7 Steps To Get Hired

This guest post is courtesy of Nick Ezzo

Having spent exactly three weeks looking for my next opportunity, I’d like to share some tips & tricks on how to get your next job.   It’s not magic; you just have to understand how to take the Web 2.0 pieces and assemble them into a job hunting machine.

The secret is this: approach your job search like a marketing campaign.

Guess what you’re marketing: yourself.

By the way, since I am a marketing dweeb professional I can get away with antics like sending Nerf™ pistols to people’s homes.

Here’s what I did:

1. Purchased my domain name www.nickezzo.com from GoDaddy. (cost = $4.99 a month for hosting, plus $10 to register the name)
2. Created my résumé site using WordPress, with a basic theme that I customized. (cost = free)
3. Added VisiStat website tracking, so I get immediate feedback (email and SMS) when someone hits the site. (cost = $29.95 a month, cheaper if you pay quarterly or annually).
4. Sent emails to key people with a special AdCaM code to track who clicks. (cost = $14.95 a month for VisiStat AdCaM)
5. Mailed decision makers fun items like a Nerf™ pistol to show how I “target prospects”  (I know it’s lame, but it resulted in a callback and an interview).  I included a cover letter and a USB drive with my work, also using AdCaM links on the USB drive. (cost = $7.99 for the Nerf pistol, $5.00 for shipping)
6. I use Salesforce.com to track Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities (cost = free for 30-day trial, all features turned on, including Salesforce.com mobile).
7. Using LinkedIn, I download bios of the people who will be interviewing me.  I also connect to them after the interview, in order to remain in contact.  (cost = free)

Total cost so far?  $72.92.  My point is — with an investment of less than $100, I have landed 3 phone interviews and 4 face-to-face interviews (including 3 with one company).  And get this: it’s all tax-deductible as job search costs.

The real test will be to see if anyone hires me.  Stay tuned…

[EDITOR NOTE: Much thanks to Nick for allowing us to reprint his blog post. Don't forget to visit his blog to get more great information and see how his job search is going. I know we'll be keeping our eyes on his story, too. Best of luck, Nick!]