Non Traditional Approaches to Finding a Job

Posted on July 22, 2008
Filed Under job search | 1 Comment

It’s no secret, the job market is tough. Yesterday I met a young, college educated, desert storm veteran who was struggling. We ended up having a great chat, and my wife and I took him to dinner with him at a local restaurant. He wasn’t homeless, but living with family and pretty down and out.

Today, I read a story of a guy who held a sign on a street corner looking for work. Again, not a homeless person, but an out of work industrial operations manager who, in his words, “has a family to feed and has two mortgages.”

So we are the experts at helping people find jobs, right? So today I had a seeming moment of genius and thought of an unconventional approach to finding work that I wanted to share with you. Before sharing it, I wanted to put it into action and I did. I know several people looking for work, so I chose one and did some reasearch in his area for his line of work. I came up with this approach:

Let your fingers do the walking
Pick up the phone and call companies in your field of expertise that you would want to work for. Do a Google search, use the online yellow pages, yelp, or any other local business directory. If you do a Google search, most of these other directories will come up. When looking at the directories, it is helpful to notice any feedback that others have left. Needing a job is one thing, but no one wants to work for a crappy company.

What to say
First, ask for the manager. When you get the manager on the phone introduce yourself let him or her know what you do and ask if they have any openings. Kind of like this:

“Hi, this is Jane Adams, and I have been doing database development for the past 5 years and I am looking for work. Are you hiring?”

I personally have found that people are very kind and none of the companies that I called in my test hung up on me, Some said they weren’t hiring, and others talked about how slow it was in the market that I had called (which was good info to have). Maybe you will get to chat about an opening, or maybe they will ask you to come in and fill out an application or refer you to the website to fill one out.

If they aren’t hiring, ask them is they know of anyone hiring. Everyone knows people in their industry and many will gladly pass along info to help a colleague score a job seeker that is proactive.

My calls were on behalf of a candidate, but I don’t think that changed the outcome. Here are my results from 6 calls:

(1) referral (to someone who referred me to their website for my candidate to apply)
(2) invitations to apply (1 in person, 1 online)
(1) interview - WOW, only 6 calls to get an interview… not bad.
(0) hang ups

(6) Polite peolpe that I spoke to. Yes, 100% of the people I called reacted positively and I even told them I was a recruiter calling on behalf of a candidate.

I always tell people that finding a job is a skill in and of itself. It’s a form of sales really… your resume is your ad and you are trying to get people to look at your ad and “buy” your services in exchange for a salary.

Don’t feel comfortable doing this yourself? Contact us (staff(@)tfgstaffing.com) and we can do it for you for a nominal fee ($250).  Actually we do much more than that. We have a vast network which includes fellow recruiters and corporate HR departments and we will:

I look forward to hearing your success stories. Tomorrow morning, get up as if you are going to work and get on the phone.  Most of all, EXPECT SOMETHING GOOD!

Do you have any other non-traditional job search advice for our readers?

New Social Network Helps Christians Find Jobs For FREE

Posted on July 14, 2008
Filed Under job search, jobs ministry | Leave a Comment

If you are a person of Faith and seeking to help others find jobs, there is a new free job resource that will allow you to post jobs to help fellow Christians find work. It is a brand new, grass roots, social networking group and it’s free to join.

Times are tough, and this is a great way to give back by letting others know that there really are jobs out there. Also, it’s a great way to help your company get jobs posted and find talent without spending a fortune on job boards.

If you are seeking a job, you can register to receive emails as jobs are posted. This is a grass roots venture, so until people start posting, there won’t be much coming through, but we see jobs coming through as we get the word out.

For more info, or to register and start posting jobs, visit The Christian Job Network TODAY!

Teen & College Student Struggle to find Summer Jobs

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under job search | Leave a Comment

The economy is affecting the summer job market because those seeking employment are now competing for summer jobs. I spoke with a job seeker in Port St. Lucie, Florida who said “ironically, the parents are competing with their children for summer jobs.”

If you are looking for summer job ideas, here is a recent article I read called “10 Summer Jobs You Probably Overlooked and Why You Should Reconsider”

My advice for job seekers, whether summer job or permanent, is to stay positive, be tenacious in your job search, keep looking up, and it has to turn around.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

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