We all know the spiel: unemployment is high, there’s surely no shortage of qualified applicants for top positions out there, and finding a job (any job) is as hard as ever. So what do experts advice? A lot of the suggestions revolve around a few basic tenets: go the extra mile, be creative and make yourself stand out of the crowd.
One way to do all that is through the increasingly popular “Hire me” page. Originally something you would only see on websites of freelancers or web programmers, market circumstances and an increased web literacy make them now more widespread than in the past. Among all the ones I stumbled upon lately, a few of them caught my eye more than others. Here they are.
Job-seeker: Jamie Varon
Interesting because: it spawned imitators (GoogleShouldHireMe.com, FacebookShouldHireMe.com) and it showed how often efforts of this kind are a good indicator of a starting entrepreneurial career (Jamie started her own blog and is pursuing a book publishing deal)
Outcome: Jamie did get an interview at Twitter, but found an opportunity she liked even better and took that one instead
Job-seeker: Will Humphrey
Interesting because: he realized that putting his ideas out there, producing relevant content, and networking to get people to his website was the best way for him to make people realize his true worth
Outcome: hired, by the largest private PR firm in the world
Job-seeker: Jason Zimdars
Interesting because: he was proactive, focused, and he showed in really tangible terms (i.e. ideas for redesign of their website) what he could do for the employer he had targeted
Outcome: hired by that employer, although I recently noticed that their new website design is nothing like any of the two Jason proposed – oh well :)
Job-seeker: Chopeh
Interesting because: besides being a perfectly designed web page, it’s one of the few “hire me” examples in which the job-seeker has his/her mind fixed on a specific place or country, rather than company or position – as you can guess, there’s a woman involved :)
Outcome: hired, and did a good job at updating his web page with the news (on other web pages, it’s often harder to know if they still want to be hired or not)
Job-seeker: Lex Friedman
Interesting because: before setting up this blog, the guy sent a postcard on every weekday of his last months in college to Jay Leno, with joke suggestions for his next show – tireless!
Outcome: not hired
Job-seeker: Susan Lewis
Interesting because: she turns the tables and has bosses applying to have her as an employee
Outcome: hired, by two bosses nevertheless – she also shares some lessons learned in the process
Job-seeker: Kyle
Interesting because: it ups the ante on the “apply to be my boss” approach, by asking employers to submit bids (yes, actual salary offers) that are publicly displayed on his website
Outcome: ongoing (although it’s definitely looking good for him)
Job-seeker: Eugene Hsu
Interesting because: impressively childish (in a positive way) and, as Eugene himself writes, “ridiculous home page” – refreshing
Outcome: hired – and the way he updated the page about that news is just hilarious
Job-seeker: Gwen
Interesting because: after every job-related meeting she had, she would post drawings of the people she met with
Outcome: hired at a top agency, published a book as well
Job-seeker: Eric Romer
Interesting because: with his YouTube videos reviewing the company’s product, he exemplifies those basic tenets of creativity, going the extra mile, and making yourself stand out that I mentioned before – absolutely brilliant
Outcome: hired, of course!
BONUS: My own attempt at the genre
I’ll let you guys determine the success of this one!
