Creative Ways to Get Noticed in a Competitive Job Market

The conventional ways of finding a job are becoming less effective in today’s competitive job market. Some of you may have heard of guerilla marketing tactics. The basic idea of guerilla marketing is finding creative, unconventional ways to reach a target population. The concept of guerilla marketing tactics can easily, yet thoughtfully, be applied to anyone searching for a job. I refer to these as guerrilla job hunting tactics.

The following are some ideas to give you a better understanding of what guerrilla job hunting tactics are, which will hopefully get your creative juices flowing.

How to get your resume noticed and land that interview:

1. Delivering your documents in a creative way.

One example is The Coffee Cup Caper tactic: a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a Guerrilla Cover Letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box.

Other examples:

• One Michigan man mailed cover letters with two aspirins taped atop each. His opening sentence: “Your customer service headaches are over!” This message resonated with employers, who called to interview him.


• A Las Vegas man mailed a paperweight and cover letter to an out-of-state employer. The paperweight was a miniature of the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign. His cover letter began: “Not everyone who lives in Vegas wants to stay in Vegas,” playing off the famous slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” He was flown to an interview in California.


• One aspiring assistant basketball coach mailed the right hand from a store mannequin to the coach he wanted to work for. Rolled up and gripped in the plastic hand was his cover letter, which began: “I can be your right hand man.” He was hired.

(Examples taken from the StarTribune.com: Three Job Search Q & A: Michigan Edition)

2. Following up in fashion:

Instead of using email, arrange your thank you note to be hand delivered by a courier- or have your friend pose as one.
This makes you stand out from the other applicants.

3. Give employers another reason to hire you!

After the interview, go home and think of another way to show the employers you are the person for the job.

You could create a written plan of action for the first 3 months on the job. This proves you can do the work, by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.
Note: Have the plan delivered by FedEx, not by email.

Yes I know, some of the guerrilla techniques do take time; But think, is the time worth landing the job? The answer is Yes.

As winter break is upon us, use the extra time to start thinking of creative ways to get noticed and become a warrior in this competitive job market!

Here is a link to a great article on the guerrilla job search:

http://www.jobbankusa.com/CareerArticles/JobSearch/ca6806a.html