So you’ve got all these skills and abilities and geektastic inclinations. You want to use them on the job search, and so you put them on a resume or talk about them. Let me suggest you take it a bit further.
I suggest you make your job search a way of leveraging your progeek skills and interests. In fact I suggest you try basing some of it on what you do anyway.
What I mean by this is give some thought in your job search to focusing on what you’re good at, what you enjoy, as being a core part of your job search.
Good at coding? Go make an automated resume that people can download on a mobile device.
Good at art? Create a webcomic about your skills and try to use it to get an art job.
Good at cosplay? Built the perfect job search outfit.
Good at websites? Make your pro site incredibly awesome.
Got your geeky knowledge on? Use clever quotes in some of your job materials, or drill down deep to appropriate knowledge.
In short, make sure your job search shows off what you’re good at by using it. It’s not just demonstrating your skills during the interview, find a way to use them during a search.
This is especially effective at companies that fit people like, well, us. They see your search as an embodiment of your skills, and thus get to understand you better, and see your skills in action. Your job search tells both about who you are and what you can do.
A heck of a lot more interesting than one dull resume after another.
To help you out here’s a few things I do:
- Because I coach on job searches, I make sure my resume and profiles are up to date and use all my knowledge to get my materials together.
- All my speaking and writing and creative work means I channel my gift of gab in my interviews.
- My pop culture/geek knowledge is something I discuss, giving examples of how it helped my careers.
- I give away samples of my writing to show yes, I can communicate and organize. As I note “I can say I’m a program manager and know organization, or I can show you . . .”
So, go take your geek and leverage it in the job search itself.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/