Submitting your resume and cover letter over and over again through job search websites can turn into a dreadful and boring routine. After a couple hundred pages, you’ll find yourself lowering the bar and submitting to anything remotely in the realm of a field you are interested in. Sometimes getting through to an interview using these online job searches require more luck than getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory. Finding your next job or company could be easier and more fulfilling with a little help from your creative thinking side of the brain. Try some of these out to get the mind revving up for adventures in job searching.
Be Your Own Headhunter
Catching up with friends over mimosas at Sunday brunch? Turn it into an opportunity to put yourself out there and ask around if anyone knows any leads at their companies. People don’t always know everything going on in your life unless you share it and put it out there. Friends and acquaintances also love to help out and will be your best advocate. You never know, your friend could be your new coworker.
Love the Company, Love Where You Work
In the age of social media, there are so many ways to connect with people. This is also true with potential companies and employers. You have the opportunity to connect with a stranger and potentially turn it into a job opportunity. Show interest and people will take notice. Love a company and what they stand for? Engage with their social media account and get yourself noticed. While the person running the account isn’t the person who would directly hire you, they could suggest you or be your foot in the door.
Brain Picking
Find someone you admire in a field you are interested and pick their brain. Don’t go into it asking for a job or interview, approach it with more of a mindset that you want to find out more about what they do and what they might suggest for you. Instead of asking for a job, ask for some insight. People usually love talking about themselves and their journey in life, get the conversation started and they’ll remember your interest and enthusiasm.
Know Your Strengths and Skills
To find the exact job in the exact field on your first try can be overwhelming and frankly, not obtainable. Make a list of all your professional skills and strengths and apply those to a wider set of potential jobs. Love to plan events but can’t find a wedding planner job? Think how you could apply those talents towards planning for another company or being a project manager. You are so uniquely wired with certain skills that can be applied over a variety of tasks and jobs – just think a little outside the box and apply outside your comfort zone. You’ll never know unless you try.
These unconventional job search ideas will hopefully make your endeavors a little more fun and lead to more opportunities than blindly applying without setting yourself apart. You want to sell yourself as a unique talent that they can’t find anywhere else and can’t live without.
