What would Batman do?

Gotham City just had a major layoff. Batman is now unemployed and actively looking for his next gig. Superman and Spiderman got their pink slip a week earlier.



Because Batman is an “out of the box” thinker he knows that he needs to try something different in order to find employment during these extraordinary times.



Personal (Professional) Branding: This is something that a great many of us miss when we are job hunting. It’s really a simple concept, but it can be a difficult thing to enact and master effectively. Ask yourself this question:



“How do I want someone who has no clue who I am to see me as?”



In Batman’s case, he decides that he will formulate 4 different versions of his resume using all of his trademarks skills and experience, but tailoring it to specifically branding himself as:

1. Crime Fighter
2. Gadget & Weapon Inventor / Tester
3. Billionaire Philanthropist
4. Manager

Networking: This is the time to use your contacts. And if you can, don’t wait until you NEED a job to build your network, start it NOW. The best way to get your foot in the door is by networking. If you are uncomfortable about attending face to face events, drag along your social butterfly friend. This may help you ease your way into feeling comfortable around folks you don’t know yet. Master this skill and it will help you for decades.



Target Company List: Job board leads stale? Create a Target Company List. You can use LinkedIn’s new sophisticated “companies” tab. This will not only pull up all the cool companies you’ve listed, but you can see by what corporate path people migrated to and from. There may be a company or two that you hadn’t yet thought of that is listed within the company profile. It will also identify folks in your network that work there and how you know them.



Try joining some of the larger Meetup.com groups. Not only will you see the company list of presenters, but the groups members as well. You’d be amazed at some of the cool companies you can cyber sleuth your way into. A few of the more technology based companies even Live Video stream their Meetup’s so that you can watch them back without attending.



Business Journal Book of Lists. Great way to find out company information by region. I landed a great job using these lists by targeting companies rather than openings. But don’t just limit yourself to these lists, Fast Company, Inc 500… and other major business publications all seem to put out great lists throughout the year.



Add New Superpower to your resume: Don’t discount all the stuff your doing and learning to find your next role. Highlight the good stuff on your current resume. If you are finding leads via Social Media, networking, etc. add as appropriate to your resume. Remember you are BRANDING yourself not as the job seeker but as the professional. The wording you choose is VERY important here. If you are in sales, you can put something like, “experience with lead generation using Social Media tools.” You may even decide to volunteer at some of the professional networking groups and add that to your resume to make up for a gap in employment.



Hopefully channeling Batman will help you gain new ground in your own job hunt.