7 Ways to Stand Out in Your Job Search

by WhoToKnow.com

A friend of mine recently lost her job. During her job search she became increasingly frustrated with job boards and asked me for suggestions on how to differentiate herself from the competition.

“Being different and grabbing peoples’ attention is relatively easy”, I replied. “However, being different in a way that makes you incredibly appealing to prospective hiring managers isn’t as simple.”
With differentiation in mind, here are 7 (well, 7½) unconventional approaches to job search that will help you stand out from the job seeking masses:

1. Don’t Rely on Job Boards

I’m not saying this to be different, but the truth of the matter is that job boards are the most used (read: overused) job search resource there is. On job boards, you are one of thousands of applicants applying for each job. 10-years ago, you would have been one of a thousand resumes on a hiring manager’s desk, but today your resume is screened by anapplicant tracking system and your identity as an applicant is reduced to binary digits on a hard-drive or server somewhere in cyberspace. If you want to stand out you really need to do it in person.

2. Your Network Will Never Be Big Enough

If you’re tired of hearing people talk about networking, then you’re probably not doing enough of it. There are few things more important to your success than your network, and a network comprised of many high-quality contacts and strong relationships makes it more likely that someone in it will know of someone who’s hiring, may be hiring soon, or may be looking for someone just like you.

3. Recruiters Won’t Find You a Job – That’s Your Job

All too often I hear someone who’s starting to look for work say “do you know of any recruiters?” to which I respond, “I certainly do, are you looking to hire someone?” While contacting recruiters is a good idea, waiting by the phone for a call from one isn’t – and there are two reasons why: 1) The odds that the specific recruiter you call is working for an employer who is looking for someone with your specific skill set right now are rather low, and 2) it’s as simple as this – recruiters work for employers, they don’t work for you.

Ways 4-7 and the complete article