creative job seeking

countrymusicfan

Have tried applications to jobs, no interviews at all, have tried spec letters to doctors, lawyers, (now on Indian chiefs:rotfl: ). Two replies only. I read one web site that mentioned getting creative in job hunting. Any creative ideas would be appreciated. CV has been looked at, spec letters have been tweaked, running out of ideas.

cazziebo

Give us some more info and we'll be better placed to help..

what industry are you in?
what experience do you have?
how flexible are you - hours, geography, tasks etc?

SnowyOwl_2

Borrow a copy of "What color is your parachute" from the library.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Colour-Your-Parachute-Job-hunters/dp/1580088678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234136783&sr=8-1

It goes into quite a lot of detail on how to network and make the most of all contacts you have. It's who you know not what you know....and you need to be persistent.

OK it rather p*sses on equal opp legislation (especially N.Ireland where it's gone red tape to the point of crass stupidity) but that's the employer's lookout, not yours.

It's worth a go, it's certainly got better ideas than cold selling yourself via CV and speculative letter which as you are realising aren't terribly efficient ways of getting a new job.

jacklink

just tell them - hey i need a job, your job vacancy is just what im looking for and i can do that job easy

NIKMAISON

hard times. Ive found that all the cv reviews for free aint actualy free so dont bother whith them. people dont want to recruit there to scared off what might happen so its hard at the min asda tesco should be recruiting for easter soon and alot of other big shops .

elljay

countrymusicfan wrote: »

Have tried applications to jobs, no interviews at all, have tried spec letters to doctors, lawyers, (now on Indian chiefs:rotfl: ). Two replies only. I read one web site that mentioned getting creative in job hunting. Any creative ideas would be appreciated. CV has been looked at, spec letters have been tweaked, running out of ideas.

What are you looking for? Ideas I've successfully tried include:
Walking into shops and askiing about work
Walking along high street and looking at ads in shop windows, a friend of mine did this at a very prestigious shop where they wanted a casual assistant and ended up as manager in no time at all, her dream job.
Look for voluntary jobs in your professional area - I did this, rang up and they said, forget voluntary, we will pay you if you come and they pay me a rate which compares with industry.
Don't rely on search systems on websites, for example, a local authority here allows you to refine your search for area and whether part time or whatever. I found that this screens out jobs which are county wide but can still be done part time and in my area so you could miss stuff.
Advertise yourself.
Work out the geographical area you can travel to and get a list of bookmarks together for all organisations you would want to work for (in my case usually public services) and check them twice weekly. Think of search terms that might find the sort of work you're offering but be creative (eg if you're a librarian don't just search for librarian, try information, knowledge, research, records and so on) My last professional post was found like that, but organisations other than public service often don't advertise jobs, so if you don't want to work for the nhs/local authorities etc this wouldn't work as well.
In my case I do the above professional job, work as a shop assistant (job found walking in and asking), local authority casual part time education assistant (found as above) and babysitting, (advertising on notice boards and paper). Never be too proud to take something that you might consider beneath you, - everything gives you experience.

Good luck, remember job hunting can be a full time job itself if you want to do it properly - definitely a way to hone your project management skills.

poker_face

elljay wrote: »

What are you looking for? Ideas I've successfully tried include:
Walking into shops and askiing about work
Walking along high street and looking at ads in shop windows, a friend of mine did this at a very prestigious shop where they wanted a casual assistant and ended up as manager in no time at all, her dream job.
Look for voluntary jobs in your professional area - I did this, rang up and they said, forget voluntary, we will pay you if you come and they pay me a rate which compares with industry.
Don't rely on search systems on websites, for example, a local authority here allows you to refine your search for area and whether part time or whatever. I found that this screens out jobs which are county wide but can still be done part time and in my area so you could miss stuff.
Advertise yourself.
Work out the geographical area you can travel to and get a list of bookmarks together for all organisations you would want to work for (in my case usually public services) and check them twice weekly. Think of search terms that might find the sort of work you're offering but be creative (eg if you're a librarian don't just search for librarian, try information, knowledge, research, records and so on) My last professional post was found like that, but organisations other than public service often don't advertise jobs, so if you don't want to work for the nhs/local authorities etc this wouldn't work as well.
In my case I do the above professional job, work as a shop assistant (job found walking in and asking), local authority casual part time education assistant (found as above) and babysitting, (advertising on notice boards and paper). Never be too proud to take something that you might consider beneath you, - everything gives you experience.

Good luck, remember job hunting can be a full time job itself if you want to do it properly - definitely a way to hone your project management skills.

Totally agree, I still think the personal approach is the best, you can never really rely on online jobsites