Chris Pirillo » job-hunt

How To Use Google to Land Your Dream Job

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:24:43 +0000

How To Use Google to Land Your Dream Job

Alec Brownstein was bored with his job. He wanted a challenging new position with a top creative firm. Googling his favorite creative heroes one day, he noticed that none of the results had sponsored ads attached to them.

Brownstein bought Google ad words for the creative directors’ names, which cost him $6. “No one else was bidding on (the names),” he said, “so I got the top spot for like 10 cents a click.” He landed his dream job at Y&R New York by playing to the egos of Gerry Graf, David Droga, Tony Granger, Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone. All of the directors whose name he purchase called him to talk about a job except for one (who is likely now kicking himself). The ads he placed were simple, yet effective:

Hey, [creative director's name]: Goooogling [sic] yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too” with a link to Brownstein’s website, alecbrownstein.com.

“Everybody Googles themselves,” Brownstein explained. “Even if they don’t admit it. I wanted to invade that secret, egotistical moment when [the creative directors I admired] were most vulnerable.” When asked what his advice is for other people hoping to land their dream job via the Internet, Alec says “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there in an interesting way. The people who you want to work for can’t hire you any less than they already are. So shoot for the moon.”

Alec didn’t only land his dream job thanks to his creative efforts. He also won two Pencils and a Clio.

How To Use Google to Land Your Dream Job

Can a Company Take Social Networking too Far?

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:24:49 +0000

Can a Company Take Social Networking too Far?

Word on the street is that Best Buy is now requiring applicants to not only be on Twitter – but to have at least 250 followers, as well. When I read this, my mouth hit the floor. In effect, the company thinks that hiring people with a large Twitter following will garner more business for them. How ludicrous is this? It’s not up to an employee to send out tweets and bring in business to a company like Best Buy. For one thing, what if a person chooses not to have that many followers? Not everyone is on Twitter to see if they can win the race for having the most followers. Some people actually use it only to follow interesting people and entities themselves, not caring whether others follow them back. Some of those same people never even update their own timeline. They choose, instead, to simply use Twitter to read the latest news, and keep up with what’s hot in the marketplace.

I cannot begin to understand why a company would – or can even be allowed to – require something like this. If a person’s job were going to be something along the lines of “Social Media Director”, I might be able to see the need for the applicant to already have some sort of following, establishing them as “social media savvy”. Beyond that – I’m just lost.

What are your thoughts? Is this going to become an eerie new trend in the job hunting process? Do you feel that this is just totally off the wall? Let’s hear your thoughts!

Can a Company Take Social Networking too Far?

What’s the Future of Job Hunting and Recruiting?

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:27:06 +0000

What’s the Future of Job Hunting and Recruiting?

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Yes it’s true… I have managed to turn a personality disorder into a career. I don’t have a ‘job’ in the traditional sense. I just put myself out there, and they come to me. Are you looking for a job? Did you ever consider your next job may come to you? It’s a possibility, I’ve seen it happen many times. I received an interesting email recently, asking about the future of job hunting.

I’m working on an article about recruiting online – and there are a few companies that are actually posting job leads via YouTube. I’m wondering, as an expert on IT, if you think this is a viable way to job hunt. A lot of companies are slowly starting to embrace social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook – and now Youtube – to look for job candidates. Is the way people normally looked for jobs dead?

I would say yes, and no. I don’t think the resume and cover letter are dead. I don’t think making contact with people who are in a position to give you a job has been thrown out the window. I do believe that your next job could come to you, based on the things that you do.

One of the reasons I am so careful about what I do online is that I know people could be looking at me. I’ve landed several opportunities simply because I’ve uploaded videos to YouTube. I landed the gig with CNN because of the videos, and the live streaming.

The next time you go to upload the video, ask yourself if this video is something that a future potential employer will see and love… or hate. Could this video get you a job? Could it keep you from getting one? Don’t think that won’t happen. Trust me, it can and will. Many hundreds of employers (maybe thousands) search candidate’s names online, trying to see just what kind of person you may be.

Did you know the #2 search engine on the planet is YouTube? It’s food for thought.

FirstRSS ERROR: "http://shop.tagjag.com/products/resume" NOT FOUND!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

What’s the Future of Job Hunting and Recruiting?