Want To Stand Out From The Job Crowd? Find Out How

The job market today is more competitive than ever. With thousands applying for each job, it’s crucial to stand out from the crowd. But how do you do it without… overdoing it?

In Luke O’Mahony’s article for the Guardian, he emphasises the importance of ‘being different’ and trying new, sometimes unconventional approaches when it comes to job hunting. Being different can, in his opinion, give you an ‘invaluable edge’, an advantage over all other applicants.

Here are O’Mahony’s three best ways to help job hunters make an impact by standing out from the crowd:

1.       Use Facebook to reach recruiters

O’Mahony said he got the top people to view his CV by directly targeting recruiters using Facebook adverts.

One really useful feature Facebook adverts have is the option to set you advert to target people in specific workplaces.  Creating a Facebook advert is easy. Simply put your CV online and then, using Facebook Ads, create an advert that links to it.

O’Mahony says:

“If your ad is any good the emails will start rolling in in a matter of hours.”

2. Make it visual

Put yourself out there by creating something impressive to illustrate your skills, rather than simply putting it in the form of a generic CV.

O’Mahony uses the example of Zef Kynaston, who created an online CV designed to look like a Ceefax [a Teletext service used by the BBC in the UK] page. Kynaston said the response was unbelievable, unlike before, he was suddenly inundated with job offers from across the country.

O’Mahony says:

“If you're prepared to think laterally and put yourself out there, you'd be surprised at how many industries this applies to.”

3.       Put pen to paper

There is a very simple, old-fashioned way to stand out from the job crowd - write a hand-written letter.

Recruiters eyeball endless applications by email each day. When faced with a hand-written letter, they are very likely to pay attention.

O’Mahony uses the example of a woman who applied to a boutique chocolate company with a carefully penned elegant letter along with her CV.

Despite the vacancy already being filled, she received a prompt reply from the company informing her that they loved her application and would like to interview her in case a future vacancy came up.

Use the correct approach

The above tips could all prove beneficial, however it is very important to understand that these techniques are not suitable in all circumstances. You need to take the company’s requirements into account. For example, if a job advert specifies that you should apply online, and you fail to do so, it may reflect badly on you. While an unconventional approach might work well with many, it might send out the wrong message to other sectors.