Three Ways to Make Yourself Valuable and Get a Job Made Just for You!

Have you ever felt that the only management that has seen your resume is waste management? Or that resume writing should be a lost art? Or, the most effective method of resume distribution is dropping them from carnival balloons.

There are a lot of things you can do about all this frustration. These three simple techniques may add new dimensions to your efforts, and can open doors for which your resume might disqualify you.

1- Get information about the business you would like to work for. That should include specific information about the business as well as their position in the industry, their future outlook and competition. Make yourself both memorable and valuable. That means, first the library, then the latest stockholders’ report, and then a non-employment interview with someone who knows the business well. Note: an intelligent interview (not scheduled as an employment interview) that demonstrates understanding and interest, can result in an immediate job offer!

2- Illustrate: Use photographs and handouts to illustrate specific points. My first resume was nothing more than six pages of photographs. The first two were "before" and "after" photographs of instruments I had improved. I thus illustrated my abilities. In that same resume, I used a photograph of myself standing by a seven-foot telescope I had designed and built. The photo was titled, "a closer look" The following page contained photographs of assembly operations, sub assemblies and art work. I was employed by the first person I showed it to. No questions of employment history were ever raised. Memorize a few quotations from industry leaders and other well known and respected people. There are books of quotations available. More timely quotations can be found in the industry literature. From that source and Government statistics you can copy specific information such as charts and histories that will make good handouts. An enthusiastic conversation can rekindle the excitement your prospective employer has nearly forgotten in the press of daily activities. And you will have made yourself a member of his team.

3- Know the person you are going to talk to. Hopefully that will be a person at or near the top of the corporate ladder. Find out what interests the two of you share. That allows you to say things like, "I hear you are an accomplished violinist," and discuss your mutual interests with enthusiasm. That act alone will set you well above most people he will ever talk to and will establish a bond and trust between you and your prospective employer or customer. (Depending on the outcome of your meeting)