3 Creative Professionals Who Went Beyond The Resume
May 9, 2012 
Author 
In For many industries it’s a tough job market out there. Everyone knows this. Rather than complain about it, some enterprising individuals are using their creativity to stand out and get positions they want.
Thought I’d share 3 stories that stand out (2 recent, one from a bit ago) to inspire you to go beyond a resume next time you’re seeking a job.
1. Jeanne Hwang creatively uses the platform she wants to work for
The Next Web shares the story that Jeanne put together a visual resume on Pinterest. I won’t comment on her pins about increasing Twitter followers and her Klout Score (you guys know how I feel about those items - share outcomes, not KPIs). But the concept itself is clever and anyone looking to work for a specific platform should follow Jeanne’s example of demonstrating fluency in it.
2. Bennett Olson buys billboard time that points to his domain
MSNBC shares the story that Bennett paid $300 for an 8-second time slot on an electronic billboard near downtown Minneapolis. The ad was live for 24 hours, in the mix with other ads on the billboard. The billboard appears above and is simple in execution but smart for someone seeking a local position (although perhaps he could have quickly qualified what type of job he was seeking). He has since taken a job in sales and marketing at Laser Design & GKS Services, a 3D scanning company in Bloomington.
3. Alec Brownstein uses AdWords to land dream job
The YouTube video Alec created really explains it best:
According to Mashable, Alec paid a total of $6 to run ads against ego searches of target executives. Not only was this cost effective, it showed off his technology-savvy / understanding of his audience. That he packaged it up into a video that resulted in significant press was a nice bonus.
Of course, while these are all great ways to get noticed, you also need to have the qualifications to back up your creativity. But if you’re facing heavy competition, an idea like the above to stand out and open a discussion is smart.
Clayton Pritchard replied | May 9, 2012 (1 comment)
It worked for me too with the Google AdCamp Program this summer! I made a webpage (www.claytonpritchard.com/google-adcamp) where I made my case for why I believe I should be invited to attend along with recommendations that I have received. I then started to run ads on both Facebook & LinkedIn target Googlers to get them to suggest me for AdCamp. Finally, I used the network that I have made on Google+ to get the page reshared. It was reshared 45 times which built a lot of buzz and I got the position!
Michael Durwin replied | May 9, 2012 (1 comment)
There’s always the infographic approach: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdurwin/7164803958/sizes/o/in/photostream/
Jamie replied | May 31, 2012 (7 comments)
Wow, a billboard. Pretty cool. These are great stories.
Melonie Dodaro replied | Jun 5, 2012 (9 comments)
Wow! Great job! Technological innovations have really allowed us to be creative in more ways than one. And what better use for them than to share what we can do and how we can help other businesses prosper.