A creative way to get hired

Photo credit: cornonthejob.com

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about a lawyer who quit her job through a creative departure memo. While there are creative ways to leave your job, there are also creative ways to land a job: take Braden Young, who used a social media campaign in 2010 to snag his dream job as a Sales and Marketing Manager at Krispy Kreme.

Young opened “Hire Me Krispy Kreme” Facebook and Twitter pages. He also created a cover letter with a standout design and links to his social media accounts. It only took Krispy Kreme four hours to contact him; three days later, Krispy Kreme interviewed him, and he ended up getting the job.

In today’s economy, with so many candidates applying to the same job, you sometimes have to go above and beyond to get yourself noticed. Young could’ve just sent out a résumé and cover letter, but instead he thought outside the box and took that extra step to make himself stand out above all the other candidates.

“Hire Me” campaigns don’t always work, though: in 2011, Bianca Cadloni created an online campaign to land her dream job as a social media and PR coordinator at Chipotle. Despite her campaign, Chipotle didn’t invite her for an interview. But this story has a happy ending, as she found a job at an advertising agency.

What creative steps have you taken to land a job? And how has social media helped you in your job search?