“Me First!”
Using Ingenuity to Land Job Interviews in a Tough Economy
COVID provided the right moment for my massage therapist friend to retire her shingle. A long-standing animal lover, she saw a job that made her smile: concierge for a company that helps high-end clients organize travel plans for their pets. Knowing Sharon, it sounded like a perfect fit.
“Okay,” I said. “Here’s what you do: go to Michael’s, the craft store. Look at their miniature stuff for dollhouses. Buy the little dog, the wine bottle, the tiny travel bag, dog biscuits and a little bag for all these props and your resume. Get it to them. Let’s get you noticed!”
She did better. At Michael’s, she found relevant stickers in their scrapbook section. At home, she found a baggage tag. We set to work.
We took a hole punch to her cover letter and resume and attached the pages with the travel tag which we filled by hand (‘Rover’ and ‘his address’). The stickers provided trim with a travel theme and 3D stickers gave us an image of Rover for the letter.
The pièce de résistance: the manila envelope to house all these documents. We created a tableau, representing Rover transported to the airport with all considerations managed and and intact, loading onto the plane and flying off in the distance, all without a hitch. 3-D stickers added a nice touch!
She sent her package special delivery. It arrived the following day. She was immediately booked to come in for an interview!
Truth is, I’ve been doing my version of bling for years. You’d be surprised how easy it is to stand out from the crowd. The key: make it your business to think about how to communicate in a way that is more animated, bringing your message to life.
Speaking of animation, I had heard about animation software which lets you relay short messages using whiteboard animation. Poking around, I learned these programs have sales a few times a year. You can get a yearly membership for $120, giving you plenty of time to play with a program like VideoScribes. Look for their Black Friday sale or their offer on New Year’s Day.
What can you do with animation? Lots. Does it really work? Yup.
Case in point. Originally, I wanted to orient potential psychotherapy clients of the materials they would need to prepare to participate in my personality assessment process. I prepared an animation which has had more than 500 views. Not bad.
By the way, most therapists have to take ads on various websites designed to showcase the work of social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists; each site costs several hundred dollars per year. In contrast, I’ve run my practice using only one such site, the Psychology Today platform. The more you do bling, the less you spend to advertise!
Here’s another example. I was horrified to learn of a situation where a young woman who was developmentally delayed was framed. She was brought on a trip to be a mother’s helper but to her surprise, her luggage was packed with cocaine, turning her into a drug smuggler. She was sitting in jail and money was needed to defend the charges and to avoid the 25 year jail penalty. I was so outraged, after donating myself, I made an animation and posted it on YouTube. I was contacted through a friend on behalf of an angel donor! I’m happy to report that the girl has subsequently been released from jail as of last May. Who says fundraising can’t do miracles!
Since then, I’ve been using animations to promote books I’ve been publishing on Kindle. That leads me to the next medium, publishing e-books and print books on demand.
If you have expertise, why not write a book? I learned about this modality when I broke my ankle in a bad fall and had lots of time to do the research. I was amazed how easy it is and how little investment is required if you have skills and also friends who can offer feedback and opinions. I designed my own covers using templates that I accessed on Canva.com I prepared beautifully designed and well formatted text using pressbooks.com. There is no charge to load your books onto Kindle.
How can a book help you get an interview? Well, being a published author looks good on a resume! Further, employers let you upload your resume and other relevant documents. And when you publish, feel free to come up with an interesting imprint name. People won’t immediately know you are self-published!
Remember, you can pull together something simple. How about your favorite quotes about customer service? Inspiring soundbites for neophytes in your field. You “sell” it on Kindle, but even if no one buys it, share the document with potential employers, uploading your 20 page document to give a flavor of your standards. Make a nice cover using the templates that I have used. Who does all that? Who bothers? See my point?
How do you pull off the book concept? I wrote Selling Know-How: A Cheat Sheet for Publishing on Kindle, to explain the steps. I’ve published 13 books in the last year. Here’s the animation! Pre-COVID, I was earning a few hundred dollars in royalties per month.
Say you don’t want to do a book. What about a micro-course on gohighbrow.com? You prepare 10 short lessons that get mailed to your students each morning, 10 days in a row. Share your knowledge and establish your expertise in your field. Then put this credential on your resume as a publication! By way of example, I show you my course, to illustrate!
Ever since my foray into publishing, I’ve been finding interesting ways to use visual images in my work. As a therapist, I often want to encourage clients in new directions. Sometimes I make book covers with their names on it, which can be motivating for them. It’s kind of like seeing your name in lights. Some use the cover as a screensaver, excited at the idea that they could put their ideas and experiences into print.
Images from Canva.com can be used to illustrate blog posts or to decorate banners on YouTube, Facebook or other platforms. And if you only need Canva.com to design a few book covers for e-book, don’t even bother paying the low monthly subscription price (or the one time price for use over the course of one month). You can download those covers without charge.
I know what you are thinking. It’s a great idea. But how do I come up with those out of the box ideas that will apply to my line of work? I’ll give you one more tool. Get help from a book: The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact will get you thinking in interesting and creative directions.
How do you land an interesting job in a tough economy?
a) Think out-of-the-box.
b) Go ‘visual’ or ‘audiovisual’. Animate what you have to say.
c) Wander around your house, the Internet or the local craft store to find your props.
d) Use your favorite talents: songwriting, poetry, art, writing, vlogging, blogging.
The possibilities are endless.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn a small fee by linking to Amazon.com.
