Are you looking for a career that is more non-traditional than cubicles and corporate politics?

If so, I’d like to share with you some ideas that you can apply immediately to give you an advantage in landing a job that’s not only different, but will fill your life with meaning and give you the daily excitement you crave.

It’s actually not that difficult to position yourself to land this type of job… but simple doesn’t always mean easy. That being said, here are some tips that will help you stand out from the competition for the most sought-after jobs out there.

 

Build a Website and Social Presence

The jobs that you’re looking for are probably with companies doing awesome sh*t and (hopefully) you do awesome sh*t too. Demonstrate your passion and that you understand what it means to stand out with your online presence. And you can’t ignore that your prospective employers are likely going to Google you. So don’t get caught unaware…build a basic website for yourself, and at a minimum a public Twitter profile (must I really mention LinkedIn?).

If you’re wondering how to actually do this, then here’s a simple recipe:

1. Buy a domain like YourName.com from GoDaddy.
2. Get cheap web hosting for your site from BlueHost.
3. Install WordPress (there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube on how to do this).
4. Buy a theme for your site (I like WooThemes and Organic Themes), and install it!
5. Start blogging, upload your resume, portfolio, and your professional goals.

That’s pretty simple. If you want the process to be even simpler, then just sign up for an About.Me page. You can then take the domain you just bought and redirect it to your About.Me page. Now, prospective tech-savvy employers can find you where they’re looking for you. Nice.

 

Become a T Skilled Worker

Have you heard of this concept around how to be a great catch as a prospective employee? The “T-Skills” concept has been used at companies from to McKinsey to IDEO. The idea rings true for most people, and is a great way to show your talents.

Here’s how it works: the vertical part of the T is where you have the most expertise. So if you were in marketing, like me, then it could be the creation of content as the vertical part of the T. But the horizontal part of the T is all of those other skills that you have, even if it’s not your strongest point. So it could be social media, SEO, AdWords, and web design.

The point is, you don’t just want to be a one-dimensional team member. You definitely should have one area in which you are one of the best in your field, but don’t let that stop you from achieving proficiency in other areas. Demonstrating your ability to be skilled in multiple areas is very attractive for employers. So if you’re only skilled in one area, start to cultivate other related skills! And if you are a “jack-of-all-trades”, then pick one of your skills that’s your favorite and dive deeply into it! You want to become one of the best in your field at it.

 

Start Something of Your Own

If there’s one thing that startup founders look for in employees, it’s that one intangible quality of having the ability to be a startup founder yourself. There are few things as attractive to a potential employer as knowing that the person they are interviewing is capable of running their own ship. Having your own organization, business, nonprofit, or project conveys responsibility, capability, and a sense of ownership that you bring to your work. Startup founders are very, very busy, so they’re going to need to trust people to handle difficult assignments without having to worry whether things are going to get done or not. If you’ve already started something of your own, you’re going to be ahead of the competition - by a mile.

 

Get Addicted to Learning

The startup world moves fast - so fast, that you have to continue innovating just to stay ahead of the curve. How can you stay ahead of the curve? By learning, of course! If you were a web designer in 2003, then your skills would be completely outdated today. Heck, your skills would be outdated if you learned them just 3 years ago! To show your boss that you can cut it, it’s really important that you constantly learn how to improve your craft. So if you’re a designer, read design blogs. If you’re a marketer, watch videos from marketing gurus. If you’re a product developer, then study the products that are released to get new ideas. Knowledge is the currency of the world these days… keep your piggy bank full with ever-increasing stocks of wisdom to help you succeed.

 

Be Creative With Your Job Application

Have you heard the story of Alec Brownstein? He was a copywriter who was looking for work recently in the New York City area. As a person who Google’d himself quite a bit, he figured that the top creative directors (who were in a position to hire him), Google’d themselves too. And he also noticed that they didn’t have ads attached to their names. So he created an ad campaign targeting top creative directors’ names as keywords.

Whenever a creative director would Google himself, an ad would pop up. So Tom Johnson, creative director of let’s say, Saachi & Saachi, would see an ad that said this:

“Hey, Tom Johnson, Gooooogling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too. [with a link to his website]”

This is obviously brilliant, because instead of having your job application be just another document in a long, large pile, Alec Brownstein (and you, if you can get creative and steal his idea) turned his application into a crowd of one. He literally had no competition. What’s more, he spent a total of $6 on this campaign, and got a job offer from two creative directors as a result.

The idea here is to understand that if you do things that your competition isn’t doing, you’ll set yourself apart and give yourself a better chance to succeed.

Here’s some more ideas: You could do something similar with Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads. At Hello Innovation, our hiring team got a custom-produced music video with a job application for video editor. Needless to say, he earned himself an interview. If you want to be entertained, check it out.

 

Hello Innovation, Don't Say Goodbye from Brad Carter on Vimeo.

Putting It Together

If you want to change the world through your work, then you can’t just settle for a mediocre job. And if you want the job to make your ambitions come to fruition, then you need to learn how to stand out. If you take the advice in this article to heart, then you’ll give yourself a strong advantage in finding that startup job you want.

By the way, if you take my advice, you’re also going to give yourself a leg up for all of our job openings here at Hello Innovation 😉

P.S. If you’re looking for a career where you can make a major impact at a stable start up, click here.