Unemployment seems to be on the rise. Everyday the news brings more bad news about layoffs and bankruptcies driving companies out of business. As of this writing in January 2009 the job market looks pretty bleak. One company held a job fair to fill a few positions in a Detroit suburb. Four thousand people showed up for the one day event. I know because of the downturn in the automotive sector that area is hurting, but the job outlook seems to be pretty depressing all over the country. In this kind of competitive market, what can a job hunter do to stand out among all the other job hunters? Here are 2 cool tactics that will make you stand out and look like a star!



First: Your own website. Everyone puts their resume on line now, and so everyone has an email address and maybe a profile page at the large job posting portals. You should be using Facebook and Myspace to network in your industry, but not everybody has their own website. I think this is especially important if you are looking for any type of technical work. I would suggest you get a dot com domain name that includes your own name in it. Like bobsmithaccountant(dot)com or technicalwriterbillgates(dot)com Anything that includes your name. Get your name if it is available. Go to someplace like godaddy(dot)com to purchase a domain name. Go someplace like hostgator.com for a cheap hosting account. There are a lot of tutorials about buying domains and c panel hosting on line. Twenty dollars will get you going.

Use one of the templates found everywhere on line and customize it some. Hire an inexpensive web designer if you can afford it. Instead of the usual pages found in a business website, you can have pages for education, accomplishments, your family life, goals, work history...anything that might tell a potential employer about you. Tailor your site design to the type of job you are looking for. An accountant will want their site to look clean and useful. A floral designer will want a more artistic design. Then you can plaster your web name anywhere and everywhere on line and off that will allow it. Include it on your resume and read the next strategy here.

Second: Send a useful gift with your desired job title and or domain name printed on it to prospective employers. This is like personal advertising. I am stealing a page from the advertising industry here. Millions of businesses advertise themselves by putting their names on matchbooks, pens, calenders, shoe horns, key chains, hats, mouse pads, almost any item you can think of. I think this works best on a local level. Let's say you are looking for a job in the retail jewelry arena. Buy customized eye loupes or diamond tweezers or polishing cloths with your name, number and job title printed on them. Include your website address if you followed step 1 above. Then simply stop by every jewelry store in your area, ask for the manager, introduce yourself and leave the gifts and your resume. Easy.

If you are a SAP Trainer, or other software professional, mouse pads work very well. You need to tailor the items you are dropping off to the industry, but pens and mouse pads work almost anywhere. Are you a landscaper? How about work gloves with a little label sewn to it? I can think of dozens of items for almost any type of job. If you don't have the bucks, how about a $5 pizza with your resume taped to it. Drop it off at lunch time. I bet they read your resume. These are just 2 ideas to help get your creative juices flowing. Now get out there and get that job!