HR Job Search – The Most Brilliant Job Finding Method I’ve Ever Seen…
by Alan Collins
Sometimes in your HR job search you have to think out-of-the-box to land your dream job.
And, the other day I stumbled across an unbelievable story of a guy who did just that.
Basically what this guy did was to buy some Google Ad “keywords.” The keywords he bought were the names of people who make hiring decisions at companies he was interested in working for.
His assumption was that everyone Googles themselves at some point.
He was right! And for the cost of a whopping $6, he landed 4 interviews and ended up getting 2 job offers.
Now, the job he landed was not in HR. But that’s not the point. The point is that…
His approach and his “think-of-the-box” mindset is applicable to
HR job seekers everywhere …especially when you come across
seemingly insurmountable roadblocks to landing that ideal HR job!
Anyway, here’s the youtube video he made about it…
Brilliant? Definitely. Question: What’s the most crazy-good, innovative job search approach you’ve heard about, read about or done yourself? Post your comments HERE.
About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Hu
man Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now President of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the HR best seller, UNWRITTEN HR RULES . His new book, BEST KEPT HR SECRETS is now available on Amazon.
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When I was in Grad school, my DREAM job was with Coca Cola in Atlanta GA. I had a friend whose mom who worked in HR and she provided me with the name and address of the person that managed their Internship program. I mailed a resume to this person every other Monday for 3 months (6 resumes). Each resume was a build on the previous and highlighted my accomplishments in Grad school, and in the internship I worked on Campus, which was in the Business Development Office. Many of the highlights were in securing large fund donations to the University Capital Campaign. This resulted in an interview and offer for internship the following summer. I choose a different company to intern with, but was able to recommend a colleague in my class who ultimately was a better fit and landed the internship. Long term, this bought me a forever mentor that I still use today inside Coca Cola. I must admit, I broke his heart when I took a role with Pepsi, but he still counsels me today.
Jenny – Great story about your early HR job search! Thanks for sharing. Shows the awesome power of persistence. Hope all is well.
One of the most eye catching candidates sent me a resume in a full size mailbox! (like you get at Home Depot, etc) It was impossible to ignore! The resume was inside the mail box, and there were clever captions on the outside of the box so I would open it. It was so cute, I brought it over to marketing as an idea to get into a customer.
About 10 years ago, I remember seeing a guy standing with a sign, on the corner of the street where I worked. His sign was his resume. He had on a very nice 3 piece suit. And, every time a car drove by, he’d do his Vanna White, and point to his resume signage. While I waited at the light, I studied him, and wondered what kind of leader he would be.
I was so impressed with his courageousness, and out-of-the-box thinking that I began wishing I had a job to offer him. These are the kinds of people you want working for you; those who are not afraid to take calculated risks.
I wonder what became of that man.
Deb – thanks! Often innovative job search ideas are are good for marketing – and vice versa! Appreciate your share out.
HRWriterGal – great point! I like working with courageous, out-of-the-box thinking HR folks too! Thanks for sharing.
Initial stages of my career I started as a Management Trainee selling banking products, though I was not keen in sales and wanted to get in HR, my role was to meet new clients daily. For the 1st month I was happy in giving presentations to clients, very few clients used to give feedback on my improvements on presentations this realized me for my future development and designed a feedback form on my communication & selling skills, so that the form is shared with the client after sales presentation to get their feedback. This continued for more than 3 months trying to shape out on my weaker areas as well handling the sales pressure. Finally I even never dreamt those days that this would give me a start to my HR career, one such client who was impressed on my presentation skills and the feedback which I seek for my development inquired on my qualifications and referred my profile to his known source and thus started my HR career.
Upendra – Impressive – way to go. It’s not easy breaking into HR from another area. Thanks for sharing your HR job search story.