Mary Berman, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, had been looking for work since February 2009 before starting her Guerrilla Job Search, in mid-September.

To that point, 20 weeks of job hunting had produced zero job interviews.

Just 7 weeks later, she accepted a job on Thursday, November 12, as a marketing executive assistant.

She found work 13 weeks faster using Guerrilla job hunting tactics — 65% faster, to be exact.

How did she do it?

“I started with the Coffee Cup Caper. I sent a paper Starbucks coffee cup with my cover letter and Guerrilla Resume. I heard back from them a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.

After her first interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache.

“It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note attached. A friend of mine, who was off work that day, played delivery person and took it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”

Berman’s second interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan. I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information given to create suggestions for what I would do in the first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”

Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …

1. Start smart
The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a Guerrilla Cover Letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.

2. Follow up with style
Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things. In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.

And, leaving out the gift, could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend posing as one? Of course.

3. Give employers another reason to hire you
Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action for her first 3 months on the job.

A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.

Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)

4. Score style points with your delivery
Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.

Do you not see a pattern? Email should NOT be the sole delivery method for your career documents.

Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of conventional job hunting with conventional tactics.

After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks, shaving 13 weeks off a conventional job search. (What would 13 weeks salary put back in your pocket be worth to you?)

If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live. The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla is you.

Resource: The same Guerrilla Resumes and Cover Letters Mary used are here.

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Gail Neal, from Detroit, Michigan, started looking for work on June 7, 2009.

From that day until Sept. 17, when she learned about Guerrilla Job Search methods, she had zero job interviews.

After starting a Guerrilla Job Search on Monday, Sept. 21, interviews came quickly.

She accepted a new job 51 days later, on Wed., Nov. 11, in a city where unemployment tops 25-30%.

How did she do it?

(more…)

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If you’re looking for a job in this economy, you need to stand out from the crowd to get noticed — and hired — by employers.

Simple, right?

Well, here’s a proven “Guerrilla” way to do that, and it couldn’t be simpler.

We call this the “Trojan Thank-You Note” and it has 4 parts …

1) Get yourself a thank-you note and matching envelope. Remove the note. Keep the envelope.

2) Start your cover letter like this, “Thank you for reading this letter.” The rest can read as a very good cover letter should.

3) Fold your Guerrilla Resume and cover letter to fit them in the thank-you note envelope. (This is the “Trojan” part, because the contents are now 100% unexpected. Get it?)

4) Mail to the hiring manager, whom you’ll address by name. Hand-write the address on the envelope, in your neatest printing.

Why does this work?

Only two things come in small, square envelopes: thank-you notes and party invitations. Both are good things that put a tiny grin on your face.

Contrast this with the #10 business envelope that ordinary job seekers use to mail resumes, when they mail at all. What comes in those envelopes? Bills, bench warrants, letters from your ex-spouse’s attorney, resumes, etc. None of them good.

So, when a hiring manager gets your Trojan Thank-You Note with the resume and cover letter inside, they will feel happy and expectant as they open it. In fact, you’re using a kind of remote control to influence their mood for the better. Pretty neat, huh?

To illustrate, here’s what one Detroit woman emailed me just two days ago ….

“I mailed my Guerrilla Resume and cover letter on Monday 9/21 in a thank-you envelope.

“The general manager called at 5:15 Friday evening to tell me his sales manager was out of town but he didn’t want me to go the weekend without knowing I should expect a call early next week. The sales manager called Monday morning. I have an appointment on Wednesday.

“I had no activity [in my job search] for months. By changing my presentation, I have an interview in less than a week!”

How about that?

Resources: First of all, don’t send an ordinary resume. Those get ordinary results. Send a Guerrilla Resume.

Then, if you’re in the Twin Cities and it’s not yet Oct. 8, come see me talk about this and many other tactics at the next Guerrilla Job Search Secrets Revealed seminar.

Just added: You can see me in Milwaukee on Oct. 15.

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Could this be the biggest breakthrough in cover letters since Gutenberg invented movable type in 1450?

Judge for yourself.

You’re looking at a Guerrilla Half Cover Letter, the very latest “job getting” tactic from Guerrilla Job Search Laboratories (where we all wear white coats and pocket protectors).

