If you're right out of school and want to stand
out from the crowd, you may want to employ some “less traditional” job-search
strategies. According to Placement Officers at some college career centers, here
are a few creative strategies their students have recently employed to get
noticed ... and to get full-time jobs.
They ...
-Contacted organizations where marine biologists
work, offering to work for room and meals. He received a few offers and spent
six months teaching marine biology in the Caribbean.
-Created and hosted social events to connect with prospective
employers.
-Set up informational interviews with alumni.
-Contacted employers face-to-face, rather than
making initial contact through a cover letter and resume; traveling to the
employer’s city of choice to meet in person.
-Worked part time while volunteering to gain
exposure to various occupations, enhancing or developing new skills, and
establishing contacts.
-Created a credit-card-sized CD-ROM about herself
and her accomplishments, which she passed out at career fairs and mailed to
prospective employers.
-Flew north for spring break, to New York and
Boston, for informational interviews with alumni and employers while other
students vacationed on the beaches.
-Took unpaid internships to get into their company
of choice.
The idea is, think creatively. Think about differentiating
yourself from the pack. Think about what everyone else is doing, and do that ...
but do lots of other things too. If you’re employing some ‘offbeat’ strategies
to get a job, we’d like to hear a comment from you!
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