My Off-Beat Job Search Tactics

By now everyone in the USA has heard about unemployment figures trending towards 10%. Basically, 1 in 10 people who is capable of working is not enjoying full employment or any employment at all. So given the depth and impact of this recession, the stigma of being unemployed is almost nonexistent. And given the depth and impact of this recession, job seekers need to be creative in finding their next opportunity.

 

Recently, one of my young sons lost a well-built children’s shoe during a stroller ride with my babysitter in our neighborhood. This shoe was new and would have been worn another 4 to 6 months, and not having its mate was a loss from a few perspectives. This shoe loss resulted in a creative brainstorming opportunity. How so? I used my artistic creativity to produce a “LOST” flyer to leave in my neighbor’s mailboxes. Along with story of the lost shoe, I shared a few lines about my job loss, worked in some favorable comments about the neighborhood and artfully placed a very cute photo of my young sons. I signed off the flyer with a cheerful closure, my contact details and a link to my professional Web site.

 

What did I learn from this flyer creation? I learned that folks do care. In fact, the shoe found its way back to us within two days. Ironically, someone had placed it on top of a stop sign. So it was quite visible provided you looked in the right direction. But I also received a few supportive emails from the hundred-plus houses in our neighborhood.

 

The next slightly off-beat tactic for marketing myself stemmed from my frustration at the continued barrage of mailed credit card applications I never solicited in the first place. One day, I even received an invitation to a black card, which apparently is the ultimate in credit cards. How could an unemployed person be considered a viable candidate for such a credit card? As I have heard the news in past months, part of the financial trouble in the USA stems from too much credit usage that can’t be repaid, resulting in mounting debt, home foreclosures, etc, etc.

 

As a result of my incredulousness in receiving these solicitations, I decided to use the conveniently enclosed postage paid envelope. In this envelope, I placed a polite note thanking the sender for their mail and requesting they read my enclosed mail, which was my resume with a call to action on the reader’s part. While it may not have been what the credit card firm was hoping to receive, I felt better letting them know their mail was read and that they may wish to reconsider keeping me in their future database mailings. Perhaps I also connected with a possible employer given my creativity -- as they say, you never know who knows who!

 

Do you have any funny or empowering experiences in not-so-standard job search tactics you’ve tried?

 

Check out these articles for more inspiration:

 

     * "Create Your Own Opportunities"

     * "Young Workers Find Creative Ways to Cope with Unemployment, Hard Economic Times"

 

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