5 "Creative" Ways to Land an Interview

Struggling with the job search? Answering a lot of ads and can't seem to land any interviews? Already had your resume and cover letters reviewed and given the "seal of approval" by a career coach or somebody else knowledgable about your target job and/or industry?

Here are a few tactics you may not have considered:

• Network. Build relationships with people in your target industry and/or companies. Leverage your university and/or grad school alumni networks. Build your virtual network on Linked-In. Ask everybody you know if they know somebody you can talk to in your target companies.

• Join at least one trade organization in your target field or industry. Take on an active and visible role. Join your alma mater's local alumni organization and participate actively and regularly.
  

• Research your target companies. Identify the name of the person who heads up the part of organization where you want to work. Send him or her an attention-grabbing cover letter and resume.

• Try cold calling the manager in a target company in which you want to work, explaining who you are and asking for a 15-minute informational interview. Best time to call is early in the morning before the day really gets started. Use this as an opportunity to gather information about the company and department's needs - not to ask for a job.
  

• Put together a example of your work that does not contain confidential or proprietary information from a past employer and send it to a potential hiring manager. Even better, put that example on your own web site and send a brief summary to the hiring manager with a URL where he can follow up. If you don't have any examples from past work or school you can share, try creating something new. For example, people interested in asset management can create an analysis of a stock, bond or other relevant instrument. Those interested in marketing could do a market analysis for one of the prospective employer's products.