So, you’ve got your job search strategy down pat, right? You’re dutifully subscribing to a few career websites, following a couple of recruiters on Twitter and have even solicited your two cents in a conversation on LinkedIn. You feel accomplished as you slowly, but steadily, climb the mountainous list of to-dos. Stop right there, my merry mountain climbers. What you have failed to realize is that the job strategy you have so carefully constructed and implemented, has been replicated by just about every other job hunter.

Time to revive your brand: infuse a whiff of originality back into job search and steer away from the ‘been there-done that’ approach.

While the benefits of subscribing to the above mentioned strategy has its benefits, every job seeker must critically think about how they are setting themselves apart. What’s unique and different about you that no other candidate can offer?

As simple a question as it is, every candidate irrelevant of where they are in his/her career needs to take a moment and jot down five things they are doing to get noticed. Employing tools such as SEO to captivate the attention of a hiring manager or posting a short video on YouTube to showcase their talent may just result in an interview call.

Looking for inspiration?

You don’t have to be a SEO fanatic (or even understand what it is) and may not even want to appear in front a camera, let alone share with thousands of strangers. If those two options don’t fit the bill, bring out the magnifying glass and go on a hunt within yourself to find that creativity. Turn on the switch in your right brain and let it shine!

Travis, an advertising professional and one of our candidates over at Boost Agents, breathed ingenuity into his application for employment at a highly sought after advertising agency by designing it in the form of a dating profile. What was the result? He was hired on the spot at a tier-one advertising agency as an Account Executive. An applicant with an obvious flare for baking sweetened the application by crafting a resume out of cupcakes. Two other keeners just entering the industry knew that in order to stand out among a crowd, they needed to get the attention of hiring managers in the most unique way. While it’s not always necessary to go to this extent to turn heads and garner interest, no matter what level you’re at in this highly competitive industry it’s important to remember that it’s better to have a reaction and be remembered than to neutralize your personality (words taken directly from our friend Leslie Ehm over at Three Training). As she likes to say, “Let your freak flag fly.” Good luck!

We want to hear from you! Tell us how do you stand out from the crowd? Leave your comment below.

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