ’For example, instead of writing, I would like an organization where I can advance and use my six months of experience in project management at the Dairy Queen,’ you say, You will benefit from my six months experience in project management at the Dairy Queen.’

Scott Vedder, agrees. ’Instead of writing a resum?® that reads like a job description, be sure you use specific examples to quantify what makes you a great candidate.

The next steps

Now, what happens if you’ve put the new job hunting strategies you learned to use and you land yourself an interview? Perry suggests treating your job interview as if it were a blind date that someone was setting you up on. Basically, get to know your potential employer during your interview. ’Ask some preliminary questions like, Who are you?’ What’s this all about?’ What’s the opportunity about?’ Why did you call me?’ Why do you think we’d be a good fit?’ Perry says that by doing this, you encourage the employer or recruiter to tell you what’s in it for you. ’So rather than you fumbling all over yourself, you’re now forcing the employer to tell you about the job, he says. ’And it changes, psychologically, the dynamic between candidate and recruiter, or candidate and employer. Now suddenly, you’re on an equal playing field, and you end up having a discussion about the opportunity or a discussion about their needs, as opposed to you trying to pitch yourself or pigeonhole yourself into that opportunity. Cohen says, ’When you have an interview, go above and beyond to show that you are committed and hard working. For example, if you interview with a hedge fund to be a junior analyst, prepare an analysis to show how you think and how smart you are.

Even with all of the job hunting tools and experience you have on your side, there may be times that finding a job in your chosen industry proves to be difficult. If you’ve explored all the different avenues for your job search and are still finding less than desirable results, don’t be discouraged. Perry says that perhaps looking for an internship could be a fantastic idea, ’providing that the internship is with one of the companies, or within the field that they eventually want to work in.

Interning may also be a good idea if you’re looking for a job, but are unsure of what you want to do.