As you know, Guerrillas don’t submit their resume and cover letter to employers by email alone. It’s too risky, what with spam filters set on KILL and the ever-present delete key.

You must do more than email if you really want to find a job.

Printing and mailing your documents is better, but often not good enough.

Enter the Guerrilla Half Cover Letter, a new tactic we borrowed from the world of creative marketing, where all smart Guerrillas look for ideas.

Here’s how you can mail one today, in 4 easy steps …

1) Cut an envelope in half, like the example above.

2) Format a Microsoft Word file so that, after you print it, your cover letter will fit in the half envelope. (Trim if needed.)

3) Fold your resume lengthwise so that it fits in the half envelope.

4) Insert your half cover letter and resume into the half envelope. Seal the open end of the envelope with Scotch tape, so nothing falls out.

You’re ready to go!

What should your ”half cover letter” say?

Try this wording:

Dear Mr. Smith,

 I’ve sent you half a letter. Why have I done this?

 Because, if you hire a JOB TITLE without talking to me first, your business won’t do half as well.

 Also, I thought something unusual — like half a letter — would get your attention.

 Etc., etc.

The rest is a concise version of a Guerrilla Cover Letter that is all about the reader, his/her problems, and how you can solve them, backed up by specific achievements. (We teach this in our Guerrilla Job Search Home Study Course).

You have only half a letter, so don’t waste a word.

Now. I know most of you will think this idea is mildly insane. That’s understandable.

If you’d prefer to keep doing what you’ve been doing to get hired in this economy, good luck to you.

If you’re willing to try something different, however, why not give this Guerrilla Half Cover Letter a try?

The worst that can happen is … nothing. And for most job hunters, that’s exactly what’s happening. Besides, you can always TEST this idea on a company you have no desire to work for, just to make sure.

Note: This is just one of the dozens of advanced techniques we teach in our Home Study Course and our Guerrilla Job Search Bootcamp.

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I just reviewed several hundred emails from job seekers across the country, looking for common frustrations among people looking for work.

As you might imagine, many things are bugging many job seekers in this economy.

But I boiled them down to two prominent frustrations for this job search article.

Here they are, with suggested solutions.

Which ones apply to you?

Frustration #1: “I submit my resume for a posted job and never hear back from employers. Did they even read my resume?”

Solution: No news is bad news. So, here are 3 ways to make sure your resume is received and read.

1) Call the employer after applying.
Obviously, you can’t do this if you’re blasting resumes out by the dozens each week, so pick and choose carefully which employers you apply to. The smaller the employer, the more likely you are to connect with a hiring authority by phone.

2) Hand-deliver your resume.
This method really works, as I’ve written about before. People who get interviewed and hired after hand-delivering their resumes do the following:

• they dress professionally;
• ask the receptionist if they can personally give their resume to the hiring manager;
• if refused, they politely request a meeting at a later date;
• leave a copy of their resume with the receptionist;
• call or visit again until they get a meeting.

When you visit a company to drop off your resume, be ready to interview on the spot, if you meet the hiring manager in the lobby — it has happened!

3) Mail your resume.
Nowhere is it written that you cannot mail a resume after submitting it online. With a little sleuthing on the employer’s web site and/or Google, you can find the name of your potential boss and their mailing address.
Still unsure? Call the employer and ask!

Frustration #2: “I’m over-qualified for most positions I apply for.”

Solution: First, know that employers may fear your getting bored in a role dealing with budgets in the thousands of dollars, if you’ve worked with millions of dollars before, for example.

And employers may fret that you’ll leave as soon as a better job turns up.

To allay those fears, use your cover letter to highlight your record of long-term employment, if you have one. You can also offer to sign an agreement outlining a minimum stay in a new job.

Also, understand that “over-qualified” can mean “too expensive” for some employers, who fear being able to match your salary demands.

So, explain in your resume and cover letter that someone with your experience can save or earn significant amounts of money. Then, prove it with specific dollars and figures. Ideally, you will show employers that hiring you is like buying money at a discount — you can earn or save multiples of every dollar you get paid in salary.

Resource: Free Guerrilla Job Search audio.

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