If you've ever wondered, as you attached your resume to an email cover letter and clicked "send" for the 800 gazillionth time, whether there is a better way to stand out from the crowd, you might be interested in Adam Pacitti's story.
Fed up like you, he found another way to connect with employers: He rented a billboard. It read, "I spent my last £500 on this billboard. Please give me a job. EMPLOYADAM.COM."
He got 60 offers.
Other recent examples of creative approaches to job seeking that worked include Alexander Velicky, who built a video game to get a job; Carrie Kemeling, who put on a sharp outfit and handed out copies of her resume near a highway on-ramp; and Kelly Taylor, who printed his resume on the label of a bottle of home brew.
But every bit of advice you've read warns you away from using corny tricks to get an interviewer's attention, right? No colored paper or scented stationery. No photos. No confetti in the envelope.
A recent Forbes.com article about colorful job-hunting tricks listed a few others that didn't work. Back-flipping into the interview room, for instance. Dressing as a clown didn't get the applicant hired, either; nor did giving the interviewer a tarot reading.
What's the Difference Between Crazy -- and Crazy SMART?
There's an art to using a stunt to get hired, and those who do it successfully understand the concept.
First, don't even think about this approach if you are anything less than totally committed (and have the skills to back up an out-of-the-box approach). Velicky spent 2,000 hours creating his video game, and Pacitti's billboard was the capstone of months of work creating online content. There are no half measures in this game.
Next, remember two things:
Accomplish one of these, and your grand gesture may have a shot at working. Both, and you are on your way -- to getting an interview, at least! Let's take a closer look at the above examples.
Adam Pacitti was looking for a job in the media industry. He'd sent out 250 resumes with no success, despite a degree in media production. So he put that degree to work. He made an amusing video in which he poked gentle fun at himself and the industry -- creatively. The video had good production values and humor that worked. He posted it on a website, and started a hashtag campaign: #hireadam. THEN he rented the billboard.
The sign, which also featured his adorably nebbishy photo, led to lots of attention from his target industry: the media. Score! Since it was backed by solid content showing off his media production skills and his likable personality, it wasn't long before the offers started rolling in. The one he took? Creating viral online content.
What about Velicky, who made the video game mod? You won't be surprised to learn that he was looking for a job in video game production. Interestingly, he did not get an interview at his target company, Bethesda Game Studios. He had created a mod called Falskaar that added 25 hours of play to their popular game, Skyrim. It was a herculean effort, and although Bethesda didn't hire him, his mod became so popular that someone else did: The much bigger company Bungie, developer of Destiny, Halo, Myth, and other games.
Taylor, who slapped his resume on a beer bottle, was looking for a job as a brewmaster. Like Velicky and Pacitti, his stunt was actually a sort of open audition; after all, he'd made the beer himself.
And Kemeling, who had only a high school degree and had just quit her job at a jewelry maker when she took her show to the highway median? She didn't know what kind of a job she wanted. But she had a fresh and catchy pitch: "Not Homeless But Hungry for Success!!" read the sign she held, standing in a spot usually occupied by homeless people looking for handouts. "If people can give money to somebody who is homeless and not looking for work," she told a newspaper, "They can also help someone who is trying to help themselves."
Of course, grand displays or clever tricks are not for everyone, and in the wrong hands can do more harm than good. Here are a few subtler ways to stand out that you might consider trying first:
Of course, the very best way to stand out from the crowd is by showing your talents on the job. A qualified employment agency can place you on assignment with a company in your target industry -- and on your way toward landing the job you want!
Are These Job Seekers Crazy? Or Crazy Smart?
