2012 Gift Guide: Don’t Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job

Don’t Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job

This is the book about job hunting that I would have written myself, had not Fox beaten me to it. I highly recommend this book and have written about similar tactics in my Career Opportunities columns over the years.

The world of work has changed drastically over the last decade and this calls for new tactics in getting your first job or your next job.

According to Fox, it all comes down to selling yourself to your future employer. It matters little what you want out of job or a career. What matters most is how you fulfill the needs of the hiring company. Of course, you should be trying to fulfill your work need, but the person interviewing cares little or nothing about your needs and only about their own. A hard fact to face, perhaps, but an extremely important one.

Fox goes on to give hard examples of how to use letters, not a resume to gain an interview, how to prepare for that interview and how to do everything possible to get the job you want.

While I am sure that some human resource people and corporate management will take issue with some of Fox’s advice, as they have with my columns about resumes. This is because Fox’s tactics seem to make their job more difficult. HR staff can no longer winnow large amounts of resumes down to a select few quickly and easily. What they don’t realize is that if all candidates used these tactics, hiring would be easier and the company would be hiring better people.

Highly Recommended

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

  1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
  2. Bulb Planting Tools
  3. Blue Snowball Microphone
  4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
  5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
  6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
  7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
  8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
  9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
  10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
  11. Moleskeine Journals
  12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
  13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
  14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
  15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
  16. The $64 Tomato
  17. Blue Yeti Microphone
  18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
  19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
  20. The Curious Gardener
  21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
  22. GoPro HD HERO 3
  23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
  24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
  25. Microphone Boom Arms
  26. The Information by James Gleick
  27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
  28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas
  29. Apple iPhone 5
  30. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
  31. Killer Ratings by Lisa Seidman
  32. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
  33. Zoom Portable Recorders (H1, H2, H2n, H4n)
  34. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
  35. My Teenager’s Favorite Games
  36. The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
  37. In a Mexican Garden: courtyards, pools and open-air living rooms
  38. Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
  39. Apple iPad/iPad Mini
  40. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
  41. Cucina Rustica
  42. The Great Potato Book
  43. Rode Podcaster Microphone
  44. High-Tech Fitness Monitors
  45. Books by Douglas E. Welch
  46. Tribes by Seth Godin
  47. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  48. The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook
  49. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
  50. Classes from The Institute of Domestic Technology
  51. Olympus PEN E-P1 12 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera
  52. Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren
  53. Cocoon GRID-IT Organizer Packs
  54. Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
  55. Podcast Solutions by Dan Klass and Michael Geoghegan
  56. The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny
  57. Dexim Visible Green Smart Charge & Sync Cable
  58. Wells Lamont Wet and Muddy Latex Coated Gardening Glove
  59. Rosanne’s Top 5 Books for Film Buffs
  60. Bon-Aire HN-10C Original Ultimate Hose Nozzle
  61. Microphones from Giant Squid Audio Labs
  62. Re-Imagine by Tom Peters
  63. Razer Gaming Mice
  64. Garden Hod harvest carrier
  65. Nest Learning Thermostat
  66. Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas
  67. Yes, You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too: The Modern Step-By-Step Guide to Preserving Food
  68. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
  69. Fiskars 7936 PowerGear Pruner
  70. Chi-qoo Solar Power Pack Kit from Bootstrap Solar
  71. Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli
  72. Sterling Audio ST51 Large Diaphragm FET Condenser Microphone
  73. DollarSeed.com – One Stop Seed Shop
  74. 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
  75. Desktop Microphone Stands
  76. Logitech Harmony 650 Remote Control
  77. Maple Sugaring Startup Kit from Tap My Trees
  78. Sennheiser HD-280 PRO Headphones
  79. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace
  80. Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Bags
  81. The SeedKeeper Company
  82. Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall and David Wecker
  83. Joby GP1-A1EN GorillaPod Flexible Tripod
  84. Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirkey
  85. How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables by Rebecca Rupp
  86. Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History
  87. Behringer XENYX X1622USB Premium 16-Input 2/2-Bus Mixer
  88. Starter Kit for Newsite Arduino Uno R3
  89. RAM Vehicle Mounts for iPhone (and nearly any other device)
  90. The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
  91. Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte
  92. Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees

 

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