Gimmicky Job Search Tactics Part N: Taking Out A Newspaper Ad..For Yourself

flickr: Photomish DanWe've covered no end of clever jobseeker tactics on this blog, from the people taking out facebook ads targeting their favorite employers to the guy who bought Google ads for the names of the people he wanted to be his boss. But here's one we haven't seen: a reader of Ask A Manager wrote in to that blog to ask whether he should take out a newspaper ad to up his chances of getting hired. "In this ad I would try to sell myself to local businesses with the hope that someone would read it and be impressed with my very broad background and maybe give me a chance...I have created an anonymous email address that would be my only point of contact in the ad, just in case the entire thing backfires on me. Would this make me look too desperate? Is this a crazy idea? Would you send an email to a 'hire me' ad that you saw in a local newspaper?" Ask A Manager blogger Allison Green says it's unlikely she would hire someone from a newspaper ad, but "if (a) the person had the skill set and track record of achievement that I was looking for and (b) the ad really came across as professional, not like a stunt, I might -- but my skepticism is very high because I've never seen this done in a way that both (a) and (b) were true." Bigger problem: a newspaper? Really? Hate to be a jerk, here, but what forward-thinking, not-going-to-be-extinct-in-a-decade industry are you trying to work in whose hiring managers read display ads (or, god forbid, classifieds) in newspapers? A commenter added a suggestion: if you're clever enough to write a snappy ad about yourself, you're probably clever enough to write a letter to the editor about some work-related issue that concerns you. An op-ed, in yes, a legacy print publication or even better on HuffPo, might count as an attention-grabber.

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Gimmicky Job Search Tactics Part N: Taking Out A Newspaper Ad..For Yourself

Rachel Kaufman

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Rachel Kaufman