CAREER DEVELOPMENT
May I Have Your Attention, Please? Five Attention-Grabbing Ways to Get Hired in an Overcrowded Job Market
I
f you’ve been looking for a new job, you’ve probably noticed that you are
not alone. In fact, there are so many highly qualified people looking for jobs today that it can be really dif- ficult not to feel like just another face in the crowd (or résumé in the pile!). Competition is certainly stiff. And that means that the job search techniques of yesterday—send out résumés, search the want ads, and wait for a job to fall in your lap—won’t even get your foot in the door. What you need in order to get a job today, says Jim Kukral, is the courage to put yourself out there and get the attention of employers by try- ing something no one else is doing. “It has never been more important
to stand out and get noticed in the job market,” says Jim Kukral, author of Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Rev- enue (Wiley, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-470- 59927-3, $24.95,
www.attentionthebook. com). “No employer today is going to remember anybody who is just okay, or who falls in the middle of the pack. If you’re competing against fifty other applicants for a much-needed job, you have to ask yourself, What can I do to stand out and prove to them that I want it more than everyone else?” If you’re trying to land a new job,
but you’re short on ideas for getting the attention of potential employers, don’t worry. Below Kukral shares five creative ways to use the power of the web and social media to land that new job:
Ramp up your résumé. Potential employers have piles of
résumés to look through—for the most part, they all look the same. Do some-
26 HISPANIC NETWORK MAGAZINE
thing to make yours stand out in the crowd. For example, if you find out that the hiring manager at the company you’re interested in loves Dunkin’ Do- nuts, you should have a box of donuts delivered to her office every morning for a full week. Each box should have a picture of you on it and a reason why you’re perfect for the job. Kukral shares his own success story of how a “differ- ent” résumé landed him a job right out of college: “When I walked into the CEO’s
office for the interview, I noticed the walls were completely covered in post- it notes,” he recounts. “The CEO told me he liked to keep his ideas and notes in this manner because it helped him to stay organized, and it kept the ideas in front of his face. Later that night an idea occurred to me: Why not use this guy’s penchant for post-it notes to stand out to him? I bought a big piece of white posterboard and several packs of yel- low post-it notes. Then I came up with fifty different qualities that I thought I represented and had my fiancée (who has fabulous handwriting) write down each quality on a post-it note. I ar- ranged the notes on the posterboard one by one, emulating the CEO’s office wall.
Celebrating 19 Years of Diversity
“The next morning I arrived to his
office early and left the board with his receptionist along with another copy of my résumé,” he continues. “About an hour later, I received a call from the CEO offering me the job. Out of all the people interviewing for the position, I was the only one who did something to stand out. This was an early and valu- able lesson for me and has since helped shape my career and brand into what they are today.”
Try Facebook advertising. Facebook is a great way to network
with friends and family, but what most people don’t know is that it’s a great way to network professionally as well. Many companies have Facebook pages that allow you to make contact with their employees. And what’s even better, Facebook offers an advertising service (that few people actually even know about!) for very cheap. The ser- vice allows you to create your own tar- get ad. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Kukral recommends creating an ad
on Facebook about yourself—include your skills and qualifications and what type of job you are looking for—and
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