Originally aired on American Public Media's Marketplace and published on Youthradio.org, the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe.
By: Maya Cueva
Alec Brownstein needed to get noticed. The 29-year-old copywriter thought his advertising company wasn't creative enough, and left. But Brownstein didn't stay stuck for long; he jumped right into a job search, with six Manhattan advertising agencies in mind.
Given the competition, Brownstein decided against the old-fashioned application process - just sending in a resume. He took a more direct approach.
Brownstein: I was doing a bit of research on Google about the agency I wanted to work for ...and about the creative directors who I wanted to work for. And so as I was Googling them and I was looking through their results I noticed that there were no ads at the top of the page or even on the side of the page...So as someone who Googles myself somewhat frequently, I realized that if there was an ad above my results, I would notice it when I Googled myself.
So that's just what Brownstein did for the executives he hoped to work for. When they Googled themselves, they would see Brownstein's ads asking for a job, and directing them to his website. Total cost of placing the ads? Six dollars. He bid on the ad words, and waited.
On the other side of the country, two 20-somethings used social media...to reach out to the social news site Digg.com.
Digg Publisher and Chief Revenue officer Chas Edwards says the company receives hundreds of resumes each month from hopeful employees. But instead of the typical route, these two applicants took out Facebook ads about themselves - targeting people who work at Digg.
Edwards: So when I logged in to Facebook I saw an ad that was directed at me, basically...me and other people at Digg. Someone said I would like to work at Digg, click here to find out my credentials. Both young men got interviews...
And Edwards hired one of them. He says just posting your resume and waiting for callback is like a shot in the dark. But new media strategies establish a direct relationship with the possible hiring manager. And they show you're an innovator in a field packed with web-savvy creative types.
Edwards: I get a clear sense that these two young men really want to work at Digg. They're not just looking for any old job, they've gone through the effort to reach out to Digg. And I think the same thing if people are following me in Twitter, and replying to me in Twitter, and we get to build a relationship I'm much more inclined to invite them in for an interview then somebody who comes in by way of Craigslist.
Alec Brownstein's Google ad strategy didn't get an immediate reaction, but eventually the emails started trickling in.
Brownstein: And they all said the same thing, which was somebody else was Googling me and they told me about this. But we thought it was really cool and we like your portfolio of work, would you like to come in for an interview?
Not only did Brownstein get one of the advertising jobs he interviewed for, he won some industry awards for the creativity of his job search.
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