Stand out in a sea of other applicants.

How do you stand out in the job search? Having a well-designed resume & LinkedIn page are essential— but what about out of the box strategies?

Last week, Kimberly Haught posted about a job seeker who dressed as a Postmates delivery person & hand delivered self-designed boxes of donuts with his resume creatively displayed in the box. I read that as of last week he had more than 10 in-person interviews because marketing companies liked his creativity.

Then there’s Hanna Phan who created an eye-catching presentation about herself (calling it a Presume) on the platform SlideRocket. She sent a Tweet to the company’s CEO who was active on the site with the message, “I want to work with you! Find my application here: link”. The CEO of SlideRocket loved that she creatively used the platform and offered her an interview an hour later via Twitter.

I’m not saying you have to pull a crazy stunt to get noticed— but you have to find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Maybe that means calling an old boss with a good friend on the Board of Directors to place a phone call on your behalf? Or maybe it means having meaningful engagement with the recruiter on LinkedIn.

What are some out of the box job search strategies you’ve used?

Check out the original LinkedIn post for some amazing suggestions from job seekers and recruiters.

Donuts.jpeg

Author

  • Sarah Johnston

    I’m a former corporate recruiter and industry “insider” who got tired of seeing talented high-achievers get passed over for opportunities because they did not have the right marketing documents or know how to position themselves in interviews. I have relocated multiple times across the country as a “trailing spouse” and have had to execute job searches in completely cold markets (where I literally knew no one!) I have been named a LinkedIn Top Voice in the career space in 2019, HR Weekly’s Top 100 Most Influential People in HR, named the owner of the “best resume writing firm for experienced executives” by Balance Careers and a “top follow” by JobScan in 2019 and 2020.

Sarah Johnston

Need focused coaching time?

Let’s get started