What I wanted to write about today, though, was how I got that job in the first place.  I know a lot of you are looking for work.  And it’s a crazy competitive market out there.  So how do you make yourself stand out above the crowd?

My story started with a bit of luck, in that I met someone at a networking event.  His wife was a VP of Marketing for a small company and would soon be needing someone to do a little bit of everything — from tradeshow management to writing to graphic design.  I sent him my resume and was contacted for a phone interview the next week.  It went well.  Then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  My breakthrough came when I attended a job fair, and learned about a guy who had written a free analyst report for a prospective company and later got the job.  Aha!  I went home that night and wrote up a proposal for my prospective new company on a couple of possible marketing campaigns in their new brand.

I immediately received a return email asking if I could come in the next day (Saturday!) for an in-person interview!  Portfolio in hand, I went in and had a great meeting.  I sent a thank you note, included a design concept for a tradeshow booth executed to one of the two proposed marketing campaigns, and waited.

Monday morning, the phone rang!  I was asked to come in Tuesday morning for another meeting.  At the end of the meeting I was asked to stay, and ended up working 10 hours!

The moral of the story — do what you need to do to go after the job you want.  Provide free advice and free reports — no strings attached.  Taking the initiative shows a prospective empolyer that you are serious and motivated; it also gives them a current and relevant example of your work.  Good luck out there!