You’ve got the skills, the talent, the fresh pair of Warby Parkers. Now you just need that media job. But getting your foot in the door isn’t easy, and sometimes in order to stand out, you need to make a big entrance.
To give you some inspiration, here are a few ridiculously awesome tactics job-seekers (and landers) have used to get noticed.
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Spoiler alert: After reading you’ll seriously want to up your job search game.
Message in a Bottle
Canhür Aktuglu landed his dream job at DDB Istanbul with a crazy-inventive approach: A message in a bottle. With a thumb drive cork—holding his resume and portfolio—and a rolled up cover letter inside the agency-branded bottle, this delivery method and packaging didn’t just wash ashore, it hit home.
Ten days later, Aktuglu found himself in the DDB Istanbul office as an art director. This goes to show the importance of zeroing in on the job you want and spending the time and energy to show how much you want it. Read more about it Aktuglu’s success here.
2. Customized Resume
Nina Mufleh, a marketer and communications specialist, had a dream to work at one of her favorite companies, Airbnb. And with the typical application process yielding no results, Mufleh decided to take matters into her own hands by developing a resume site that very closely resembled the look and feel of Airbnb.
And she didn’t stop there. On the Airbnb-like site, Mufleh analyzed the global tourism market, providing a report as to where Airbnb should focus their efforts. Sharing it on social media with the company’s founders helped as well, garnering her immediate attention from the CMO and from media outlets across the web.
And while Nina did not land a job at Airbnb, the media attention helped open many more doors for her as she began receiving calls from companies all over the world. Ultimately, Mufleh landed a sweet job at Upwork as a freelance growth marketer.
3. Choose Your Own Resume Adventure
While many have taken to the Youtube video resume idea lately, there’s one guy who helped to really get the ball rolling. Meet Graeme Anthony, a communications expert who used Youtube’s in-video links as a table of contents where employers could click through different areas such as “Skills” and “Timeline.” And, yes, it worked. Shortly after uploading his video, Anthony was offered a job at one of the UK’s top PR agencies, Frank PR.
Others have used this technique in search of their respective dream jobs, too. This programmer did a great job of mixing fun visual elements to further drive home his data points and light quirky humor to show his character, and this mustachioed digital strategist used Ron Burgundy-esque humor in an attempt at getting Google’s attention.
Looking to up your job search game? You can break out of your rut and get insightful pointers with the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a resume retread to several sessions of career counseling to work on your elevator pitch, networking skills, career transition, and more.
