Mark Rejhon

Ideas....

.... Market yourself in a variety of media. Online jobhunt sites, newspaper, billboards, etc.
.... Experiment with color resumes printed on photo paper (can be quite eye catching!)
.... Have separate niche-focussed resumes (Java-based resume separate from a web-based resume, etc)
.... For a job you really qualify for very well but there's lot of competition, try FedExing your resume instead of faxing it.
.... Be persistent. Sometimes a company remembers you more if they got 2 letters, 1 resume by fedex, and an "updated" resume sent by fax (i.e. find reasons to update your resume -- even add a new skill you self-taught just by studying a book in spare time)
.... Change your strategy every now and then.
.... Talk to your friends, family, let everybody know you're in the market for a job. And REMIND them (not too often, but often enough so they don't forget)
.... Spend your coffee or movie rental money on something that might improve your resume -- something cheap but still teaches you something.
.... If you're a programmer, participate in some interesting open-source project. You can even add this to your resume! (At least for some companies, anyway)
.... Don't be afraid to learn on the job. You can still convince employers to hire you even if you don't have all the skills! Just make sure you show ENTHUSIASM to learn --
.... Offer to do free overtime. Or if you're a consultant, offer 1 month of free overtime. That can work. It's a compromise, but can mean the difference between a job and no job!

In regards to learning at work -- when you are hired, don't be afraid to bring your own computer books to work to help you train, and remember to offer to do free overtime. So you can learn on the job! The workplace is the BEST SCHOOL! So OFFERING FREE OVERTIME is still a good idea during difficult job markets where employers are looking for the best bang for the buck. One can explain to your spouse that the office is the best school and that it is better than not having a job at all. You can be amazed at how much you learn at work. Also even buy extra books so you can read them at work during overtime. If you're doing free overtime that you weren't told to do anyway, then reading a book during overtime is pretty safe - you can stay late and read a computer book on your office chair instead of going home from work to read it at home - that will give you a good impression to the boss! As long as the book is relevant to work of course -- i.e. a SQL book for a job that includes SQL. You don't have to look like a newbie having to reading a computer book at work; tell people that you've volunteered to stay late to expand your existing skills and that it gets your work done faster the next day.

Sometimes a couple of magic words added to the skill section of a resume can make all the difference! But if you are unemployed, it can be hard. Just save up a few dollars so you can buy something cheap that teaches you something that you are able to put on the resume. Skip coffee, smokes, movie rentals, etc, for a few days .... And spend it on something simple as a book, or trying out Linux (Linux can be obtained for free), or a 1-day tutor session, or a session with a professional career counsellor, or even just to purchase an old copy of formerly high-end server software to install on an old desktop, just to figure out how it works so you can add a useful line item to your resume (in many cases, old software for cheap teaches you skill that apply to today's software). This, for example, could mean the difference of adding "Java" to your resume - perhaps maybe you're familiar with XML / C / C++ / ASP / Servers but not familiar with Java. (In this case, you can add "Java" to your resume very quickly and cheaply because you already know C / C++). Or maybe you know hand-coding advanced HTML but don't know XML. (In this case, you can add XML to your resume pretty quickly and cheaply). Perhaps you've worked with computer programs over telnet/ssh on an old IBM AIX machine during your university years. (In this case, you can quickly learn Linux at home -- just grab a copy of Linux and learn a bit. Then you can add Linux to your resume pretty quickly!) ....

Experiment with different terminology to describe your interests. Instead of somebody telling everyone they just want to be a web designer in every single conversation, they can say "I'd like to learn JSP server pages" one time (even if they only have ASP experience), and other time say "I've worked with Java modules" (even if it's a small amount of experience)... and "I've been reading about Model-View-Controller methodologies" (even if it is something you've only read). Then people will know that you're enthusaic about Java, even if you're not very experienced with Java! Make sure you keep up with your online or magazine reading to be familiar with current lingo..

ALWAYS BE POSITIVE! Say "I'm able to learn fast, so PL/SQL should be no problem." instead of "No I don't know PL/SQL". (Example: Perhaps you already know PL/SQL has a lot to do with databases. Perhaps you already did some dBase III a long ago during a summer job and did a few SQL queries back then.... that's some SQL, and you can probably relearn it pretty quickly. Then you can feel safe by saying "I'm able to learn fast, so PL/SQL should be no problem.")

Keep up with the industry. Can be as simple as reading technology news websites regularly to see what technologies are in vogue and try to see how your skills may apply. I checked -- the words "Data Research" isn't that common in industry publication these days (The term "Data Mining" is presently more frequently used, although it branches out to many areas) -- you may have to find synonyms that relates better to current buzzwords. Perhaps you've got skills for shopping cart pattern analysis software (could be argued as a form of data research) - then market yourself as being very interested in that sort of stuff. Stores like to benefit from the buying patterns of their customers. (You probably notice that at Amazon, for example). Perhaps you've got existing skills for XML-based data mining software. Market yourself with XML skills in many different ways. A company that might otherwise ignore a generic resume, might have their attention caught by specific terms that really apply to their business.

Learn about the businesses you are applying for, and attach a cover letter indicating interest in specific aspects of their businesses, and tell them how your existing experience can help them. Perhaps the company you are applying for, is a shopping cart software company. And that you've once years ago as part of a summer job written a tiny script that glues together two different software packages (i.e. a credit card processor and a shopping cart program). Even if not significant, you may mention that you wrote software to integrate a shopping cart with a credit card processor. Another example is a real estate software company, but that you've done video editing experience. You might mention that you have video editing experience, which can be useful for adding virtual real estate tours to their real estate software. Even if they have no interest for that, they may begin to notice your enthusiasm for ideas and remember your name better out of a pile of 10 of resumes sitting on somebody's Human Resources desk.

Sometimes you have to market yourself creatively in today's job market climate, to stick out. Boring looking resumes just aren't enough. Make the resumes exciting even to yourself!

One can be lazy (and I can be lazy), but do something. You can do it.