Be Unconventional.
That pretty much sums it up right there. It takes 2 seconds to submit a resume for a company you might not even know anything about. Some companies get several thousand applications a week so even qualified candidates slip though the cracks sometimes. Do some different or even crazy and you're get noticed. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Email the CEO
Always work from the top to bottom. Don't know their email address? If his name is Steve Jobs it's probably one of these combinations: steve@apple.com, sjobs@apple.com, or even both! Don't be annoying and mass spam CEO's but if working at the company is your dream job write a genuine letter showing them why you're the perfect fit like this guy. It took 8 emails for Tristan to get a response from Dennis but his relentess and "crazy" determination landed him a job Foursquare
Do or build something.
Go out and create value for companies without being asked to. Talk is cheap and this is probably the best way to show companies how passionate you really are. There isn't a single company out there that would'nt hire someone who can prove they create value for the company.
If your business guy, go out and sign up deals for the company like this guy who signed up 30 mayor deals to get a job at Foursquare. Ryan Graves is now a VP at Uber. If you're a developer, build something cool that's relevant at the company. It won't go unnoticed like this kid who built YouTube Instant and scored a job at YouTube directly from Chad Hurley.
Create a portfolio/ public profile
Let's face it resumes' are out of date and outright boring. No one really wants to read your accomplishments on a plain white page. So including a portfolio of your past projects or your code samples is huge.
Here at CodeEval we've created something called a public profile thats been getting some good reception from employers. It links together you resume, linkedin, and github accounts as well as any code you've submitted.
If you're a developer solve some of the dozens of sponsored challenges on CodeEval.com. Show companies you're really interestred and qualified by solving challenges. *Full disclosure you're reading the CodeEval blog, but seriously companies pay attention when it does'nt take you 2 seconds to upload your resume :)
If you're a startup/company, apologies for the CEO spam in advance but if you're looking to hire, shoot me an email. We're building the easiest and most effective way to hire developers and we'd love to help you find crazy, determined, and passionate developers.
william 'at' codeeval.com
About CodeEval
CodeEval is a screening / sourcing platform for auto evaluation of programming challenges. It can be used by employers to screen / source technical candidates and also by freelancers/developers to sharpen their skills by competing with their peers.
Visit us at www.codeeval.com
