This is the weekly Careers newsletter.
Radhika Panjwani is a former journalist from Toronto and a blogger.
Karly Pavlinac Blackburn, an out-of-a-job marketing professional, recently sent a half-sheet vanilla-flavoured cake, with her edible resume printed on top it, to Nike.
The North Carolina woman hoped the stunt would snag her an interview with the footwear, apparel and accessories manufacturer and ultimately a job at the company’s start-up incubator, Valiant Labs.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the cake,” Ms. Pavlinac Blackburn wrote in a LinkedIn post that has amassed more than 100,000 reactions. “It is about making things happen and taking a chance outside of the box.”
Although her audacious move did get her a chance to talk to a few people at Nike, nothing came out of it. In a follow-up update, Ms. Pavlinac Blackburn hinted she was still looking for a job.
Ottawa-based executive resume writer and job search strategist Kamara Toffolo said Ms. Pavlinac Blackburn’s unorthodox approach may mistakenly make other job seekers feel compelled to do something equally demonstrative and veer from the tried and tested job search strategies that actually work.
“It was a bold move,” Ms. Toffolo said. “But here’s the thing, you don’t need to send your resume as pastry to get noticed. The viral nature of these posts can leave job seekers feeling if they don’t send their resume as literal sugar, they won’t get that ‘sweet’ job that they’re targeting.”
When the stunt is done right
Ms. Pavlinac Blackburn’s attempts to impress her employer is hardly new.
In 2014, during his final year of graphic design at University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Brennan Gleason, brewed several batches of custom beer and sent out four-packs with a piece of his portfolio on each bottle to several marketing agencies. His gambit paid off. He landed a job he wanted.
“In my opinion, a creative stunt is not a substitute for good work experience and a strong portfolio of work,” Mr. Gleason said in an e-mail. “You’ve got to have some substance to back it up.”
His advice? Solve a real problem.
“I believe the best way to show a dream company you’re interested is to spend a lot of time tailoring your resume and portfolio to the type of work they do, or to the clients/customers they work with,” said Mr. Gleason, who is now a senior experience designer with a global digital transformation company.
“When I was younger, I used to work on ‘make work’ type projects around solving fake problems for companies I really wanted to work for and added them to my portfolio. More often than not these went a long way in an interview process or landing freelance work with those companies.”
Four no-nonsense ways to get noticed
A job search is work, but doesn’t have to be complicated. Ms. Toffolo suggests job seekers can get an employer’s attention without feeling compelled to send their resume on a pastry.
1. Identify your target job
This is a critical, but often overlooked step. Job seekers think to get a job the first thing they need to do is write their resumes, and then look at job postings and start applying.
“But what we really need to do is identify our target job in order to know what to write in our resume and show why we are qualified for the job,” Ms. Toffolo said. “Knowing your target job will enable you to become known for it.”
2. Create a stellar resume
A standout resume conveys you can do your target job. It’s concise, easy-to-read, clearly lists accomplishments, achievements and context for your work, and reinforces your qualifications.
3. Build your digital presence and personal brand
Employers routinely Google candidates, so control the search results by building your digital presence. For starters, create, build and optimize your LinkedIn profile, Ms. Toffolo said.
“A great LinkedIn profile isn’t a regurgitation of your resume,” she said. “Your profile should be a landing pad to help people; namely future employers, and recruiters, learn more about you and your qualifications.”
Sharing posts about something at work that you’re proud of or offering your opinion on a topic that’s trending in your industry are all a great start to building a personal brand. Ms. Toffolo said candidates can replicate the same strategy on other social platforms as well. Amplifying your personal brand through engagement and relationship-building can get you noticed by recruiters, and hiring managers, she said.
4. Get noticed by networking
Ask someone in-the-know in your industry for an informational interview and get their advice and insights on the success they’ve had in their own career or at your target company.
“Networking is something you should always be doing, not just when you’re in job-search mode,” Ms. Toffolo said. “Start in your own backyard and tap people and groups you already know. Think alumni groups, professional membership organizations and yes, even family and friends.”
What I’m reading around the web
- During an all-hands meeting held to address the company cost-cutting measures, Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai was asked why the company is “nickel-and-diming employees” by cutting travel and swag budgets when the company has amassed record profits and huge cash reserves. A peeved Mr. Pichai told employees, “I remember when Google was small and scrappy. We shouldn’t always equate fun with money,” according to this article on CNBC.
- During an interview with BBC, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said women are visibly absent at the table at the world’s tech firms – including his own. A lack of diversity means technology will not achieve nearly what it could achieve and there are no good excuses for why women are under-represented, he said.
- In a recent blog post, best-selling author and leadership coach Suzie McAlpine discusses the concept of “sensemaking,” which she defines as how we structure the unknown so we can act on it: “What distinguishes great leaders from average leaders is their ability to perceive the nature of the game and the rules by which it is played, as they are playing it,” she wrote.
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