Every person giving career advice will likely tell you something different. I see applying to just any job as shooting fish in a barrel: you’re likely to hit one at some point but you don’t really know what you’re getting. Plus, I feel if you’re applying to jobs in bulk, the recruiters can probably tell due to the lack of knowledge of their company, along with a lack of personalization in your Cover Letter and Resume.

I definitely agree that 1st jobs are NOT perfect jobs and that having a job is definitely better than no job!

The reason I suggest looking up interesting companies as Step 1 is so that in Step 2 you can meet people within those companies who excite you and inspire you. You can use LinkedIn, Twitter or Blogs to connect and then (Step 3) try to meet up in person or on the phone if possible.

Many positions are not posted online so after meeting people within these companies you may discover something just opened up. Or, if their company doesn’t have openings your contacts will likely know people within their industry that share the same values or work at similar companies who they can refer you to. Make sense?

So again, having a job is better than no job. I say a hybrid of what you’ve been told and what I’m suggesting is probably ideal for a 1st time job search. My recommendation may be more useful for planting long term seeds that may grow after you have a year or two of experience and are ready for the next step up in your career. But in those cases those who start early will “win the race.”

Hope that helps!

Nicole

I LOVE this article! Especially while going through what I like to call the “job search lull” right now (sending in tons of cover letters/resumes and having them disappear into the dark resume-sucking black hole) I feel like its time to start being more creative in my job search!

I really like the coffee mug idea, but because I am just a poor college student, I’m thinking this might be a little pricey for my job search budget. Do you have any other *less expensive* ideas similar to this tactic to get your name and resume noticed by the right person?

This list also got me thinking of other ways to use guerilla tactics to stand out from the crowd, in particular first round interviews conducted on campus at my school. For example, I have an interview on campus with a company I am really interested in next week. There are a bunch of us interviewing back-to-back and I really want to stand out! I know the name of my interviewer and did a little online “stalking” and found out a little about this person. Do you think it would be creepy/not professional for a first round interview to bring in an article of interest or something else along those lines?

Thanks!
Sabrina

I once got offered a job (they actually created a position just for me) by taking CPR and First Aid classes at the local YMCA.

I do want to mention though for those of us who do still live in podunk towns, some employers will not like these tactics. Just do your research on the company first and you can probably figure out how open to innovation they are.