Use Guerrilla Tactics to Get the Job

The state of the economy has tightened the belt on the jobs market and with many service men and women returning from overseas the number of vets out of work is overwhelming. It’s time to put your military training in gear and go guerrilla on your job hunt.


The concept of Guerrilla job hunting comes from people stepping off the beaten path and setting themselves apart from other candidates in a variety of different ways. The idea infiltrated the mainstream with the book Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters by J Conrad Levinson and David E. Perry but the spirit has inspired many innovative workers to take it to the next step.


One of the most important parts to stepping off of the familiar path to procuring employment is to stop looking for jobs. Not altogether of course since it’s always good to apply for an opening.  However, instead of focusing on what’s available at the moment, decide where it is you would really like to work long term. By concentrating your efforts on specific companies you can be the first person they call when an opportunity opens up.


Call the companies you are interested in to attain contact info if you don’t already have it. Once you know who your target is, you can start to stand out by developing a rapport with them whether they like it or not. I like to call this technique “Andy Dufresne-ing” because like the Tim Robbins character realized in Shawshank Redemption that success can be achieved through diligence. Send clippings of articles or site research that might be of interest and benefit to potential employers.


If that doesn’t land you a call-back, take it up a notch by sending them a gift. A coffee mug will work with a copy of your resume. If you send it UPS you can track the package’s arrival and phone once it gets there while the gesture is still fresh.


There are really no rules to Guerrilla job hunting except be creative and don’t be offensive. Any idea I share with you is something that someone has already thought of.  Let's just hope that it’s something human resources hasn’t seen before!


Can you come up with some offbeat ways to get yourself noticed in a good way? Let me know your ideas in the comments below.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for Nexxt, she is co-founder of a design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.