The Aggressive Job Search

Looking for something that will give you an edge in the job market and get you in front of more potential employers? Here are some suggestions:

Walk in without an appointment.

Volunteer for night work.

You may find new work four to six weeks faster by using these or other extraordinary job-search techniques. Competitive jobseekers need to look beyond the conventional and come up with innovative ways to market themselves. Getting rehired quickly is the obvious goal, but the longer you are jobless, the less attractive you become to many employers.

If you are fresh to the job market, you are considered a hot prospect, and getting a new job at a decent salary should not be a problem; that is, if you are interviewing daily. After three or four jobless months, employers begin to wonder what is wrong, since they assume the worst – that others have rejected you. Some of them will brand you as picked over and passed by.

Anything that speeds up your job search while enhancing your appeal will give you an edge. So you might want to step back and think creatively about unusual ways to make an impact on prospective employers. Here are some ideas that have worked for others:

Walk In And Talk

The more people you see, the better your chances are of becoming employed. Find out who does the hiring for the area in which you want to work and just walk in and talk. If you are told the person cannot see you immediately, sit and wait, even if it takes most of the day. All you have to do with your time is get a job. All your time should be spent on arranging interviews.

Salespeople routinely wait until a purchasing agent can see them. A jobseeker has to do the same for a prospective employer. When you do see the employer, you have the advantage of having obtained an interview without the use of a resume. Resumes routinely lose more jobs than they gain because they give the employer a chance to screen you out. Unless your resume says exactly what the employer wants, it is unlikely you will be considered for the job. However, in a face-to-face initial interview, you have the opportunity to respond to the employer’s expressed needs.

Volunteer for Night Work

Many business days no longer go from nine to five. A number of industries such as data processing and some financial services are around-the-clock operations. You can make a favorable impression on a prospective employer and stand out from your competitors by volunteering to do night work, if you mean it. A secondary consideration is the income – some night jobs pay better than day jobs.

Use Off-Hours, Holidays or Saturdays to Your Advantage

Many employers use Saturdays or holidays as catch-up time for their work. You may be able to get instant interviews by contacting employers at their offices during holiday periods, on Saturdays or after the work day ends. At such unconventional times, you have the advantage of gaining their undivided attention. Obtain the night phone number for the person you want to work for and call before or after regular business hours to request an interview. That way the employer knows you are willing to interview at any time.

Move to a New Region

You will expand your job opportunities over the long term as well as the short term by being willing to change states for a job. A study by Michigan State University reported that those who were immobile made less than half the salary of those who remained mobile. They also had only 1.5 promotions compared to three promotions for the mobiles.

Use After-Hours Activities

If the employer you want to see works out regularly at a health club, plan on being there at the same time. If the employer contributes volunteer time to civic or charitable projects, volunteer for similar activities.

Park Yourself in the Company Lot

Find out where an employer parks by looking at the identification of the company’s parking lot spaces. Plan on being there early enough to see the person as he or she arrives, and walk to the office. You may be able to get an immediate interview, or an appointment for one.

Aggressive job-search techniques such as these can give you an advantage over your competition, but there is no such thing as a shortcut. You still have to put in the time it takes to find out whom you should contact, make the connections, and do nonstop personal interviewing.