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The job market continues to improve with companies hiring more full time and contract workers.  Economic indicators are improving as well but neither the job market or the economy are fully recovered from the harsh realities of this past recession.  Job hunting skills are more critical than ever and this article may provide one more tool for those in the hunt for their next position.

Article: DIRECT MARKETING YOUR SKILLS
A tried and true strategy to find your next job – Direct Marketing
The worst time to apply for a job is when the opportunity is advertised and posted on the Web. Though the employment market is getting better, it is still lagging behind a growing retail market and a rapidly improving stock market. It still can be very tough finding the right position. If you are looking to find new employment opportunities, why don't you give “direct marketing” a try?

Anyone can do it
Even with the most elementary marketing and networking skills, you can substantially increase your chances of success by direct marketing yourself. This technique has been used by top notch recruiters in the recruiting industry for years. It entails creating a simple yet effective marketing campaign for yourself. You target specific organizations that are most attractive to you – and have a need for your talents – regardless of their current job openings.

Thinking outside the box
This approach lies outside the conventional job hunting paradigm. Normally you passively wait for your “ideal position” to be posted and then apply. By the time a job is posted, it's already too late. In an instant, the job is sent to numerous job boards and job aggregators, it is pushed out through social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and broadcast to an audience of millions. You will then have to compete against the many individuals and agency candidates clamoring to get noticed, interviewed and hired. “It can be like a casting call for a Broadway play” says one recruiting industry executive.

Instead of going the traditional route, you just might increase your chances substantially by direct marketing yourself to prospective employers, bypassing that all too familiar competitive grind. The best time to search for employment is actually well before a company realizes its need and certainly before they post the job opportunity.

"Who says you can only apply for a job when a company is looking?" said Ron Karr, author of the CEO best-selling book, Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way. "You shouldn't wait for a job opening to apply for a position. You may find better luck in applying for a position before it opens."
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