Throw out the old job title and stand out from the crowd
The 2013 job market is a changing commodity. It is imperative that up-and-coming students and job seekers know how to truly play up their best assets — one of which nearly always is to highlight their understanding of current digital life. Job opportunities are out there, but they aren’t always as simple as applying with a Times New Roman resume from eras past. Connections, digital skills, and the willingness to engage others will tilt the odds in your favor.
Stand out from the swarms of similar candidates, here are some tips to help you:
1. An Interactive Resume: Your resumes should have two QR codes, the first taking hiring managers to an introductory video of you demonstrating your energy and industry knowledge, and the second taking them to a video of your best reference saying how great you are.
2. A Professional “Me” site: This site serves as your digital portfolio containing all of your best work and thus ensuring that hiring managers who search for you on the web find the “best” you.
3. A Professional Blog: You create a blog about a key topic in your industry that will showcase the skills your resume says you have, demonstrate your knowledge of your field, raise your profile in your industry (because you’ll be interviewing the top players), and build your professional network as more and more of the key people hear from and/or about you.
4. A Social Media Marketing Campaign: This campaign promotes you because you follow and interact professionally with the key players in the field.
5. An Informational Interview Campaign: In the final step, you ask the biggest players in your industry for an interview to pick their brains and get their advice on your next career steps. This cements your relationship with them and creates over time a powerful network of powerful people who know you by name, respect your work, and will plug you into the “hidden jobs” market.
