“There are no traffic jams on the extra mile,” was the Zig Ziglar quote on a recent AthLife tweet. In this economy where good jobs are hard to find, setting yourself apart from job seekers who are doing the minimum, will put you on an open road where your best skills and abilities will shine. This week James Caan, LinkedIn Influencer, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor in People with Passion, tells a great story about how he created a role for a confident, prepared stand-out when he wasn’t even hiring.
The following is excerpted from James Caan's How to Get a Job When A Company Isn’t Even Hiring.
If you want to get hired by a specific company, regardless of whether or not they are recruiting, then it's important to go the extra mile. This doesn’t just mean the application process, but also your approach to your current job. Word of mouth and recommendations are extremely powerful tools, so if you are regarded as a dedicated worker within your current company, this automatically improves your prospects.
I have spoken before about the importance of networking and why you should avoid passing up on events you might see as unimportant – because you simply don’t know what opportunities may arise.
A few years ago I was giving a talk at a University, and at the end of it, I was approached by a woman who had fantastic confidence and initiative. In just a few minutes she basically gave me what’s known as the elevator pitch. She talked me through her experience, her skill set and why she wanted to work for me. I could tell she was a very determined and proactive individual so I decided to book her in for an interview. She came in and impressed everybody, so I decided, as I often do with talented people, to create a role for her.
Now it wasn’t just her ability or qualifications that won me over. It was the fact that she went the extra mile. She plucked up the courage to approach me; she then took a four-hour journey to come in for an interview, and had clearly done her research on the company.